In this taut, Highsmithian tale of psychological suspense, Jones visits physical and emotional landscapes similar to those of her prize-winning debut novel, The Earthquake Bird. Young Japanese schoolteacher Runa Wada has an illicit affair with one of her 16-year-old students. After a photo of the two leaving a hotel arrives in her mail, Runa knows that the affair and her career are finished, and she decides to flee to China. Runa, who sees herself as the victim of a repressive, sexist society, is childish, selfish and irresponsible. In a parallel plot, Englishman Ralph Turnpike arrives in Japan to secure a bride from an Asian marriage agency. Ralph is no stranger to this process, having found his first wife, Apple, in Thailand six years before. Though Apple didn't work out, he's willing to give the process another shot until he's rejected by the entire A, B and even C list of eligible ladies at the agency. This is no surprise to anyone except Ralph; he is unhealthy, unattractive and fussy, with bad skin, sinus problems and a dangerously volatile temper. He and Runa end up on the same ferry to Shanghai, and the suspense climbs to knuckle-biting levels. The two are destined to connect, and the reader knows it won't be pleasant when they do. The fun-house thrill of their inevitable clash is mitigated by neither Runa nor Ralph being appealing characters, but Jones's stately, muted prose moves the action and the reader relentlessly on to the harrowing end. (Mar. 18)
