Kinetic and comedic, Kōtarō Isaka’s latest in his Assassins series is also slightly confusing. At times, Hotel Lucky Seven reads like a screenplay and, based on the successful adaptation of his novel Bullet Train, there might have been a killer of a reason for that. Right, Hollywood?

Hotel Lucky Seven starts with a simple premise. Nanao, Isaka’s unlucky assassin code named Ladybird, is tasked to deliver a birthday parcel in the Winton Palace Hotel. Nanao bumbles and stumbles and soon realizes he needs to leave the hotel – fast. But then the overall plot deepens. There just so happens to be professional cleaners, the team of Pillow and Blanket, also within the hotel, also looking to depart, and with bodies in tow. Then Yuka Kamino, a former employee of the hotel’s manager, has seen too much. Now, she has the fabled assassin team known as the Six after her. Kamino, yup, is also trying to escape the hotel.

So much escaping! Although tedious at times, Hotel Lucky Seven has fortune on its side and makes for fun crime-fiction escapism of its own.

Isaka has a loose, easy style to his prose. He keeps the action moving and tone – although littered with assassins assassing – light. This bounce becomes weighted as he introduces more and more players – especially all six of the Six – and infuses them with personalities and back stories and salad dressing preferences. Again, added visuals for a possible on-screen adaptation would no doubt lead to a cleaner scorecard. Within a first time read, though, such introductions are choppy. Isaka is a master juggler but sometimes three balls in the air can be just as entertaining as eighteen chainsaws on fire.

Fans of Isaka will no doubt enjoy reading the return of Ladybird. Fans of the David Leitch movie might find it too much. Hotel Lucky Seven is an enjoyable escapade at a three-star hotel with a late-afternoon check-out.

Ladybird from Bullet Train is back in Hotel Lucky Seven by Kotaro Isaka.

"Ladybird has a simple task. Deliver a painting and leave. But his serial unluckiness has him fighting bodyguards and assassins and government officials. All he wants to do is go home."

Isaka uses a hotel instead of a train this time for Ladybird and his unluckiness. You have to suspend belief a little that no one would notice a group of assassins and bodies in several rooms. It seems like there are several storylines going on but Isaka ties them all together at the end - lots of surprises. Isaka has an interesting world of 'professionals'

Good pick if you're looking for some humor with your crime fiction.

Hotel Lucky Seven by Kōtarō Isaka is a wildly entertaining follow-up in the Bullet Train series, filled with signature dark humor, quirky characters, and fast-paced action. In this latest adventure, Ladybug—the world’s unluckiest assassin—finds himself in Tokyo’s chaotic Hotel Lucky Seven, tasked with what should be a simple job: delivering a painting. Naturally, nothing goes as planned, and the mission quickly spirals into a deadly game involving assassins, mobsters, and corrupt officials.

Isaka’s writing, brilliantly translated, crackles with wit and energy, making each scene vivid and engaging. The story's frenetic pace is punctuated by hilarious mishaps, philosophical musings, and colorful characters whose motivations add depth to the chaotic plot. Ladybug’s terrible luck is both a source of comedy and an unexpected advantage as he navigates the hotel’s labyrinthine drama. Fans of Bullet Train will appreciate the same mix of action and humor, but with a new setting and fresh faces to spice things up.

Hotel Lucky Seven is an exhilarating ride from start to finish, combining suspense with clever twists that keep readers guessing. It’s perfect for anyone craving a unique and thrilling assassin story that’s as thoughtful as it is funny.

This is the latest installment of the Bullet Train Series. I was thrilled to see Ladybug back into action. Plenty of humor, action and is masterfully written and translated. Isaka style of writing is engaging, humorous and keeps you turning the pages. What starts off as an easy job of delivering a picture ends up for Ladybug our unlucky assassin, a game of cat and mouse. The Hotel Lucky Seven is full of assassins, mob bosses, corrupt officials and many more undesirables which Ladybug has to deal with when he finds a guest murdered in their hotel room. I recommend adding this to your reading list. Thank you, Netgalley and Overlook Press for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kōtarō Isaka pulls Ladybird in for one more simple job in Hotel Lucky Seven, the fourth book in his assassins series. Of course, for the assassin with the world’s worst luck, nothing is ever simple. Just like in Bullet Train, Ladybird’s simple job—to deliver a painting to a man in a specific room in Tokyo’s Winton Palace Hotel—escalates into fights to the death, chases, escapes, and intersecting plots. Brian Bergstrom does a beautiful job translating the original Japanese into kinetic English.

