My Goodreads Review: People Who Eat Darkness

People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo - and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up by Richard Lloyd Parry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I don't read -- or listen to -- a lot of true crime, but I bought this book for my dad a few years ago, & then recently saw it offered on Audible Channels. I'm glad I took the time with it, though the narrator's voice (clipped, matter-of-fact British) may have added to the experience.

This is a journalist's view of a fairly nasty serial killer case. That said, there isn't a lot of extreme graphic description, and what there is seems to be well documented. The Japanese setting was also a plus for me, since I know very little about the country (or its approach to law enforcement, which is very different from the U.S.). The primary focus is on lives and personalities, both the killer's and his victims' (and their families and friends).

I did feel as though there were some slow sections that might have been edited out, but it's hard to judge from audio. The carefully attributed, balanced viewpoint probably had something to do with this. Despite the sensational title, it's a reporter's narrative, not a thriller.



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