Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: One Thousand Cranes

SERIES: The Yakuza Path #3

AUTHOR: Amy Tasukada

PUBLISHER: Macarons and Tea Publishing

LENGTH: 124 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 12, 2017

BLURB:

When a body goes missing, a young Yakuza’s life hangs in the balance…
Aki Hisona’s latest promotion is a cause for celebration. But because his new job is working as the personal secretary for the Yakuza’s Kyoto-based godfather, it’s also a cause for dangerous envy. He takes an invitation from a friend for congratulatory drinks, but Aki never thought the night would end with a deadly knife fight…
Aki is tasked with disposing of his friend’s corpse, but there’s one problem: the body is missing. As body parts surface around town, it’s only a matter of time before the police piece together the clues. But keeping one step ahead of the cops may not matter if Aki can’t solve the mystery before his cold, unforgiving godfather boss does…
The Yakuza Path: One Thousand Cranes is a pulse-pounding standalone thriller in the ongoing series of Japanese mafia stories. If you like gritty settings, page-turning whodunits, and accurate portrayals of Kyoto traditions, then you’ll love Amy Tasukada’s gripping tale.

REVIEW:

I am soooooooooo glad I got the chance to read this! I am so in love with this series. And even though it was just a novella, it was just as important and just as good as the full lengths. I am hooked!

If you’ve been keeping up with this series, which I hope you have, then you will know this is a story for Aki. Aki we met in book two as a recruit and he ended up as Nao’s secretary. But there is jealousy amongst the ranks as everyone thinks Aki gets away with anything because he’s Nao’s love interest. Or boy toy. However you look at it. Even though he really isn’t. So people he thinks are his friends since he was younger suddenly attack him on the way home from a bar one night. But Aki somehow managed to defend himself and stabs his opponent in the gut, killing him. He is terrified thinking Nao will banish him or worse and thinking he deserves it for killing the Yakuza Golden boy. He cleans everything up the best he can, planning on disposing the body later. Only when he goes to dispose of it, it’s gone. Someone is setting him up. Riddled with guilt at every mention of the dead guy’s name, Aki does all he can to find the body. Before the police do and before Nao banishes him or worse.

I fell in love with Aki the minute I read about him. I was so happy he got a little story of his own. Aki is such a sweet little soul who just wants to make Nao happy. Ever since Nao involved him in his little escape plans, he has been dying for Nao to follow through. But Nao remains distant and Aki feels like he is dying. When he disappoints Nao in this story, he wishes he was the one that died in that fight. Aki is so brave. Being different has made things hard for him but he tries so hard. He lives for Nao and his pleasure. Being in a Yakuza is hard enough. Being gay in one is torture. Dealing with the body issues he has is like a triple threat and I find him so beautiful. He doesn’t give up no matter how bad it gets. He thinks of others before himself most of the time. His devotion and loyalty are the tops. He’s just amazing. Of course he makes mistakes like us all, but he tries to rise above it. I need me an Aki lol. Sweet sweet boy.

You need to continue with this series and read this book! And if you haven’t started…..go start now! It is an amazing series. Beautifully written with so much intrigue, suspense, and just about anything you are looking for.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

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