Reviews

Zeer aangename verrassing.
Veel humor in een verhaal dat echt goed in elkaar steekt. Ideaal boek voor als het een beke luchtiger mag.
Welverdiende 4sterren!

rewilde's review against another edition

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4.0

Great, warm novel. Vague Sallis vibes.

Thoroughly enjoyed this quick read, not having read any others by the author (which I will do now). The interwoven stories of father and son, and the menacing/familiar figure of the mother who unites them, plays so well against the increasingly apologetic hitman violence. I see it listed as a comedy, and that's fair, but it hits more like a drama with a smile.

josephschmitt's review against another edition

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4.0

Kinda sad, wish that one character didn’t die and was more focused on him living a happy life

doug_f91's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

kimbobs13's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

4.0

This was a surprisingly light-hearted and heart-warming read about a man living a double life. I enjoyed the ending!

ejski's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The first 75% doesn’t touch what Isaka has done in the past, but the shifting perceptions in the final chapter are exhilarating and would have serve the book much better to have that format throughout the whole thing

siskoid's review against another edition

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4.0

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.

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