The first thing that goes wrong for Ladybird is that he shows up at the wrong room. The second thing that goes wrong is that the man in the wrong room attacks Ladybird. The man falling on a table and dying from the resultant head wound is the third thing that goes wrong. If Ladybird had showed up at the correct room the first time, none of what followed would’ve happened. Ladybird’s bad luck, however, ends up being extremely good luck for Yuka Kamino.

Kamino is in the process of trying to escape the long reach of her former employer, Inui. Inui has been using Kamino’s perfect memory to “store” his secrets. All of his passwords, accounts, and criminal acts are indelibly written into her brain. Kamino has turned to Koko, an elderly woman with a gift for hacking to leave the city and disappear. To stop her from fleeing, Inui has dispatched the Six—a monstrous group of assassins armed with blowguns and too much self-confidence—to recapture her. Ladybird is on his way out of the Winton Palace when he lands right in the middle of things.

Like Bullet Train, Hotel Lucky Seven is a series of fight scenes that only pauses for brief philosophical discussions between Ladybird and various characters or moments when Ladybird’s bad luck shows up to screw him over yet again. I was highly entertained by all of it. I could see the action playing out in my head as if it was taking place on screen, down to having Brad Pitt playing Ladybird. The plot isn’t quite as complex as in Bullet Train, but there are still plenty of twists to marvel at. Readers will enjoy watching Ladybird and his terrible luck at work again.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Kotaro Isaka’s Hotel Lucky Seven is a thrilling continuation of the adventures of Ladybug, the hapless assassin from Bullet Train. This novel, filled with Isaka’s signature blend of dark humor and high-stakes action, is a must-read for fans of quirky crime thrillers.

The story picks up with Ladybug, who is tasked with what seems to be a simple job: delivering a painting to a guest at the Hotel Lucky Seven. However, things quickly go awry when Ladybug realizes the guest is not who he appears to be. A fight ensues, resulting in the guest’s death, and Ladybug finds himself entangled in a web of deception and danger. 

 Isaka excels in creating memorable and eccentric characters. Ladybug, with his blend of bad luck and resourcefulness, remains a compelling protagonist. His interactions with other characters, including the enigmatic hotel staff and fellow assassins, add depth and humor to the narrative. The supporting cast is equally colorful, each bringing their own unique quirks and motivations to the story.

The author’s writing style is both engaging and fast-paced. Isaka’s ability to blend suspense with humor is evident throughout the novel, making for a highly entertaining read. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and the action scenes are vividly described, keeping readers captivated.

Hotel Lucky Seven explores themes of identity, deception, and the thin line between luck and fate. The novel delves into the chaotic nature of life and the unexpected turns it can take, often with darkly comedic results. Isaka’s exploration of these themes adds a layer of depth to the otherwise action-packed narrative.

Hotel Lucky Seven is a delightful and thrilling read that will appeal to fans of Isaka’s previous works and newcomers alike. Kotaro Isaka delivers a story that is humorous and suspenseful, with characters that are as endearing as they are eccentric. A perfect pick for anyone looking for a unique and entertaining crime thriller.

This was wonderfully done getting back to the bullet train world and characters. It had that overall feel that I was hoping for and enjoyed how everything worked back to this universe. It had everything that I was hoping for from this world and that the characters continued to work overall in this. Kotaro Isaka does a fantastic job writing this and had that action element that I wanted.

I’ve been on a Kotaro Isaka tear the past few weeks, reading the first three books in this loose series before devouring Hotel Lucky Seven, and it’s been absolute heaven. The characters, the action, the set pieces, the mythology, all of it is so well-crafted and fun. But beyond the usual assets of a great action story, Isaka’s books (this one VERY much included) are brimming with heart and soul. You can have the most original action scenes in the history of shoot-em-ups but if your reader doesn’t deeply care for the characters, then none of it matters. Well I cared for the characters in this book, deeply, which made the reading experience all the more wonderful. Highly recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this hilarious Bullet Train sequel! Ladybug is now one of my favorite literary characters, which feels bad because he works in a shady, shady business. But he's not the only likable assassin in this fun and wild book.

Thank you to ABRAMS and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a honest review!

Ladybug is back! Hotel Lucky Seven by Kotaro Isaka is the newest installment of the Bullet Train series to be translated into English. Although I have read all of the author's works translated into English, I was so excited to hear that Ladybug and Maria would finally be back in this one. The story revolves around Ladybug, the unlucky assassin played by Brad Pitt in the Bullet Train movie. All he has to do this time is to deliver a painting. But unluckily for Ladybug, the simple turns into an adventure full of mistaken identities, assassins, and danger.

