Evil and the Mask, Fuminori Nakamura
Evil and the Mask, Fuminori Nakamura
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Evil and the Mask

Author: Fuminori Nakamura, Satoko Izumo, Stephen Coates

Narrator: Kirby Heyborne

Unabridged: 9 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/11/2013

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

The second book by prize-winning Japanese novelist Fuminori Nakamura to be available in English translation, a follow-up to 2012's critically acclaimed The Thief—another fantastically creepy, electric literary thriller that explores the limits of human depravity—and the powerful human instinct to resist evil. When Fumihiro Kuki is eleven years old, his elderly, enigmatic father calls him into his study for a meeting. "I created you to be a cancer on the world," his father tells him. It is a tradition in their wealthy family: a patriarch, when reaching the end of his life, will beget one last child to dedicate to causing misery in a world that cannot be controlled or saved. From this point on, Fumihiro will be specially educated to learn to create as much destruction and unhappiness in the world around him as a single person can. Between his education in hedonism and his family's resources, Fumihiro's life is one without repercussions. Every door is open to him, for he need obey no laws and may live out any fantasy he might have, no matter how many people are hurt in the process. But as his education progresses, Fumihiro begins to question his father's mandate, and starts to resist.

About Fuminori Nakamura

Fuminori Nakamura has won numerous prizes for his writing, including Japan’s prestigious Ōe Prize; the David L. Goodis Award for Noir Fiction; and the Akutagawa Prize. The Thief, his first novel to be translated into English, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His other novels include Cult X, The Gun, The Kingdom, Evil and the Mask, The Boy in the Earth, My Annihilation, and Last Winter, We Parted. He was born in 1977 and graduated from Fukushima University in 2000.

About Kirby Heyborne

Kirby Heyborne is a musician, actor, and professional narrator. Noted for his work in teen and juvenile audio, he has garnered over twenty Earphones Awards. His audiobook credits include Jesse Kellerman’s The Genius, Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, and George R. R. Martin’s Selections from Dreamsongs.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tim on June 09, 2019

"Happiness is a fortress." When Fumihiro Kuki is eleven years old, his father revealed a secret to him. He has many hopes for his son, but not in the way most fathers do. "I created you to be a cancer on the world," he tells him, and he means it. He wanted a child for the sole purpose of making the w......more

Goodreads review by Mizuki on July 06, 2020

So...at the end of the day, this book is a less annoying, less long-winded version of Journey Under the Midnight Sun I guess?  “Happiness is a fortress. Because happiness is an enclosed space only a lucky few can enjoy, the lucky few who can turn a blind eye to people like you, people with pain......more

Goodreads review by Brenda on March 15, 2018

More than anything this is a novel of introspection and philosophy, not terrorism or murder or sabotage. It started out making me believe it would be a novel about a killer—a man who kills when and where he wants without any preamble. Instead, it was way more of our main character thinking about how......more

Goodreads review by Meltem on November 21, 2021

Yazar bu romanında da ilk romanı Hırsız’daki gibi temel ilkeleri ve etik değerleri tartışıyor. Oldukça ilginç bir konusu, akıcı anlatımı ve güzel bir kurgusu var. İlk romanı Hırsız gibi bu romanı da etkileyici ve bir o kadar da dikkatle okunması gereken bir roman. Sanırım yıllar sonra, Hırsız romanı......more

Goodreads review by Bella Azam on February 14, 2024

Book 6 January in Japan I understand why this is so great. Its mindblowingly good with complex intense psychological games that wowed me from the beginning until the end. The end left a bittersweet note, a touch of hope at the end of a dark time or aptly said a new beginning for Fumihiro/Shintani. 🥺🥺......more


Quotes

“Cryptic detectives, smoky nightclubs, and murky streets in Japanese suburbs add to the noir sensibility. At times bizarre, at times hallucinatory, the story is always provocative.” Publishers Weekly

“Kirby Heyborne’s powerful performance conveys the sense of foreboding and spine-tingling electricity in award-winning Japanese novelist Nakamura’s second novel. When he is eleven years old, Fumihiro Kuki’s father tells him he created him to be ‘a cancer on the world.’…As the boy plots and executes the perfect crime, Heyborne’s pacing is spot-on, and his tone is just creepy enough to keep listeners riveted. Heyborne delivers each moment of the complex story with conviction, drawing listeners into Fumihiro’s lifelong attempts to free himself from his father's curse.” AudioFile

“This literary thriller steeps the reader in humanity’s dark nature and the struggle of those who try to resist their own moral corruption. Fans of such Japanese writers as Miyuki Miyabe (Shadow Family), Natsuo Kirino (Out; Grotesque), and Keigo Higashino (The Devotion of Suspect X) will enjoy reading Nakamura.” Library Journal