FESTIVAL 2025

Seesaw Monster

by Kōtarō Isaka

Overlook Press

FESTIVAL 2025

Seesaw Monster

by Kōtarō Isaka

Overlook Press

Synopsis

From the international bestselling author of Bullet Train, two inventive espionage tales in one

“Isaka’s style is tense, laden with dark humor expressed with a flat affect—just the right tone for a book that walks the fine line between comedy and violence.” —New York Times Book Review on Hotel Lucky Seven

Miyako suspects her mother-in-law is a murderer. It’s not just a case of them rubbing each other the wrong way—there is definitely something suspicious going on. But Miyako isn’t exactly what she seems either. Her husband has no idea about her past life as a secret agent. When she decides to use her professional skills to investigate her mother-in-law, the delicate equilibrium of their lives is thrown wildly out of balance.

Many decades after the events of Seesaw Monster, in a future world dominated by surveillance, facial-recognition software, and AI, the most sensitive information lives only on paper, and confidential messages must be delivered by trusted couriers like Mito. But one delivery pulls Mito into a conspiracy beyond his wildest imagination and forces him into a race against time to defeat a world-changing technological threat.

Mixing mythology, family drama, corruption, and espionage, these gripping novellas from the international bestselling author of Bullet Train explore the idea of progress, the power of close relationships, and the nature of conflict with deadly stakes.

About the Author

Kōtarō Isaka is the internationally-acclaimed Japanese author of Bullet Train (Japanese title Maria Beetle, 2010). One of the most consistently bestselling authors of contemporary Japanese fiction, Isaka is known for works that straddle the literary and entertainment genres. His novels include Audubon's Prayer (2000, Shincho Mystery Club Award), Lush Life (2002), Three Assassins (Japanese title Grasshopper, 2004), The Precision of the Agent of Death (2005, Mystery Writers of Japan Award), Shumatsu no Fool (2006), Golden Slumber (2007, Yamamoto Shugoro Award and Japan Booksellers' Award), The Mantis (Japanese title AX, 2017), and Gyaku Socrates (2020, Shibata Renzaburo Award). His latest novel is 777 (2023). Isaka’s books have been translated into over 20 languages worldwide. Bullet Train was the basis of the eponymous movie from Sony Pictures (2022), directed by David Leitch and starring Brad Pitt.

Read more about Kōtarō Isaka

Credit Munemasa Takahashi

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