BOOK REVIEWS

"A fearless blend of thriller, love story and sharp lesson in cultural mistrust, Setlowe's latest novel delves potently and with frightening immediacy into Asian nationalism and politics."

— Publishers Weekly     (read the complete review)

"Imagine Memoirs of a Geisha only fast-forwarded to the Vietnam era and told from the point of view of an American customer, who finds he must then re-examine the story thirty years later in the middle of a deadly episode of international business intrigue. This rather dizzying concept is only the frame on which Richard Setlowe weaves an intricate narrative that is both moving and powerful."

— Marianne Wesson, author of Render Up the Body

"…the American must confront what happened in the past--a haunting love affair with a nightclub hostess who had her own history of pain—and its legacy in the present: a half-century of Japanese hatred and jealousy…"

— Ronnie H. Terpening, Library Journal     (read the complete review)

"Richard Setlowe's The Sexual Occupation of Japan takes off where Michael Crichton's Rising Sun left off. Masquerading as a thriller, this is a layered story of how love, hate, mistakes and good deeds can cause ripples across time and history."

— Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

"The Sexual Occupation of Japan is an outstanding thriller, rivaling Michael Crichton in topicality, LeCarre in authority, and Martin Cruz Smith in emotional depth. This is a Casablanca for the '90's."

— Les Standiford, author of Havana Run

"First-rate melodrama about the globalization of entertainment and communications networks, not to mention intellectual and spiritual maturity in high finance…Lucky readers who first discover Setlowe here (The Black Sea, etc.) will delight in knowing that some thrillers can be great fun and for grownups at the same time."

— Kirkus Reviews    (read the complete review)