The Mantis by Kōtarō Isaka

The Mantis by Kōtarō Isaka
UK Publication: November 2023
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]

This ARC was provided by Random House UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Is it time to start preying?

Synopsis from Goodreads: From the internationally bestselling author of Bullet Train and Three Assassins, a propulsive new thriller set in Tokyo’s criminal underworld about the intrigue and tensions a family man faces as he tries to hide his secret life as a hitman.

Kabuto is a highly skilled assassin eager to escape his dangerous profession and the hold his handler, the sinister Doctor, has over him. The Doctor, a real physician who hands over Kabuto’s targets as “prescriptions” in his regular appointments with him, doesn’t want to lose Kabuto as a profitable asset, but he agrees to let him pay his way out of his employment with a few last jobs. Only the most lucrative jobs involve taking out other professional assassins, and Kabuto’s final assignment puts him and his family—who have no idea about his double life—in danger.

The third book in a loose trilogy set in Kotaro Isaka’s imagined Tokyo criminal underworld, The Mantis features all the hallmarks of his work that readers have come to crave—assassins with quirky codenames and modi operandi, page-turning action sequences, madcap energy, and razor-sharp humor—making the novel a frenetic, unputdownable read that hurtles readers toward a thrilling climax.

My Thoughts:  I love the world of Bullet Train so every time Isaka decides to take his readers back to this world I am there for the trip.

It does have to be said however that The Mantis is a very different book from the others set in this world. This time the focus narrows to one assassin The Mantis who as a husband and a father is looking to escape from the world of the professional assassin, something he knows will come with a great personal cost. In the end The Mantis must decide if he can live with continuing his life of killing or if he will make the ultimate sacrifice.

The humour in this book comes from the fact that the ice cold killer known as The Mantis is terrified of upsetting his, he is lonely and looking for friendship and his fights with the Hornets that set up home in his garden.

This is a much slower paced novel than I have come to expect from Isaka but it was still highly entertaining while at the same time exploring the human side of professional killers.

Who would like this? If you like the other books and are up for a slow paced, character focussed story then give this a go. If you are only interested in high octave murder and mayhem this may not be the book for you.

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