Title: Conventional thriller displaying the author's ignorance
Product review: Though captivating in parts, the author's lack of knowledge concerning even the basics of physics (miniature nuclear devices hidden in computers! Aw, come on!), history, Japan and the Japanese, and his inability to shake off his all-pervasive American-centered view of the world, belie his professed attempt - in which he takes great pride - to offer an insider expert's view of Japanese society. Although Hiatt pokes a lot of fun at other so-called "expert opinions", ultimately he himself turns out to be not much better. As an aside: the contrived and therefore unwittingly hilarious sequence of events leading to the two protagonists finally having sex must be seen to be believed.Senior journalists need not necessarily turn out be good novel authors, as this book conclusively demonstrates.
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