Not particularly polished writing, and the author, a Jewish American reporter who speaks fluent Japanese and works as a crime journalist at a Japanese newspaper, at least does a decent job not hiding how patriarchal he and his profession are. The book is successful as a peek at Japanese culture and daily life, and how their criminal justice system works and doesn't. ( )

It was easy to read this title; I did so with fascinated and voyeur-like attention. ( )

An interesting and detailed expose of the frequently unspoken of humanitarian crisis of sex-trafficking in Japan as well as the impact of the loan-sharking industry / Yakuza through Adelstein's first-hand accounts and interviews.

The beginning of the book focuses on his come-uppance to the newspaper industry while the latter half of the book details several scoops Jake followed in the sex and crime worlds of Japan. The writing is objective, informative yet engaging -- it keeps one wondering the outcome of any given crime or thing being reported on. Sometimes difficult to follow whose who since he uses nicknames to protect individual identities (Yakuza, police, reporters, etc.) but the book doesn't read like your typical biography.

Highly recommended! ( )

I picked this up because I enjoyed the TV adaptation on HBO (and Ansel Elgort is adorable as Adelstein). The show followed the earlier parts of the book pretty closely, even opening with the same flash-forward the book does.

I’m really impressed with what Adelstein accomplished to get hired at the Yomiuri Shinbun—for an American to speak and write Japanese well enough to get hired as a reporter for a major Japanese newspaper is really something. The culture at the newspaper, particularly with the reporters and their police contacts, was fascinating.

But as the book rolled along, I started really disliking the author. For someone who supposedly regrets the things he did during his yakuza and human trafficking investigations, he sure likes to describe the sleazy bits. Describing the sexual encounters he had with his sources (which, you know, he had to do to get the story), he comes across as a boastful man boy. These episodes happened both before and after he was married with children. That really soured me on the book. ( )

A non-fiction that was not yawn-inducing drudgery. The audiobook was good mix of personal bio and true-crime thriller. I was fascinated by the run-ins with the Yakuza and the insight into the Japanese culture that were sprinkled throughout. As a narrator, the author was pretty good but had some issues with pronunciation.

( )