Here is an intriguing excerpt from Chapter 1, which is from new character Pillow's point of view:

"'Everything's decided at birth,' murmured Pillow, looking off into the distance after another game spent without even being allowed to fill out the bench. She wasn't actually trying to start a conversation - rather, her innermost thoughts had simply spilled from her lips, and Blanket had been there downstream to catch them. But Blanket knew what Pillow meant. Both of them were conspicuously small-framed, even among the other girls. The taller girls were obviously prized even if they were less athletic, and the smaller girls knew that no matter how hard they trained, they'd hard ever be allowed to play.
'You're right,' said Blanket. 'It's so unfair, isn't it? The advantages some people are both with.'
'You have a pretty face and a good sense of style, and bang: you're on Easy Street. Even school will be fun. Your whole life will be smooth as silk. Makes me sick.'"

Overall, Hotel Lucky Seven is the latest amazing book that will appeal to fans of the Bullet Train movies. One highlight of this book is the humor. That is definitely what sets this book apart from other books about assassins. I found myself giggling in every chapter, which is very difficult for a book about murder to do. If you have a sense of humor, then you definitely won't mind reading this book, which is masterfully written and translated, keeping all humor and jokes intact.

Another highlight of this book is how it is a work of translated, translated from Japanese originally. I really think that there are not enough books being translated from other languages into English. I am so glad to be able to support this book and its author. I will definitely be reading any of the author's other books that are translated into English in the future. They will be at the top of my TBR list. Also, I'm in the mood now to rewatch the amazing Bullet Train movie. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of books about assassins in general, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in November!

If you've read Isaka before, you know what you're in for; a dozen or so quirky characters, eccentric violence, and oddball humor, No detail or plot thread is too small not to pay off, with the story clicking into place in the last pages like a Rubik's Cube.

This book is a sequel to Bullet Train, replacing the train with a hotel and starring the hapless Ladybird. The action is maybe a little less kinetic, but the characters pop, and the pages turn. Isaka's style of comedic thriller might not be to everyone's taste, but it sure is mine.

If you enjoyed the excitement of the movie "Bullet Train" starring Brad Pitt or read the book, then you definitely shouldn't miss "Hotel Lucky Seven"!
It's a gripping follow-up that's jam-packed with action and a pulse-pounding storyline that will have you hooked from start to finish!
Thank you, @netgalley and @abrahms for the eARC.

A fun read, but not up to Bullet Train. I would not tell anybody to not read it, though! It was a fun ride.
Thank you for the ARC

What fun! Assassins loose in a luxury Tokyo hotel. This suspenseful thriller is a follow-up to Kotaro Isaka’s international bestseller, “Bullet Train.”Nanao, code name Ladybird, an underworld hitman, is back with his handler, Maria Beetle. Nanao, always unlucky yet the sole survivor of the Bullet Train fiasco, is given an “easy job” by Maria. Nanao is delivering a portrait, painted as a birthday present, to a hotel guest when he realizes the guest is not the man in the picture. A fight between the guest and Nanao ends with the guest dead. This leads to a cat and mouse (actually, cats and mice) game with plot twists and turns.. A twenty story hotel serves as the backdrop for numerous hitmen, several crime bosses, and a corrupt politician all targeting an underworld accomplice with a photographic memory of crimes committed. What could go wrong? “Seems like when you check in to this hotel, you check out in a body bag,” notes one assassin. Interestingly, despite the melee, there are philosophical and existential discussions among the culprits on themes such as quantum theoy, Schrodinger’s Cat, and AI. Discourse on politics and relationships (not comparing yourself to others) threads through the otherwise dire discussions on how to evade the murderers.
Will Nanao leave the hotel alive? This and many other questions and dilemmas are satisfyingly answered at the conclusion. There is so much action in this tale that referring to characters or events would give away many elements of surprise. If you enjoy suspense and mystery, great characterization, humorous and clever dialogue, and you don’t mind descriptions of bodies piling up, you’ll appreciate this thriller.
I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. It was an absolute pleasure to read and I highly recommend it. I hope you will check in to “Hotel Lucky Seven” and check it out.

Kotaro Isaka is a master of writing cutthroat suspenseful assassin thrillers with sprinkles of well-placed humor and a whole lot of twists. Hotel Lucky Seven packs hard hitting action in a contained setting and it keeps you on your toes as you try to figure out how it will all go down.

Full review to be posted on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain