A riveting, unputdownable true-crime story. Terribly disturbing, full of fascinating details. A very complicated story, extremely well told. Congratulations to Mr Parry for such an achievement. ( )

It dragged a little in a few places. Still a sad and fasinating look at the brutal murder of a young English woman in Japan. ( )

Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world and this is even more so concerning violent crime. What makes this book so fascinating is the way in which this lack of experience in solving and trying violent crimes makes both the police and judges seem almost inept in what to do when they come across a violent crime. Sadly the man who killed Lucy Blackman had been preying upon women for decades. A number of woman came forward and actually gave accounts of how they had been drugged and abused only to be ignored by the police. If even a simple investigation into these claims had occurred,the evidence would have been clear and Lucy Blackman would not have come to such a tragic terrible end. ( )

Very interesting book, well paced and very informative. It's about the mysterious true crime story of the disappearance of Lucie Blackman, however along the way, you learn about the "hostess" industry of Japan, the justice system, and many other cultural tidbits about Japan. ( )

This true crime story really does have a lot going for it in terms of being gripping: young victim, foreign country, an in depth look at Japan's sex trade/industry, a divorced family trying to cope with a missing person, and a dogged reporter. I'm giving it 5 stars for the true crime genre. I feel it is up there with Helter Skelter and others like it . . .

Lucie, a British 21 year old, goes to Japan with her best friend in order to earn some money to pay off debt that she seems to accumulate with ease. She takes a job as a hostess in a club, but a hostess in Japan is not the same as what we think of here as a hostess. In fact, I can't even think of an equivalent here, but I guess the closest thing is an escort . . .where companionship is expected and sexual intercourse is not. I won't be spoiling anything here by telling you that the first we learn of Lucie is that she has been killed. The question is by whom and why?

What makes this book unique, in my mind, is that it goes to great lengths to really reveal the character of all of the major players. In addition, the author is a reporter and has a reporter's eye and interest in detail, but he doesn't totally distance himself. He actually shares his own feelings and perceptions while also trying to show the most impartial take on the situation. I felt that HOW he wrote the book really added a lot of interest. In addition, there is a lot about the Japanese culture and in some ways, how Tokyo was the perfect setting for this particular type of crime to take place.

All in all, I just felt very engrossed by the tale and also sort of horrified. The first half of the book is the more interesting as it details more about the crime. The latter half is the aftermath, the trial, and the analysis - - this part obviously is a little less suspenseful, but I still found it interesting. Some reviews on Amazon felt there was way too much detail. There's a lot of detail. You've been warned. Personally, I felt the detail was necessary so that you could begin to draw your own thoughts and conclusions. ( )