Member Reviews

A suspense thriller, Roppongi (2023) by James Cox is set in 1992 Japan and an imminent potential terrorist attack. Based on the author’s own experience, the tale is mainly set in the Sanno Hotel. It has a diverse range of characters, including American military personnel, Japanese locals and of course, the actual Aum Shinrikyo Japanese cult and terrorist group. The narrative is very jumpy from the start with the introduction of the protagonists and the action unfolds in small chapters, which lack any clear segways. This novel is a very terse or abruptly recounted story segments combined with a strong underlying theme of alcohol dependency, making it a less enjoyable read, with a disappointing two and a half stars read rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement. With thanks to Black Rose Writing and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes.

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This is a book with a good premise but I DNF at 20% as the book needs another round of edits:
- too much description compared to action and the description doesn’t serve much purpose other than backstory/filler. I started skimming.
- too many characters to keep track of and I wasn’t sure who were essential to the plot. I get that we’ve got Adam and his buddies and The One and his cult members but there are lots of others as well.
- the writing style is very choppy with lots of clauses punctuated as sentences rather than flowing/drawing me in.
- I struggled to relate to the very heavy drinking culture of the US Navy where everyone is an alcoholic.
- Adam’s treatment of Keiko is horrible and lost my sympathy for him

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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This uses the psychological thriller element perfectly to tell the story and was hooked from the first page. It uses the terrorist group in a way that worked and had characters that were realistic for the story. James Cox was able to weave a story perfectly and hope to read more.

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