Seesaw Monster

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Some mother-in-laws are hard. This one might be murder.

Miyako suspects her mother-in-law is a murderer. It’s not just a case of them rubbing each other up the wrong way – there is definitely something suspicious going on. But Miyako isn’t exactly what she seems either. Her husband has no idea about her past life as a secret agent. When she decides to use her professional skills to investigate her mother-in-law, the delicate equilibrium of their lives is thrown wildly out of balance.

Many decades later, in a future world where electronic communication has been irrevocably compromised, confidential messages must be delivered by trusted couriers like Mito. But one delivery pulls Mito into a conspiracy beyond his wildest imaginings, and forces him into a race against time to defeat a world-changing technological threat.

Seesaw Monster contains two sharp, thrilling linked novellas - SEESAW MONSTER and SPIN MONSTER - from the bestselling and multi-award-winning writer Kotaro Isaka, internationally celebrated for his offbeat humour and inventive talent for twists.

'Fascinating and thought provoking with some genuine surprises and incredibly clever ideas that kept me thinking about it long after I finished it… a Japanese Black Mirror!' Ajay Chowdhury, author of The Waiter

© Kotaro Isaka 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

Fascinating and thought provoking with some genuine surprises and incredibly clever ideas that kept me thinking about it long after I finished it… a Japanese Black Mirror!
Ajay Chowdhury, author of THE WAITER
Isaka’s exceptional latest combines the author’s flair for violent comic farce with an unsettling look at the near future. Isaka’s talent for kinetic, hilarious carnage is on full display, and it’s fortified with philosophical depth and surprisingly potent ruminations on the nature of fate. This ranks among the author’s best
Publishers Weekly
Thoroughly enjoyable
Guardian, on BULLET TRAIN
Unlike anything you're likely to have read before...white-hot with double-crosses
Financial Times, on BULLET TRAIN
Entertaining...high-speed...with lots of twists and turns...it has a Tarantino-meets-the-Coen-Brothers feel to it
The Times, on BULLET TRAIN
An offbeat but touching thriller, with a wonderful final twist
Mail on Sunday, on THE MANTIS

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