I enjoyed this, not quite what I was expecting but brilliant and glad I got to read a copy.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I have to admit that I didn’t love the authors last book that much so I have been putting this one off. I really regret it though. I loved this so much.

Despite the nature of his work, Kabuto is such a lovely man, I felt for him so bad, none of this seems to have been his fault. I also felt for his wife - she didn’t seem to know of her behaviour, and his son seemed so rounded - so caring, so insightful of his parents relationship.

I had a mix of emotions during this book, amusement, joy, sadness and a lot of tension obviously!

Just fabulous. The translation by Sam Malissa was fantastic, and really captures the story perfectly.

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kabuto appears to live a quiet and humble life with his wife and son. But his quiet life is not quite what it seems. For he is a hired assassin. Desperate to leave this work behind he keeps trying to leave, but the enforcer, aka the Doctor, isn't accepting his resignation.

The action builds to a really interesting and sad climax, but what I loved most about this story was its quirkiness. A hired assassin who shows no fear when taking out targets, Kabuto is however scared of his wife's disapproval and spends his life trying to appease her. There is also a beautiful relationship with his son who sees the dynamics of his parents relationship more clearly than his father expected.

A thriller but more of a human interest story, the Mantis is wryly amusing, asks philosophical questions and is a really interesting read.

The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka is a story set in Tokyo. The main character, Kabuto, leads a double life as a family man and a "reluctant" assassin. The book starts with Kabuto arriving late from "work" and being mindful not to disturb his family. We are introduced to the caring nature of a man who prioritises the welfare of his family and will go to great lengths to protect them. Kabuto is also an assassin to provide for his family. After 20 years of duplicitous living, Kabuto decides to go straight, but his handler, the doctor, has other ideas.
I have read the Bullet Train and Three Assasins by Kotaro Isaka and expect some action and quirky humour. This book delivers on both fronts. Characters and events from the previous books are mentioned. The Mantis can be read as a standalone, or if you like the style of writing, then The Bullet Train and Three Assasins are well worth a read.
The plot, twist and surprise towards the end of The Mantis make this an enjoyable and engaging book. I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, I was unable to download this book before it was archived and so am leaving this as a review/explanation. I have already bought a copy and will leave a review on places like Amazon, Goodreads, Waterstones, etc, once I've completed it and formed my thoughts on it. Apologies for any inconvenience and thank you for the opportunity.

Another masterpiece from the author of 'Bullet Train'. This time, the focus is on The Mantis, a hired assassin who wants to get out of the business, determined to make sure that his 'handler' aka The Doctor lets him go. With a nagging wife and a moody teenage son, Kabuto just wants a quiet life, but nothing ever goes to plan, does it?

More introspective than the previous couple of novels, for me the power of the book comes from the very human characters at the heart of the book. Halfway through there is a shift, as we change narrative perspectives (as a result of something that happens - no spoilers here!).

This is an engaging and involving human story, one that had me emotionally invested in the characters. Isaka has proved himself adept at writing a very different kind of 'assassin novel', and this excellently translated book certainly deserves the attention of anyone who enjoyed his previous two translated works. Definitely a 5 star book.


(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title)

Having thoroughly enjoyed both “Three Assassins” and “Bullet Train”, I had high hopes going into this third instalment and wasn’t disappointed!

This time, the focus is on assassin Kabuto, who must deal with the demands of his profession while keeping the truth from his wife and son. Tired of being disrespected at home and worrying about the new generation coming through, he decides to tell his “Doctor” (aka his handler) that he no longer wants any surgeries (aka targets), only to be reminded that getting out of the game isn’t that easy. As he finds himself taking on some supposedly final few jobs, he comes to realise what is most important in his life.

I so enjoyed this title, and loved the relationship between Kabuto and his son. The character of the Doctor was also fascinating, and I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the book. As before, the plot is very well paced and builds to a very satisfying conclusion. I very much hope there is a next in the series!

I enjoyed this book but I was quite slow and needed a bit more action.

I loved the main character, I found him funny and different to the other assassins this author has written.

Overall an enjoyable read!

Rating 3.5 stars

This novel took far too long to get going. Far too much was taken up with the protagonist appeasing his wife rather than following him being an assassin and interacting with his handler.

