Summary:
Kawashima Masayuki is a successful graphic designer living in Tokyo with his loving wife, Yoko, and their baby girl. Outwardly, their lives are a picture of happiness and contentment, but every night while his wife sleeps Kawashima creeps from his bed and watches over the baby's crib with an ice pick in his hand and an almost visceral desire to use it.
One particular night, as this struggle unfolds once more, Kawashima makes a decision to confront his demons, and sets into motion an uncomfortable chain of events seeming to lead inexorably to murder.
My Thoughts:
This book kind of reminds me of American Psycho. Kawashima has the intrusive thoughts to use the ice pick on his baby, but is able to refrain from doing so. In an effort to make those thoughts go away, he decides to leave town and use it on someone else. Kawashima has stabbed someone before, which is what lead him to this conclusion. However, the person he selects to be his victim is just as twisted - if not more - than himself.
The novel starts off a bit slow, and it shows the main character's descent into madness throughout. Halfway through, it does switch to the point of view of the would-be victim. I think it was a good move to make them a similar level of crazy as the main character instead of just the cookie-cutter victim. It made things a lot more interesting, and it's what sold the ending for me.
My Rating: 4 stars
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