Tokyo Traffic

Michael Pronko

Jun 2020 · Raked Gravel Press

About this ebook

Running from a life she didn’t choose, in a city she doesn’t know, Sukanya, a young Thai girl, loses herself in Tokyo. With her Bangkok street smarts, and some stolen money, she stays ahead of her former captors willing to do anything to recover the computer she took. After befriending Chiho, a Japanese girl living in an internet café, Sukanya makes plans to rid herself of her pursuers, and her past, forever.

Detective Hiroshi Shimizu leaves the safe confines of his office to investigate a porn studio where a brutal triple murder took place. The studio’s accounts point him in multiple directions at once. Together with ex-sumo wrestler Sakaguchi and old-school Takamatsu, Hiroshi tracks the killers through Tokyo’s teen hangouts, bayside docks and crowded squares, straight into the underbelly of the global economy.

As bodies wash up from Tokyo Bay, Hiroshi tries to find the Thai girl at the center of it all, whose name he doesn’t even know. He uncovers a human trafficking ring and cryptocurrency scammers whose connections extend to the highest levels of Tokyo’s power elite.

Ratings and reviews

The Detective Hiroshi Series: Sources: AuthorsXP dot com or ARCs from author. All the books are a bit wordy but still worth reading. The Last Train, #1 - Interesting. Immersing. 5* The Moving Blade, #2 - Interesting and immersing. 4* Tokyo Traffic, #3 - Still interesting and immersing. 4* Tokyo Zangyo, #4 - Interesting reading about the Japanese work culture. 4* Azabu Getaway, #5 - Interesting and intriguing. 4* The Detective Hiroshi Series end. Memoirs on Tokyo Life: Source: ARCs from author. Beauty and Chaos: Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life, #1 - Interesting snippets into Toyko and her people and their culture seen through the author's eyes. 4* Tokyo’s Mystery Deepens: Essays on Tokyo, #2 - Interesting short stories. 4* Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo, #3 - Interesting. 4* Memoirs on Tokyo Life end.

This is book 3 of the Detective Hiroshi Tokyo Series. I thought the story was interesting and written well. The character work is good and I would recommend the series. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

About the author

Michael Pronko became a professor of American Literature and Culture at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo after years of traveling, an M.A. in ESL, an M.A. in Comp Lit and a PhD in English from the University of Kent. His seminars focus on contemporary novels and film adaptations and he teaches classes in American film, music and art. Michael has published three award-winning collections about Tokyo life and two mystery novels, The Last Train and The Moving Blade. The latter was selected as one of the best indie mysteries and thrillers of 2018 by Kirkus Reviews. Michael has written regular columns for many publications, including The Japan Times, Newsweek Japan, ST Shukan, and Artscape Japan. He runs his own website, Jazz in Japan (www.jazzinjapan.com). More at: www.michaelpronko.com www.facebook.com/pronkoauthor @pronkomichael