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A Japanese Thriller: Kanae Minato’s Penance

2 Oct

The death of a child is always tragic, even more so if the child is murdered and their killer remains free for fifteen years with no clue as to who the killer might be and the only witnesses to the crime all claim that they can’t remember his face. In Kanae Minato’s Penance, these are the circumstances that befall four young girls when one of their friends is brutally murdered and her mother vows vengeance against the girls unless the killer is caught before the statute of limitations is up. 

Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the characters, Sae, Maki, Akiko, and Yuko and what each of them did the day of the murder and what life for each of them was like going forward. 

The connecting threads between the four and the murder of their friend all connect to each other in unique ways, each one of them having to face an aftermath for what happened the night of their friend’s murder. 

Minato’s prose are gripping, giving each character a unique voice while still keeping the mystery going as to who the killer could possibly be, with each character providing a unique clue until the final chapter with the girl’s mother, where all the puzzle pieces fit together and we are left with an ending that is both ambiguous and satisfying at the same time. It’s easy to see why Minato’s considered to be one of Japan’s most influential thriller and mystery novelists today. 

Penance is an excellent read that many mystery readers will enjoy and a great introduction to Kanae Minato’s work. 

Written by:
Lauren Lapinski
Library Assistant

Horrors Retold: What Feasts At Night and Interview with the Vampire the Series

14 Feb

What Feasts at Night
by T. Kingfisher
I had enjoyed Kingfisher’s previous novella with Alex Easton, What Moves the Dead, so was curious to read Alex’s continuing adventures. The character is loosely based on the soldier from the Poe story, Fall of the House of Usher. In Kingfisher’s stories, Alex Easton is a retired soldier, who by custom of their homeland, though they used female pronouns as a child, now chooses to use the nonbinary term specifically reserved for sworn soldiers; Gallacians also have pronouns specific to religious leaders. In this story they have traveled from Paris to their family’s Hunting Lodge along with their faithful servant Angus. When they get to the Lodge they are surprised to learn the Groundskeeper had passed away. They are soon joined by Miss Potter who had aided them with their previous mystery and is curious to study the local mushrooms. The dialogue between the characters is charming, but the possible cause of the mysterious illness that has afflicted the village suitably spooky for horror fans to enjoy. The novel can stand alone from What Feasts at Night so you can enjoy this story without having read the previous one, but both are highly recommended. This is the perfect book to snuggle up with on a wintry day, though I’m not sure if I’d recommend reading it right before bed, lest your dreams become haunted.

Interview with the Vampire: Season One
As a teen goth, Anne Rice was of course one of my favorite authors and though I was less enamored with her later writing, her early works to me still hold up as classics of vampire fiction. I had enjoyed the adaptation of Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise as Lestat and Brad Pitt as Louis so was interested to see what this newest interpretation would bring to the stories. While the former holds closer to the originals and has some memorable performances, the series still held my attention with its slower pace which allows some changes and additions to the back stories of the characters which gives them slightly more depth than they previously had. The series feels more somber than the movie and the book it is derived from. In this version Louis is played by Jacob Anderson and re-imagined as not a white man of French descent, but instead a wealthy black man who keeps his homosexuality a secret. Claudia is also of African descent in this retelling and is played by Bailey Bass. Due to the Louisiana setting of the story, this lets the series explore issues of racism and slavery that were only hinted at before. If you enjoy this series, Mayfair Witches, about a modern descendant of witches, based on another book series of Rice’s is also available to stream.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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