Customer Reviews

Dreaming Pachinko

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The title did catch my eye, and this is the first chance I have had to read Isaac Adamson, but I can promise you it will not be the last. Adamson takes you down a very intriging and winding path of magazine reporter Billy Chaka beginning with a Japanese Teen Idol, a beautiful girl, her friend, and enemies going back 60 years. The novel is as ingriging as it is a entertaining. The look at Tokyo is wonderful, and will suprise, and educate you at every turn. This lightning fast adventure will keep you turning pages, and staying up much later than you planned.

This is considerably more gloomy, with images of fire-bombed Tokyo, suicide, and unhappy lives lived. I'm not squeemish about such topics, but I had hoped they would be underlined with the same humor and intelligence as his prior efforts, Tokyo Suckerpuch and Hokkaido Popsicle. Unfortunately, the story feels more forced, and the humor is lacking, though not entirely absent. If you liked the previous two, get this one as well, but hold out hope that the next Billy Chaka adventure returns to his prior excitement.

i consider myself warned by tzadik but i couldn't pass up a billy chaka book. i loved the first two, tokyo suckerpunch and hokkaido popsicle, but i agree this one lacked some of the color and flavor. in addition to the gloomy setting and unhappy characters i also felt it dragged in a lot of places, i had gotten used to billy being whisked away every other page but instead he did a lot of thinking and sitting around. i also missed the butt kicking action! is billy chaka getting too old to fight? not once did he defend himself and by the end it was getting downright depressing. i already have kinki lullaby, and i'm really hoping he brings back some of the humor and action!

This book is pretty darn good! It was my least favorite of Isaac Adamson's books, but still was awesome. He's such a fun author. I recommend all of his books, because he's just got a way about him that brings characters and situations alive. I love how vivid things become in my imagination with his books!

I purchased this while on a schoool trip to New York, and found it moderately entertaining. I have no idea how accurate a portrayal of Tokyo it is (have to pester my friend about that...) and frankly I don't care... it's a fun, easy read and an even better re-read. The complete story line is some what forgettable, but the characters aren't. If you want a realistic portrayal of Japanese culture then this probably isn't for you, but if you want to slaughter a few helplesss hours with an entertaining mystery story read this one, chances are, you won't be disappointed.

Dreaming Pachinko is clearly Adamson's finest outing to date. Building on characters introduced in Suckerpunch and Popsicle, Pachinko features a dense, suspenseful mystery, intertwined with the usual colorful, feaky, oddball characters we are used to seeing in Adamson's Japan. Read the book in three days while on vacation. Great summer reading. Great in the fall, winter or spring too!!