قصة الكتاب :
Shinchōsha (Shinchō Bunko), 2011. Vol. I: 432 pp. ¥590. ISBN 978-
4-10-134719-6. Vol. II: 400 pp. ¥552. ISBN 978-4-10-134720-2.
Originally published by Hayakawa Shobō, 1993.
Takamura Kaoru
Born in 1953. Won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award and the
Japan Adventure Fiction Association Award for Ribiera o ute [Shoot
at the Riviera] in 1993. In that same year she took the Naoki Prize
for Mākusu no yama. Also received the Mainichi Publishing Culture
Award in 1998 for Redī jōkā [Lady Joker], the Shinran Award in
2006 for Shin Ria Ō [New King Lear], and the Yomiuri Literature
Prize in 2010 for Taiyō o hiku uma [The Horse that Pulls the Sun].

A deeply troubled youth, haunted by images of a dark mountain, goes on repeated
irrational, murderous rampages. On the trail of the murderer is Detective Gōda
of the Metropolitan Police Department, who carries out the investigation with
dogged persistence.
Everything goes back to a family suicide that took place in 1976 on Kitadake,
Japan’s second highest peak. The youth, Mizusawa, was the only survivor of the
tragedy, but with almost no memory of the past he abandons himself to a nihilistic
existence. Neither his understanding foster parents nor his lover, who tries
her best to support him, can drive away his demons. Mizusawa chanced upon the
secret of a serious crime committed in the past and tries to blackmail the perpetrators,
who have escaped punishment and gone on to take positions of power. However,
his plan is far from successful, and he ends up setting not just his own life
but also those of many others on the path to tragedy.
The story has more than its share of horrors and unfolds at a rapid clip, throwing
up questions one after another. It depicts the tension between the criminal
and the detective, the various frictions within the police force, and the arrogance
and corruption of those in power who bring pressure to bear on the investigation.
Takamura’s writing is both elaborate and dynamic, and her consummate skill elevates
the novel far beyond the genre of mystery. This is a masterly work that looks
straight at the abyss of contemporary society. (NK)