Ren is on a quest to find his sister’s killer, though he quickly comes to realize he didn’t know her nearly as well as he thought. That is to say, I expected a thriller going into the book-the beginning chapters set in motion the story of a grieving brother, come to the small town where his sister lived and was recently murdered. This is a book that perhaps was mis-billed for me. The farther he steps into Keiko’s life, the darker things become, until it isn’t clear that Ren himself will survive the trip unscathed. Ren stays in Akakawa, taking Keiko’s job and moving into her rooms in a local house. What should be a short trip to wrap up her affairs becomes an escape for Ren-an escape from the expectations and failures of his own relationships in Tokyo and into the life of the sister who hid so much from him over the last decade. Rainbirds follows Ren Ishida on his journey to the fictional, remote town of Akakawa in the wake of his sister’s murder. It’s what you do when you’re sad that can hurts you and those around you.” I’m grateful to Penguin Random House and LibraryThing for their generosity in providing a copy for me to review. I received a free version of Rainbirds on CD from Penguin Random House via LibraryThing.
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