Isolation

Author Christopher Belton, a man who has lived in Japan for more than a quarter of a century, gets to the heart of the Japanese character in this book and, along with presenting a thrilling story that will chill the reader to his very marrow, makes some quite interesting observations about a country that so fascinates the West. The novel is fast-paced, ambitiously large, and exceedingly well-written. Isolation is a big book, with exceptionally substantial themes and coverage of quite giant-scale events. This is a technothriller that will keep the reader awake all night turning its pages, a book of the type Robin Cook used to write-a story about elements in a civilized society who run amuck, creating havoc. Isolation is also a story about courageous human beings who hurl themselves into the breach to save endangered others. This is a fine book by a fine writer, well-known in Japan for his nonfiction writing there.