Time for another book review! I've been trying to 'unread' this book that I've been unable to put down no matter what I do: Facebook. It takes up a lot of my time and I'm just wasting brain cells reading about other people's lives. Which is really not healthy. I've been trying to wean myself off Instagram too, but it's one of my very important tools in getting motivated to go to the gym. I basically wake up and troll on the pages of my fitness motivators, but that's another story. I swore to myself to keep reading and continue on my games and books and stay away from social media. It's about time I kept a part of my life to myself and not announce it to the world. Although I still do blogging (of course) and post here and there, but I want to try to keep some aspects of my life private. But that doesn't mean I won't blog anymore. I mean, this is different. Social media is just making people... dumber. People post a lot of crap and such...

ANYWAY, I'm not here to ramble about Facebook. I'm here to talk about a book I have recently read, Tokyo Suckerpunch by Isaac Adamson:

 I bought this about three years ago back in the Philippines from Book Sale for approximately two bucks. And I just got around to reading it a couple weeks back. I may mention some spoilers and some detailed descriptions of the characters, so just be warned of that before you read on.

At first I thought this would be the basis of the movie Suckerpunch, but no. It's something totally different. It's about a youth magazine reporter, Billy Chaka, who goes to Japan to cover a handicapped martial arts event. Upon landing in Tokyo, he's supposed to meet a director friend of his, Sato Migusho, but he doesn't show up at their meeting place. After a flurry of fistfights, seeing the geisha of his dreams, and weird yakuza encounters, he finds out that Migusho was murdered.

On the back cover it says:

As the mystery deepens, Billy will start brawls in swanky corporate sex clubs,

be offered a golf membership by a secret religious order, meet a dog trained in

the ways of the Samurai, and race stolen motorcycles through the neon-choked streets

of Tokyo. Packed with enough over-the-top fists-flying action to make Jackie Chan

cry, and featuring the most lovably uncool hero since Austin Powers, this

hilarious send-up ins a pop culture potpourri of sub-epic proportion.

First impressions. I wasn't too fond of the whole fist fight scenarios. The author tries to make it sound epic, but it sometimes gets a little too... virtual. I mean, for me, the action seems a little like cartoons. Not anime, but cartoons. There's a difference. It's like Karate Kid with Jaden Smith, where some Westerner is trying to make a scene in the far east and making a mess of everything. Although in the book it says that he's fluent in Japanese, he will always be the white guy in an Asian country. He can never blend in. It's like a Hollywood action movie. The guy gets to land all the crazy punches, he gets hit here and there, but he's never really fatally damaged. Although he does in the later parts of the story, it's very predictable. Like you know he will get the upper hand eventually, and the guy tries to make it look cool. It's feels like it's all blown up.

Plus, in my opinion, the author never really built the character enough. It's hard to picture this guy in your mind because there's no physical description of him. It's hard to determine Billy's age, what he looks like, or any distinguishable characteristics, which is really powerful when reading a book. He did describe what he's wearing, but that doesn't really help much. Plus, he mentions it halfway down the book. He describes the other characters well, with the chauffeur, Orange Blossom, the Man in the Hat... but not the most important character of all. Which is unfortunate. I always wondered if he was in his late twenties, thirties, or too old. It was hard to put my finger on it.

Story-wise though, amidst all the 'sub-epic' action scenes, it does take you through a roller coaster of events. I like that in adventure books. I like getting to read about different scenarios and revelations, especially about elusive characters, in this case Orange Blossom. It does take you to some Hollywood cliches. It's like reading a movie, basically, but you're watching the movie as you go on, not like a book with a movie version.

What kind of ruined it for me was the whole concept of Orange Blossom and the mystery that shrouds her. It never really tied together something conclusive. I know most books aren't, and they're not supposed to, it's just a little weird to wrap my head around. And when I found out, it was like, that was what was so mysterious? It could've had a little more character development, a little more story, a little more purpose as to why she's needed. I was just as confused as Billy as to why and really?. 

Overall, I liked how Adamson wrote his novel. His way of writing is something I can relate to and something I definitely enjoy reading. I liked his wording and smart-ass comebacks and how he words Billy's thoughts. But the story just lacked substance. The whole murder mystery thing was okay, but the Orange Blossom mystery just left me feeling disappointed.

The gist: 5/10

It's like a good author writing a movie, and the one who's supposed to turn it into a film was an amateur, and this was the final product. It kind of left me wanting some more, like I want to search for a more refined story from the author. This is his first novel, I'll give him that, so maybe his next ones might have a little more something. I do have Kinki Lullaby, which I don't know if I'll ever read it. It's just a little flat for now, with some interesting stuff in between, but like I said, I hope his next ones are more refined.