The ending was good though but as I said it took far too long to get there.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

If you've read Kotaro Isaka's work before, you'll associate him with high-octane thrillers. Perhaps his best known work was Bullet Train, which was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt. The book (I'm yet to watch the film) is explosive - fight scenes, explosions, etc. It's the kind of thing you can imagine being made into a high-octane movie, which it unsurprisingly was.

The author's second novel to be translated into English, Three Assassins, I have yet to read. So, I came to The Mantis expecting something like Bullet Train. But actually The Mantis is so much more.

Don't get me wrong, this novel does happen in the "cinematic universe" of Bullet Train. It is a far-fetched tale, set in a fictional South Korea which is full of assassins who have almost super hero abilities/skills.

But this novel focuses on just one assassin, The Mantis, who wants out of the life. And it delves much more into this one character's family life. We get a much more deeper story as a result and the characterisation of The Mantis and his son (who isn't an assassin) is teased out.

The result is a surprisingly humane and touching story. There's still all the action and the thrills, but with a lot more added depth.

I loved Bullet train. I thought it was funny and well-crafted, so I immediately jumped at the chance to request this book from NetGalley.
I was slightly disappointed, but perhaps that's just due to my expectations from the author given the prior book.
In The Mantis, Kabuto is a killer working for The Doctor, but he wants to get out. He can't, though, as the Doctor keeps telling him he needs to pay off his debt. The scenes with the doctor get intermixed with Kabuto's "real" life with his wife (that he seems scared of annoying) and son (who's aware of his father's behaviour towards his mother).
The book is well paced and the story is ok. For me the issue was that it was so different from the previous one. Considering this is supposed to be the third book in a trilogy (with Bullet train being also part of the trilogy), this sudden change was disappointing. But the story is still entertaining and worth a read (with a mystery for you to solve while you read the book).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

For me, The Mantis is equivalent to The Godfather 3, a decent and enjoyable enough attempt that fares far better than any average ones that populate the genre that it belongs to but is never able to attain the high benchmark that the previous installments already set.

Thoroughly enjoyable. I read Bullet Train which was absolutely fantastic and this tale of a hitman balancing his additional job with his family life is every bit as good if a bit less manic. The slightly slower pace doesn't detract from the storyline in the slightest.

This is the third Assassins story I have read by Kotaro Isaka and it is just as readable and enjoyable as the earlier two. Not as madcap as Bullet Train, The Mantis has more of a family story and has some very touching moments while still keeping the feel of the other books in this loose trilogy. Loads of fun with fantastic characters and great plot.

I absolutely adored Bullet Train and Three Assassins and couldn't wait to get my hands on The Mantis.
Kabuto is an assassin for hire, to everyone else including his family he's an ordinary guy working in a office supply unit.
Kabuto wants out, he's tired of living a double life and just wants to spend more time with his wife and son but his handler has made it perfectly clear that's never going to happen.
There is one hell of a twist about half way through the book that had me gasping.
Another brilliantly executed translation of the story.

I really enjoyed Bullet Train when I read it a while back. I also enjoyed the film which makes a change too! So I was quite excited to get my mitts on this, the third in the Assassins Series. Ok so I haven't read the first book, Three Assassins, which is also billed as a follow up to book 2 so I really don't think it matters about reading in order! I've also seen it billed as a "loose trilogy" so I guess just three books set in the same sort of world that you can just read in any order.
Anyway... in this book we meet Kabuto who is a highly skilled, well respected assassin. He receives his missions from the Doctor with whom he has Appointments. The details are coded in Medical Speak and other information displayed on Medical Charts. All rather impressive I thought!
He is also a family man with a young son whose life he is missing out on due to his real employment. It is also getting trickier to explain his absences to his wife, who he is scared of, as his real job is a bit on the boring side. So, he wants out. Except, obviously, it's not that simple. But he does get them to agree to just one more assignment. But this one is taking down a fellow assassin. One that, well, might be a bit tricky, but I'll leave you to find out for yourself...
I loved this book. I pretty much raced through it from start to finish in a day. It's not that long to be fair, but also it seemed to just read itself off the page with me having to make little effort. Which, apart from being kudos indeed to the author, also makes me speak highly of the translation. To be honest, I actually forgot I wasn't reading a book written in a native language.
I also took to Kabuto right from the off. Yes I know, he's a trained killer, but he is also a cracking character with many many endearing features. His wife, notsomuch. Bit of a cow all told, and his son, who idolises his father and tries to stand up for him in the family, well, he was a smasher.
And the story had me laughing, crying, and all things in between, It was a little emotional at times I have to admit. But that's probably cos I was well invested in the wonderful characters.
And the ending... brilliant. But again, you'll have to read the book to see if you'll agree with me. I hope you do.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I loved this. The Bullet Train author is still writing about assassins in his quirky way.
Kabuto is a reluctant assassin trying to quit the business. His handler "The Doctor" informs him, every time he states that he wants out, that he has to earn more money to repay the investment in him. All Kabuto wants is to be at home with his beloved wife and son.
Written between ten years before and the now from his son's point of view, it's an interesting view on how long things remain dangerous.
A good read and I loved the references to characters in Bullet Train.

