Missing in Tokyo [Hardcover]

Graham Marks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2006

When his older sister Charlie vanishes while traveling through Asia, seventeen-year-old Adam decides he can do more to find her than the nonchalant police and his distraught parents. Without telling his family, he boards a plane for Tokyo. He suspects Charlie may have been involved in the twilight world of bar "hostessing"--or worse. With help from new friends, especially the intriguing and beautiful Aiko, Adam prowls the town. His search ultimately leads him to Tokyo's underbelly of gangsters and drug dealers. Will he learn the truth about his sister's disappearance before it's too late?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–A phone call in the middle of the night to Adam's parents changes their lives. His older sister, Charlie, is missing in Tokyo. According to Alice, her best friend and traveling companion, Charlie left Bar Belle with a male customer, never to be seen again. To make matters worse, Adam knew that his sister was working as a hostess in a gentleman's club and never shared that information with his parents. To the police, this omission looks suspicious. Frustrated with the lack of progress in the investigation, the teen, unbeknownst to his parents, jets off to the back alleys of Tokyo to find out what happened to his sister. When he catches a glimpse of Alice, she runs away from him. Confused and overwhelmed by her reaction, he decides to drown his sorrows in a local bar. The next morning he wakes up in the bed of beautiful Aiko, whom he immediately enlists in his search. A passionate relationship ensues. As the pieces of his sister's disappearance begin to fall into place, the teen finds himself mixed up in a kidnapping, the Japanese Mafia, and the Tokyo drug scene. The plot twists and turns in this fast-paced, intriguing novel that will keep readers guessing.–Angela M. Boccuzzi-Reichert, Merton Williams' Middle School, Hilton, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 10-12. Even teens who disdain youth thrillers in favor of grittier adult fare may make an exception for this noir-tinged novel, by the author of How It Works (2004) and others. When his older sister disappears in Tokyo, London teen Adam flies to Japan to track her down. Staggered by the city's neon-lit sprawl and certain that his trip will prove a "dubious act of rank stupidity," Adam drinks himself "rat-arsed" at a bar, awakening nude beside gorgeous Aiko. Her halting English ("We be fine, Adam. Trus me") helps him to more effectively trace his sister's connections to Tokyo's seamy underbelly, a journey that takes him along unexpected paths that force him to recognize the fine line between hubris and heroism. Aiko, characterized mostly by her willingness to have "endless sex" (most of which takes place offscreen), never rises above a stock, study-abroad fantasy, and the novel doesn't smoothly reconcile its action-adventure and travelogue impulses--though readers obsessed with Japanese pop culture will appreciate the latter, especially chapter headings ("Flavorous and delicious communication") inspired by real "Janglish" found on Tokyo signs. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158234907X
• ISBN-13: 978-1582349077
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,257,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars british english is great, May 5, 2008

By 

Akira Touya (Berlin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Missing in Tokyo (Hardcover)

this book is great anyway; it has a good plot and good subplots and it has nice characters. but it also is set partly in the UK and mostly in japan so you get japan from a UK perspective instead of a USA one. (and the british english is enjoyable to read as well.)