Four Women in the River follows journalist Emily Watson, called to Japan by veteran reporter, Reina Kubo, after four women have been pulled out of the Sumida River and are called suicides. Reina believes differently and so does Emily, who agrees to help with the investigation. In just a few days after her arrival, Emily has evidence of drugs that link the victims together, proving the suicide story false. As Emily works with her allies, trying to find justice for these women, she starts to realize that these four women were only the start and the men who are behind this are now watching her.
I have to hand it to St. John, this book is so well-written, the turns of phrase, the tone, everything is so very succinct, precise, even meticulous with the writing and the unfolding of this story. The way the information hits, the stark details, helps with the characterization and the threat that is hanging over the heads of the leads. This reminded me of some of the best thrillers I've watched in recent years, sincerely so well-developed with every piece of this story. Every word is carefully considered and each carries so much weight, making this such an enthralling read.
As for the characters, I want to read more about Emily Watson, I want to know what goes on in her head and where she came from. The way this woman was able to calculate her risks, to understand the threats and come up with ways around the obstacles she faced was incredibly impressive. I enjoyed spending the time with her as she worked to figure out how far up in government the threat went as to who had not only ordered that these women be removed but was also covering up how they'd done it in the first place. Emily had her journalist friend Reina for help, showing us the way these two worked to find their sources and how they used the information in their writing and I thought she was a great ally for Emily, showing the lengths these two were going through to find justice. There was also Tetsuo, who worked almost as a conscience for Emily as she kept pushing herself to try riskier things to find the truth, and Detective Haruka, a source of Reina's that started to work more and more with the group as the investigation continued. Each character had strong contributions, their risks felt palpable on the page and the tension kept ratcheting as reveals were made. Even the victims were given time, to learn who they were, who cared about them, why they had become victims in the first place and it made everything a little heart-wrenching to think about as they were gone. St. John wrote characters that felt like people and these people were worth caring about as they worked to find justice.
For the plot, it seemed straightforward enough, find who was responsible for ordering the deaths of four women, but it evolved into so much more before the story was over. Emily comes from a family with a lot of history and the things that she learned from her parents had a lot of bearing on the way Emily handled the investigation and the lengths she pushed herself to and it was all so cleverly plotted. It was chilling to consider exactly what was going on in this story and the way it unfolded kept me riveted to the page. I can't wait to read more from Theo St. John in the future.
Rating on my Scale: 10 Stars. I'm just so impressed with everything in this book. I want to see more of these characters so this is me, getting comfortable and waiting to see what comes next.
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