Publishers Weekly
★ 11/18/2024
Japanese horror artist and writer Uketsu makes a triumphant international debut with this eerie chiller. A university student becomes curious about the haunting, childlike drawings he finds on an abandoned blog. The more he scrolls, the more he gets the sense that the illustrations point to something sinister, leading him to question what exactly happened to a young housewife named Yuki, who is frequently mentioned in the blog, and how she’s connected to a larger web of unnerving events and deadly crimes. The answer emerges through a series of delightfully creepy illustrations and diagrams and the interconnected stories of their creators, allowing the reader to play detective alongside the characters. The result is part police procedural and part Pictionary. Savvy mystery readers may be able to decode the clues before the protagonist does, but it’s still enjoyable to experience the shocks and scares as they unfold. The gimmick is fun, but this book also proves greater than the sum of its visual tricks, with a surprisingly strong emotional core that will keep readers glued to the page until the unsettling conclusion. This intricate puzzle box is a must for horror fans. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
I loved it! It has the twists and fair-play style of a Golden Age whodunit, mixed with a wonderfully innovative use of illustrations. Delightfully macabre and fiendishly clever. Seemingly unconnected stories tie themselves into a complicated knot, which Uketsu masterfully unravels.” — G. T. Karber, author of the national bestseller Murdle
“A labyrinthine and multilayered horror mystery, full of cryptic images . . . wonderfully complex and carefully crafted . . . This is a story where revelations and new questions wait around every corner, and Uketsu keeps readers guessing until the very end.” — New York Times Book Review
“[A] triumphant international debut ... with a surprisingly strong emotional core that will keep readers glued to the page until the unsettling conclusion. This intricate puzzle box is a must for horror fans.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[An] ingenious debut suspense thriller . . . [with] a marvelous revelation of twists and red herrings. Horror and mystery fans will be eager to explore this thrilling import." — Booklist
“Part Rubik's Cube, part Russian doll, part kaleidoscope and altogether irresistible. Strange Pictures is heady, giddy, genre-blurring stuff and so fizzy with invention and possibility that I almost pity the next novel I read.” — A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window and End of Story
"A creepy little delight of a brainteaser . . . Strange Pictures is innovative and a lot of fun." — The Guardian
“Already a sensation in Japan, this unconventional story detail[ing] nine simple drawings and the dark secret that ties them together. . . . is as creative as it is fleet and offers a whirlwind ride. — Variety
“Uketsu is a meticulous storyteller who easily manipulates readers into agreeing with what the characters believe, even as he plants devastating, incriminating clues in plain sight... Uketsu's deftly controlled whiplash effect will inspire a single-sitting thrill.” — Shelf Awareness
“I definitely recommend giving this one a read, especially if you’re a mystery fan . . .Once the fragments of this story begin snapping into place, you won’t want to put it down.” — Chicago Review of Books
“Strange Pictures is an engrossing mystery and suspense novel that comes to a deeply gratifying conclusion. Given Uketsu’s overwhelming popularity, it’s also a welcome reminder that Japan’s best-selling fiction is more than comforting stories about cats and bookshops.” — Asian Review of Books
“A superlative puzzle made of multiple parts that interconnect in unexpected ways, told inventively through pictures and text. Every twist and turn steepens the sense of foreboding. Original, intricate and deeply unsettling. I’ve never read anything like it.” — Alex Pavesi, Author of The Eighth Detective
"An intricately woven, at times unsettling, but always mesmerizing piece of work." — Ian Moore, Author of Death and Croissants
“Absolutely loved this clever little banger. An addictive murder mystery that unfolds like pointillism on the page: only when you reach the end, step back and view the bigger picture does each of its parts click into place. Exceptional!'” — Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller
