Barry Lancet

Jun 2017 24

The Spy Across the Table By Barry Lancet: Review/Giveaway

2017 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

Barry Lancet’s Japantown (2016) introduced readers to Asian art dealer/Japanese detective agency owner Jim Brodie and both his divergent firms—one in San Francisco, the other in Tokyo—readily making available a cornucopia of possible plots that could occur in the US or Japan, or both, and by no means restricted to either locale. Lancet followed this intriguing debut with Tokyo Kill (2015), in which a veteran Japanese soldier comes to Brodie in Tokyo, certain that his friends and former unit are systematically being murdered, putting a WWII twist to the plot and making readers wonder to what degree Japanese culture still labors under the weight of that particular history.

Barry Lancet’s Jim Brodie: Quite a Balancing Act

2017 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that author Barry Lancet had years of publishing experience behind him, as well as years of living in Japan before he began writing his Jim Brodie thrillers. He had an insider’s advantage navigating the choppy waters of approach letters, choosing a literary agent, and a clear knowledge of what worked on the page. This and his deep appreciation of Japanese arts and culture must have presented an irresistible formula for writing novels to anyone so inclined.