"Kawashima Masayuki is a successful graphic designer living in Toyko with his loving wife, Yoko, and their baby girl. Outwardly, their lives are a picture of happiness and contentment, but every night while his wife sleeps Kawashima creeps from his bed and watches over the baby's crib with an ice pick in his hand and an almost visceral desire to use it.
One particular night, as this struggle unfolds once more, Kawashima makes a decision to confront his demons, and sets into motion an uncontrollable chain of events seeming to lead inexorably to murder."
So it's a twisted psychological thriller with multiple layers. It's a wild ride from start to finish as Kawashima attempts to go through with his plan to quell his murderous impulses by shanking a prostitute. The woman he selects has issues of her own and the two end up in a chilling dance of death. I honestly loved it and now have a new author on my list of must reads.
There were six boxes to open this month and to be honest they weren't that great. I guess it was difficult to find things that went with the story that weren't too out there.
The first sticker was on page 3, where Kawashima is talking about using a penlight to observe his sleeping infant. I was relieved to find an actual pen with a light and not an ice pick. Ice picks were mentioned at least twice! Unfortunately the pen doesn't work because there's no ink inside and I don't need a penlight so...
The second sticker was on page 73. I thought it might be a wristwatch (I like to guess) but it was actually black pleather gloves. I would have preferred a watch 😀 since I need to be able to use my phone while wearing gloves (for Pokemon). These will probably get donated to the mission thrift store and I'm sure somebody will use them.
The third sticker was on page 90, "peering into a compact she held in her left hand". The compact is cute and I will probably toss it into my purse never to be seen again!
The fourth sticker was on page 99 where Chiaki is stabbing herself with a pair of scissors. This set of items is awesome. I don't know that I'll ever wear them as a set but I can see myself using the barrette and possible the bracelet. The earrings are a little to heavy but maybe I can repurpose them, give them to the teen, or add them to the donation pile.
The fifth sticker was on page 123 where a woman was "holding a stuffed toy chipmunk and pressing a handkerchief to her eyes. Obviously it's easier and probably less expensive to source handkerchiefs but I feel like that stuffed chipmunk was a lost opportunity.
and the sixth and final sticker was on page 179 where Chiaki was searching through Kawashima's stuff "inside the man's overnight bag she found a notebook" I feel like this is the thing I'll get the most use out of from this box.
Honestly though, I'm not terribly disappointed. Not every box can be a home run for me and I'm still enjoying the mystery of the whole process and the books have all been worth it. If I hadn't gotten this box I might never have found another gruesome Japanese horror author to add to the list.
Next month's selection is Let's Go Play at the Adams by Mendal W. Johnson. It's an oldie but goodie from 1974. This is a new edition with an introduction by Grady Hendrix.
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