The Last Train

Michael Pronko

Apr 2021 · Raked Gravel Press · Narrated by Peter Berkrot

About this audiobook

Detective Hiroshi Shimizu investigates white collar crime in Tokyo. When an American businessman turns up dead, his mentor Takamatsu calls him out to the site of a grisly murder. Together with ex-sumo wrestler, Sakaguchi, Hiroshi scours Tokyo’s sacred temples, corporate offices and industrial wastelands to find out why one woman would be driven to murder when she seems to have it all. Hiroshi’s determined to cut through Japan’s ambiguities—and dangers—to find the murdering ex-hostess before she extracts her final revenge—which just might be him.

About the author

Michael Pronko has written about Japanese culture, art, jazz, society, architecture and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, Artscape Japan, as well as other publications. He has appeared on NHK and Nippon Television doing video versions of his essays. He runs his own website, Jazz in Japan (www.jazzinjapan.com). He teaches American Literature and Culture (novels, film, art and music) at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo and after discussing Kurt Vonnegut or Jackson Pollock in class is in the right frame of mind to wander Tokyo contemplating its intensity.