The book tells the story of an assassin who struggles balancing his personal and "professional" lives, culminating in struggles with retirement and the threats to his family associated with it. If it sounds like 100 movies you watched or heard about dealing with this topic - that's because this is exactly it.

There are some parts to the story that try to be refreshing - the contrast between the protagonist's professional persona and his private one, the complex relationships between our protagonist and his ageing peers, etc. The pacing of the book is quite good - while nothing surprising happens, the flow of events is tight and it's difficult to get bored. At a stretch, one could also argue that the description of the protagonist and the sacrifices he was willing to make quite moving.

That being said, there is much more to dislike about this book than to like. First of all, the extreme chauvinism and mysoginy embedded in the description of the progagonist's relationship with his wife is so galling that I genuinely considered stopping reading after 50 pages. While I wondered at first whether this was made for some unexplained purpose, it quickly became obvious, after reading about a few more relationships mirroring this one, that the author seems to have an axe grind to women (even of not some - most).

Secondly, the banality and predictability of the story are shameful. I felt this was literally like so many books and movies I remember. There was nothing new, innovative, interesting, ground-breaking or memorable here (other the misoginy perhaps).

Finally, the writing itself was just uneventful - the language was pedestrian (and of course it's hard to say if it's the original or the translation), the setting (in Japan) had to meaningful impact on the events, and the dialogues felt stale.

I struggle to recommend it to anyone. Maybe if you've never read or seen anything about serial killers and their struggles to retire. A strong pass.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

The book has an intriguing premise: a man who is both a devoted husband/father and an accomplished assassin. How long can this tension be maintained?

The story is in 2 parts. The first part provides several ‘mini stories’ setting up our assassin’s relationship with his handler (the black humour medical speech here is fabulous) and successful work. The second part takes place 10 years later when his son is grown up and stumbles across an appointment card for the doctor-handler. What will happen here?

A good read although the 2 part structure may not be to everyone’s taste as the first part seems to meander without having a clear aim/goal/plot. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I adored Bullet Train and Three Assassin’s by Isaka and was excited when I learnt that his third novel, The Mantis, was due to be translated. I have to say it did not disappoint at all. Filled with Isaka’s usual style it does not loose much in translation. I found the idea of the main protagonist Kabuto being an assassin but more so him being a father and how one half of his life was so different from the other. Once again Isaka masterfully brings his characters to life and makes them relatable – a task that is perhaps not easy given they are trained killers for hire.

As I already said a lot of the tone, dry humour and characterisation is not lost by the wonderful translation. I adored seeing Kabuto struggle to keep his wife happy and have a peaceful home life juxtaposed to his work. The main thing that drew me initially to the Bullet Train novel and kept me hooked was this concept. The characters, while killers, are very human. I don’t mean they are well written (but they are!) but Isaka shows that these skilled killers have their own foibles and strengths. It makes you more sympathetic to a character that perhaps should be considered purely the villain.

The other thing that was enjoyable was the references to the other novels or rather events of them. It makes everything a bit more realistic and reminds you of the dangerous world these people live in. I also liked that towards the end we got a shift in perspective to Kabuto’s son and he found out more about his father.

I personally have no complaints for this one but I do think that some people may not like the changing of timeline but I personally enjoyed this with Kabuto reminiscing and the like. If you enjoy Japanese fiction or a good crime thriller this is one I think will appeal to you. A good dose of action and family life as well as endearing characters you are sure to remember.