BookBrowse Reviews The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani, Sam Bett

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Two women from vastly different worlds struggle to free themselves from the grip of the yakuza in this breakneck thriller.

When Yoriko Shindo gets into a brawl on a busy street in 1970s Tokyo, she has no idea what the repercussions will be. Her fighting catches the attention of the Naiki-kai, a branch of the Japanese organized crime syndicate known as the yakuza, and she is kidnapped. After a failed escape attempt, they give her a choice—die, or work for them as the bodyguard and chauffer of Shoko Naiki, the boss's daughter. The eighteen-year-old Shoko lives in a world completely controlled by her father. Everything from the clothing she wears to the classes she takes must meet with his approval, a deceptively tenuous position that leaves her incredibly isolated and ignorant of much of the world around her. The two women initially clash, but as they navigate the dangerous world they've found themselves trapped in, understanding grows and then develops into something more.

The Night of Baba Yaga definitely earns the thriller tag—it's hard to put down. The casual violence at the beginning, when Shindo is trying to escape the men who have beaten and kidnapped her, establishes the very real danger she is in. The fight scenes are often sudden and brutal, while the scenes between Shindo and Shoko have a different sort of tension, as the women feel each other out and Shoko deals with the emotional trauma of being abandoned by her mother and being forced into an engagement with a man described as a "torture freak." Whereas in a longer book the constant tension might have been too much, in a novel of just over 200 pages it's perfect.

The short length and fast-paced plot make it a quick read. But despite how fast I finished it, I can tell it's a story that will be sticking with me for a long time. Shindo and Shoko are the main focus, with the other characters coming across as one-dimensional in comparison. The entire book simmers with Shindo's anger, mostly kept just beneath the surface. Shoko's story and character are revealed more gradually, as Shindo learns more about her and becomes more enamored. Otani explores questions of gender and freedom. While with the yakuza, their gender expression is rigidly enforced—particularly for Shoko, as so much of her life is under her father's direct control. Shindo, on the other hand, is constantly insulted for not conforming to stereotypes about women and reminded that the men around her see her as inferior because of her sex. As one character tells her, "Men in this line of work would trust a beggar or a thief over the Virgin Mary, just because he was another guy." Going on the run means escaping those narrowly prescribed limits, allowing them to do as they please without having to defend themselves or even put their gender identity or relationship into words.

Otani's prose is tight and sharp, conveying a great deal with short, blunt sentences. The fight scenes in particular are very well-written, capturing both the allure violence holds for Shindo and her desperation. At times I felt they crossed the line from brutal into gruesome, but I thought this added to rather than detracted from the impact of the story. The book's translation by Sam Bett is excellent as well, and untranslated Japanese terms are provided with a clear and concise definition in a footnote. I highly recommend The Night of Baba Yaga to fans of thrillers, especially those focused on martial arts or organized crime, as well as readers looking to branch out into the genre.

This review first ran in the July 17, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.