First published 2008
Aiko Matsushima was always a loner, even during her childhood at the orphanage. When Misae, her former supervisor, encounters Aiko years later, she feels pity for the seemingly lonely woman. Misae now lives with Minoru, once a child at the same institution who became a carpenter. Their reunion proves fatal. Aiko sets fire to their apartment, killing them both. Before dying, Misae remembers another victim, student Sakura Inoue, who also perished in an arson attack. Aiko's murderous campaign stems from a brutal past that began in Tokyo's poorest districts, where she endured childhood in a brothel before working as a prostitute and hotel maid. The world's cruelty and indifference shaped her until evil awakened within her. Now she shows no mercy to those who cross her path. Kirino chronicles this vengeful rampage while exposing the tragic circumstances that created a killer, revealing how systematic abuse can transform a damaged soul into an instrument of destruction.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, abuse, crime, psychological-thriller, dark
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: damaged-protagonist, revenge, tragic-backstory
Setting: Tokyo
Period: 20th-century
224 pages · Hardcover · Goldmann Verlag
Content warnings: abuse, child-abuse, physical-abuse, sexual-assault