Synopsis
A love story that explores the mechanics of the heart and humankind’s inevitable evolution. One Love Chigusa by Soji Shimada, one of Japan’s most famous authors, is a tale of obsessive love in a world where technology has crept into the very heart of humanity.
The year is 2091 AD. A horrendous motorcycle accident leaves Xie Hoyu coming to terms with his new cybernetic body.
Reconstructed from the latest biomechanical prosthetics, he is discharged from hospital and tries to return to his life as an illustrator after many weeks in recovery.
While surgery saves his life, existence for Xie has lost all meaning. His saviour comes in the form of a girl with whom Xie falls hopelessly in love. But not all is as it seems.
Translated by Sir David Warren, a retired diplomat and former British ambassador to Japan, One Love Chigusa offers a glimpse into a possible future and questions the purpose of humanity in a manner that only Japan’s master of the postmodern whodunnit can do.
Acclaim
‘This captivating story skips nimbly from artificial intelligence to immortality to loneliness to a meditation on love that will leave you surprised and moved. A mini-masterpiece.’
South China Morning Post
‘Blade Runner meets Le Grandes Meaulnes, all wrapped up in a whodunnit written in an elegant and unsettling style. Boy meets girl, or does he… all is not as it seems. Better written and more engaging than a lot of the thrillers cluttering up the charts, this beautiful little book is very much a break from the norm.’
BookBrunch
‘Readers of Japanese mystery novels compare him with classic British authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.’
The Financial Times
‘The meaning of unconditional love is given a fresh if disturbing interpretation in this futuristic tale from the pen of one of Japan’s most popular authors, Soji Shimada. In a heartless mechanical society, the book’s central character Xie Hoyu thinks he has finally found love following a motorcycle accident. But has he?’
Alex Pearl, author of The Chair Man
‘Shimada combines fantastic crimes with a logical and fair solution likely to stump even the most astute readers.’
Publishers Weekly
‘A strange brew – one with a taste that certain adventurous readers may be well pleased to savour.’
The Wall Street Journal, commenting on Murder in the Crooked House
‘Hugely entertaining… a brilliant and satisfying conclusion.’
Sunday Times, Best Crime Fiction Book of 2019, commenting on Murder in the Crooked House
‘Ignites the mind.’
Huffington Post, commenting on Murder in the Crooked House
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About Soji Shimada:Soji Shimada is the master of postmodern whodunnits who originally wanted to become a painter turned instead to reinventing the art of mystery writing. His debut novel, The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, now ranked among the top five best locked-room mysteries published worldwide, became an instant classic, transforming him into Japan’s Man of Mystery and one of the country's bestselling authors.A full list of the author's publications can be downloaded here as a PDF file.
