
Seesaw Monster
Kotaro Isaka(Author)
Harvill Secker (Publisher)
Published on 3. July 2025
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-1-78730-472-7 (ISBN)
Description
'Fascinating and thought provoking with some genuine surprises and incredibly clever ideas that kept me thinking about it long after I finished it... a Japanese Black Mirror!' Ajay Chowdhury, author of The Waiter
Some mother-in-laws are hard. This one might be murder.
Miyako suspects her mother-in-law is a murderer. It's not just a case of them rubbing each other up the wrong way - there is definitely something suspicious going on. But Miyako isn't exactly what she seems either. Her husband has no idea about her past life as a secret agent. When she decides to use her professional skills to investigate her mother-in-law, the delicate equilibrium of their lives is thrown wildly out of balance.
Many decades later, in a future world where electronic communication has been irrevocably compromised, confidential messages must be delivered by trusted couriers like Mito. But one delivery pulls Mito into a conspiracy beyond his wildest imaginings, and forces him into a race against time to defeat a world-changing technological threat.
Seesaw Monster contains two sharp, thrilling linked novellas - SEESAW MONSTER and SPIN MONSTER - from the bestselling and multi-award-winning writer Kotaro Isaka, internationally celebrated for his offbeat humour and inventive talent for twists.
PRAISE FOR KOTARO ISAKA:
'Unlike anything you're likely to have read before . . . white-hot with double-crosses' Financial Times
'Entertaining . . . high-speed . . . with lots of twists and turns' The Times
'Thoroughly enjoyable' Guardian
Some mother-in-laws are hard. This one might be murder.
Miyako suspects her mother-in-law is a murderer. It's not just a case of them rubbing each other up the wrong way - there is definitely something suspicious going on. But Miyako isn't exactly what she seems either. Her husband has no idea about her past life as a secret agent. When she decides to use her professional skills to investigate her mother-in-law, the delicate equilibrium of their lives is thrown wildly out of balance.
Many decades later, in a future world where electronic communication has been irrevocably compromised, confidential messages must be delivered by trusted couriers like Mito. But one delivery pulls Mito into a conspiracy beyond his wildest imaginings, and forces him into a race against time to defeat a world-changing technological threat.
Seesaw Monster contains two sharp, thrilling linked novellas - SEESAW MONSTER and SPIN MONSTER - from the bestselling and multi-award-winning writer Kotaro Isaka, internationally celebrated for his offbeat humour and inventive talent for twists.
PRAISE FOR KOTARO ISAKA:
'Unlike anything you're likely to have read before . . . white-hot with double-crosses' Financial Times
'Entertaining . . . high-speed . . . with lots of twists and turns' The Times
'Thoroughly enjoyable' Guardian
Reviews / Votes
Fascinating and thought provoking with some genuine surprises and incredibly clever ideas that kept me thinking about it long after I finished it... a Japanese Black Mirror! -- Ajay Chowdhury, author of THE WAITER Isaka's exceptional latest combines the author's flair for violent comic farce with an unsettling look at the near future. Isaka's talent for kinetic, hilarious carnage is on full display, and it's fortified with philosophical depth and surprisingly potent ruminations on the nature of fate. This ranks among the author's best * Publishers Weekly * Thoroughly enjoyable * Guardian, on BULLET TRAIN * Unlike anything you're likely to have read before...white-hot with double-crosses * Financial Times, on BULLET TRAIN * Entertaining...high-speed...with lots of twists and turns...it has a Tarantino-meets-the-Coen-Brothers feel to it * The Times, on BULLET TRAIN * An offbeat but touching thriller, with a wonderful final twist * Mail on Sunday, on THE MANTIS *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 237 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
560 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78730-472-7 (9781787304727)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions


E-Book
07/2025
Vintage Digital
€12.99
Available for download
Persons
Kotaro Isaka (Author)
Kotaro Isaka is a bestselling and multi-award-winning writer who is published around the world. He has won the Shincho Mystery Club Award, Mystery Writers of Japan Award, Japan Booksellers' Award and the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize and fourteen of his books have been adapted for film or TV. He is the author of the international bestseller Bullet Train, which was made into a major film starring Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock.
Sam Malissa (Translator)
Sam Malissa holds a PhD in Japanese Literature from Yale University. He has translated fiction by Toshiki Okada, Shun Medoruma, and Hideo Furukawa, among others.
Kotaro Isaka is a bestselling and multi-award-winning writer who is published around the world. He has won the Shincho Mystery Club Award, Mystery Writers of Japan Award, Japan Booksellers' Award and the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize and fourteen of his books have been adapted for film or TV. He is the author of the international bestseller Bullet Train, which was made into a major film starring Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock.
Sam Malissa (Translator)
Sam Malissa holds a PhD in Japanese Literature from Yale University. He has translated fiction by Toshiki Okada, Shun Medoruma, and Hideo Furukawa, among others.