PositiveThe Times Literary SupplementReaders of Don DeLillo’s Libra (1988) will appreciate how Peace overlays a persuasive conspiracy on to the historical facts. But, in a manner reminiscent of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 (2004), the mystery escapes resolution, and anyone drawn towards the crime’s dark star is destroyed by its gravity ... Despite its three-panelled structure, Tokyo Redux is a more straightforward crime procedural than the first two instalments of the trilogy. That may come as a disappointment to fans of the series, but for this reviewer it was a relief. While Peace admirably applies pressure to the form of genre fiction, aspiring towards poetry, his style can be excruciating ... it is often difficult to tell whether Peace wants us to read every word, or is inviting us to skim ... is likewise at times burdened by its style. It is a novel that, when describing a character getting on a plane, must tell us that it goes \'higher and higher, into the sky, up, up, up and away, away from the land\'. A Peace trademark, which presumably some find beautiful, is how the sentences seem to feel their way forwards, as if in a state of first draft...This technique isn’t reserved for peak moments, or when its halting pace matches the condition of the characters: it is everywhere ... While the books can often feel overwritten, at times they are oddly underwritten ... the most successful part of the trilogy. With the first two novels, the degree to which you like Peace’s style is the degree to which you’ll like the book. In the more restrained Tokyo Redux, the author has been able more directly and aggressively to pursue his broader historical themes, while drawing the reader into a compelling mystery. The Shimoyama case is perfect for exploring the shadowside of postwar Japan, where authority cannot be trusted, no one is who they seem, and if someone confesses to a crime, that means they didn’t do it.
