With The Mantis, Kōtarō Isaka evolves while still remaining in the same world of weird assassins (which he shouldn't have to, the references to Bullet Train and Three Assassins calling too much attention to themselves). He's gone from a big cast, to three main characters, to a single one(Ish), and this one feels like it's about something other than karma/luck. Kabuto is killer on the spectrum, always analyzing situations too deeply, especially at home where he is deathly afraid of his wife's moods. He's trying to get out of the business and do what's right for her and their son, but the retirement package in this business is a bit... lethal. So what can we do. Of course, even if we're privy to his thoughts, we may also interpret the wife's reactions as completely normal. But the mistrust of the assassin's world pervades everything, a world of traps. It's really about doing accidental harm, and the consequences of our words and actions on others, even when our intentions are good, even if we didn't mean it and lashed out, and the sort of web of incidence that springs out of that (converging on the themes of previous books). The wife hurts Kabuto without meaning to, and he hurts his family even as he protects it, and there are loads of other aggregate examples throughout, including a key story about the preying mantis that lends the novel its title. I'm unsure about the third act style choice (a switch from third to first-person voice), but it works fine. All in all, Isaka's most mature work, if not his cleverest.

Another book from the Assassins series from Kotaro Isaka, including Bullet Train and Three Assassins. The Mantis follows similar themes blending both murder with humour in an action-packed whirlwind of fun.

The first one-hundred and fifty of this book was purely character-based. Letting us get to know our main protagonist through various snippets into both his home and personal life. With long chapters ranging upwards of twenty-five pages, a lot of different information was given during each one. At times this made the book hard to follow especially because there wasn't a steady plotline.

The actual plot takes over once we enter the final one hundred pages. This makes the early pages make much more sense as things gradually begin to unfold. This is where the book really starts to flourish and gets into a more traditional rhyme that’s easier to follow.

The character work in The Mantis is similar to the previous two Isaka assassin books. With the author's signature style prominent throughout, we get fun easy-going characters contrasted by detestable villains. This is always a highlight when reading Isaka, he does a great job creating an anti-hero worth rooting for.

Overall a book you need to stick with to fully appreciate the payoff. The disorganised beginning begins to take shape the longer you read as the pieces of the puzzle finally fall into place.

Incredible. I could not have expected how touching this story is. There is very little "action" that takes place throughout the book (especially in the start) but it remains thrilling the entire time anyway. It's a great conclusion to the Assassins Trilogy, acting as a perfect standalone with various references to the older works. It makes me want to reread the series from the start, just to see Kabuto love his family one more time.