Last Winter, We Parted

Quotes

“Crime fiction that pushes past the bounds of genre, occupying its own nightmare realm…For Nakamura…guilt or innocence is not the issue; we are corrupted, complicit, just by living in society. The ties that bind, in other words, are rules beyond our making, rules that distance us not only from each other but also from ourselves.” Los Angeles Times

“In this creepy if elegantly crafted stand-alone from Nakamura, the narrator, a nameless young writer, gets assigned to pen an In Cold Blood–style exploration of Yudai Kiharazaka, a thirty-five-year-old Tokyo art photographer awaiting execution for burning two models to death…The more he learns, the greater his doubts about the case—and himself. As the shadow of a second writer begins to cloud the picture, and the story accelerates down the slippery slope separating love and obsession, the twisty—and twisted—turns it takes ambush narrator and reader alike.” Publishers Weekly

“In a story as claustrophobic as the prison cell housing its villain, a nameless, naïve writer struggles to maintain boundaries while researching the life of a death row prisoner…While the numerous narrative shifts require a fully engaged reader, the complex—and morally twisted—plot rewards with one unexpected punch after another.” Kirkus Reviews

“Nakamura’s writing is spare, taut, with riveting descriptions.” Cleveland Plain Dealer, praise for the author

“Nakamura’s prose is cut-to-the-bone lean, but it moves across the page with a seductive, even voluptuous agility.” Richmond Times-Dispatch, praise for the author

Awards

• Amazon Best Book of the Month