I liked the narrative, the plot sounded fun too. What we get with this novella though leaves something to be desired. It's short and doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean it focuses on Kei's and Taka's friendship but beyond that I didn't understand much that was going on. It's obvious they are hunting illegal pornographers, but we don't really get to see an actual case... or how it's solved. Also, there's no backstory whatsoever and sadly no actual romance. I wanted to like this book, wanted it to be an actual story but I'm afraid there's not a lot meat to it, not much you can 'judge'.
I didn't connect with the characters at all, I found them quite flat. However, because this was set in the future, I thought it was going to be dystopian, but it wasn't, which is more my fault than the author's, but still - why set it in the future if you don't have a good reason for doing so? Another thing I didn't like was that a crow was shot for no real reason, well, there was a reason in the narrative - there were too many crows in Tokyo but there was no reason to put it in there in the first place.
I essentially didn't like this book because of the thinness and insubstantiality of the plot and characters, as well as the relationships between the characters - there wasn't any chemistry with them and there was a really cliched, uninspired 'twist' in the end but basically, the protagonist is kind of in a relationship with Patrick but he wants to sleep with Taka and rather conveniently Patrick turns out to be an arse so Taka and protagonist can live happily ever after.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

It's 2035 and Kei is a half-Japanese, half-American asthmatic forced to relocate to Vancouver in order to breathe. Despite the difficulties that being in Japan entails, Kei goes back time and again to spend time with Taka, best friend and confidante, and help him hunt illegal pornographers. But no matter how badly Kei wishes they could be together permanently, life seems determined to keep them apart.

I was so looking forward to this story from reading the blurb. It had so many things that intrigue me, a Japanese location with Japanese or half Japanese characters with unusual jobs, who exist in a dystopian world. Unfortunately the execution just didn't pan out.

For starters, the narrative comes out as muddied instead of clearly defined. There is a weird intro about shooting a crow that really has nothing to do with the rest of the story, nothing about the world building is substantial other than the fact that there are pornographers still in existence (not a surprise) and that the air quality is bad, even worse if you have asthma. How is this supposed to be a reach when it already exists now? When there are people who need to wear masks in cities during yellow and red zone days? It happens around the world now from Arizona to China so to have this story located in 2035 makes little sense.

So already you have 2 marks against this story. Then you get to the characters. Kei and Taka, who have such a disjointed relationship that there is absolutely no chemistry between them and therefore no connection between them and the reader. I really couldn't figure out why they wanted to stay together.

The best part of this story? The very last part which was cut short when the story ended. That's when the author should have picked up and run with it, that whole concept was great. But no, that was the end of the story. Oh well.

Cover artist: Natasha Snow. Neat cover, nice design.

Unfortunately I tried several times to get into this novel but I couldn't connect so I ended up not finishing. I just wasent connecting with the MC, his double standards made it hard to love

I may return to this novel but cuurently I cannot review it .

** SPOILER-Y REVIEW **

Short story can be such a challenge. An author must present the plot, characters, and engage readers within 1,500 to 30,000 words (I am using the definition from this article). That can also be a challenge if the story doesn't set in contemporary time -- in that situation, I usually need context. But when it's good, it's GOOD. I have short stories that I rated between 4 - 5 stars. Stories like J.M. Snyder's Henry and Jim or Cornelia Grey's Apples and Regret and Wasted Time.

And this is where Sharp Shooter Tokyoite failed me. The story is set in the future, the year of 2035 to be exact. But I really didn't understand the necessity for it. Was it only to give some short of futuristic gun to our characters? What is wrong with the 'toys' law enforcement have these days? Or was it to give futuristic equipment to tackle Kei's asthmatic problem? Something caused by the bad level of pollution in Tokyo? Uhm, again, why give Kei asthmatic problem in the first place? It's all paper thin for me.

Which is too bad because (what I think as) the main srory of it -- cops that handle illegal pornographers -- can be a basis for a VERY GOOD romantic mystery/suspense, IMHO. I love mystery suspense. I think two cops, investigating illegal pornographers, while being best friend and having feelings towards one another already sounds really good for me.

In addition, I totally didn't get the whole shooting crows scene in the beginning (was this to show Kei and Taka's friendship?). Isn't there a better way to show that Kei is a sharp shooter?

Oh, and another thing that was NOT in my favor regarding the story was the fact that Kei had a boyfriend, when he clearly wanted to be with Taka. The whole kissing thing on the job could easily be counted as (a dangerous path towards) cheating. Again, WHY give Kei a boyfriend in the first place? Since this is a short story, the conflict and resolution in regards to Kei's feeling towards Taka (and his current boyfriend) is fixed in a blink of an eye.

Charlie Godwyne is a new-to-me author. I admit that the cover once again drew me in. I have no problem with Godwyne's writing style. So maybe, maybe, I will check Godwyne's future stories. I probably will try to read early reviews first, though.

Here I am with my usual criticism of novellas I rate 3 stars and under: Everything was far too insubstantial.

I didn't connect with the characters at all, I found them quite flat. Also, because this was set in the future, I thought it was going to be dystopian, but it wasn't, which is more my fault than the author's, but still - why set it in the future if you don't have a good reason for doing so? Another thing I didn't like was that in the beginning, a crow was shot for no real reason (I mean, there was a reason in the narrative - there were too many crows in Tokyo - but there was no reason to put it in there in the first place, y'know?). I'm a vegetarian bird lover. This was a big turn off for me.

Anyway, enough about the birds. Crow-shooting aside, I essentially didn't like this book because of the thinness and insubstantiality of the plot and characters, as well as the relationships between the characters - there wasn't any chemistry with them and there was a really cliched, uninspired 'twist' in the romance that I can't really elaborate on because it's a spoiler, but basically - "convenient" things happen that magically resolve all conflict with a character and let the protagonist and his love interest live happily ever after. Whoopee.

Might have got 2 stars except they killed birds. (That was a lie, this was a solid 1 star to be quite honest with you.)