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Mo Hayder
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The Devil of Nanking Mass Market Paperback – May 30, 2006

by Mo Hayder (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,159 ratings
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Like the thrillers of Thomas Harris and Philip Kerr, Mo Hayder's riveting new novel animates the dark corners of modern history. The solitary Englishwoman Grey comes to Japan looking for a rare piece of footage that is said to document a particularly monstrous episode of the 1937 Nanking Massacre. Her quest will take her to a reclusive scholar and a wheelchair-bound gangster who clings to life with the aid of a mysterious elixir, and to a handsome American whose interest in Grey may be more sinister than romantic. The result is a work of spine-chilling suspense, masterful historical detail, and otherworldly beauty.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    480 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    May 30, 2006
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    4.46 x 1.21 x 7.62 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0143036998
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0143036999
  9. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dazzling... extremely creepy book... the diabolically gifted British author spins a fascinating mystery from the legacy of Japanese atrocities during World War II (A)." — Entertainment Weekly

"A haunting, lyrical, disturbing, important, suspenseful, wonderfully written and beautiful book." — Harlan Coben

"The Devil of Nanking is such a perfectly sinister novel that doubt creeps in as one reads it. Can Mo Hayder pull it off? [She] creates such a threatening environment that when the novel gains its strength, every page evokes a shudder. And yes, she pulls it off. The Devil of Nanking ends as it begins - which is to say it's a thoroughly satisfying thriller." — New York Daily News

"The Devil of Nanking is the kind of novel that invites excessive praise. It is beautifully written and often fascinating, and it has a powerful historical hook." — Washington Post

"There are some novels that infect the brain and never let go... Hayder writes of past and present horrors with beautifully understated prose, made more so by Grey's innocence in the face of mounting evil. The Devil of Nanking is brilliant, haunting and scary as hell - a book not soon forgotten." — Baltimore Sun

From the Back Cover

"Dazzling... extremely creepy book... the diabolically gifted British author spins a fascinating mystery from the legacy of Japanese atrocities during World War II (A)."
 Entertainment Weekly

"A haunting, lyrical, disturbing, important, suspenseful, wonderfully written and beautiful book."
Harlan Coben

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (May 30, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143036998
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143036999
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.46 x 1.21 x 7.62 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,159 ratings

About the author

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Mo Hayder

Mo Hayder

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Mo Hayder (born 1962) is a British author of crime and thriller fiction.

She is the author of eight novels. Her debut, Birdman, was published in January 2000 and was an international bestseller. Her second novel, The Treatment, was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the 2002 WH Smith Thumping Good Read award. Her third novel, Tokyo, was published in May 2004 and was another Sunday Times bestseller. Tokyo was published as The Devil of Nanking in the United States in March 2005. Pig Island was her fourth best seller and was published in April 2006. Pig Island was nominated for both a Barry Award for Best British crime novel, and a CWA dagger. Her fifth book, Ritual was the first in The Walking Man series, and was nominated for CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award. Skin is the second book in The Walking Man series, and was released in early 2009. Gone, the third book in The Walking Man series, was released in February 2011; it won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Her novel Hanging Hill was published 2011, and Wolf in 2015.

Hayder left school at fifteen, and has worked as a barmaid, security guard, film-maker, hostess in a Tokyo club, educational administrator and a teacher of English as a foreign language. Hayder has an MA in film from The American University in Washington DC, and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University.

Her debut novel, Birdman, was published in 2000 to wide acclaim. Although some reviewers found the novel (which concerns a serial killer with a particularly vicious modus-operandi) too violent and disturbing, the book became an international bestseller. Birdman introduced readers to DI Jack Caffery, a character who also featured in Hayder's second novel, The Treatment. The Treatment tackled themes of paedophilia. DI Caffery returned in Hayder's recent novels Ritual, Skin, Gone, and Wolf, which she calls the Walking Man series.

Mo Hayder lives just outside Bath, England with her partner, Bob Randell (retired police sgt of Avon & Somerset Police Underwater Search Unit), and her daughter.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
1,159 global ratings
Suspenseful and read nothing like it
5 Stars
Suspenseful and read nothing like it
One of those books that come every do often were youre on the edge of your seat. I couldn't put it down. I finished it in under a week.
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Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars It will leave you feeling raw - but in a good way.
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
I almost never leave reviews and I’ll be honest; at the halfway point of this book I didn’t think I’d be leaving a good review.

My ONLY critique is that the first half seems to drag a bit. It’s a very slow build of palpable anticipation, written in beautiful, mature writing. Her writing style is so elegant that I couldn’t give up on the book even though I didn’t feel that it was living up to the “thriller” genre in which it had been categorized.

And then- very, very suddenly- it became a terrifying, heart-wrenching, action thriller for the entire second half. I was literally breathless for most of it and fully in tears at the end.

Some of the more mundane details that are so eloquently described in the first half become INTEGRAL pieces of the story during the rising action and in the conclusion. Every character and all of their flaws are woven together in an emotional story that will leave you frayed and raw. This story will most certainly stay with me for a very long time.
3 people found this helpful
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OMG3ecky!
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent heartbreaking read!
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
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This isn’t a book I would normally read. It was recommended in a book group and since I lived and worked in Japan for a while I decided to give it a go. This book was an excellent heart breaking read that pulled me in from the very beginning. I devoured this book every free chance I got. It’s an excellent blend of heart break, history, war, love, belonging and mental health wrapped into two colliding stories. And my god do those stories collide. I highly recommend this book and will be following this author now.
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Tom Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and disturbing, but strangely compelling
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2013
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When English girl Grey was very young she found a book about the Japanese invasion of Nanking. Reading about the atrocities committed there, she found a description of something so terrible she had to ask somebody if it were really true. But nobody would believe her when she told them that she read it and she was labeled 'sick', 'twisted' and 'evil'. And the book vanished, leaving her with no evidence to back up her protests.

Ever since then Grey has been obsessed with proving that that atrocity did occur, that she did read about it, and that she is not evil or insane. The story picks up in Tokyo, where Grey's obsession has lead her to an old Chinese university professor who was actually at Nanking, and who may have the only existing video footage of the event. But the professor won't show it to her unless she does something for him in return: get close to a dangerous old Yakuza boss and discover the source of the Chinese folk remedy that is keeping him alive.

The Devil of Nanking is a meditation on evil. The (real) atrocities that occurred at Nanking in 1937 were both horrific and unnecessary. Why did they happen? Was it ignorance, or evil, or both? Is there a difference between ignorance and evil? Grey is obsessed with this question, because she has herself done bad things, but out of a childlike ignorance, not out of malice.

Grey and the Chinese Professor, Shi Chongming, have both been brutalized by the events of Nanking, although in different ways. Its horror colors everyone it touches, even the society of modern Japan, blissfully ignorant (for the most part) of the horrors their people once perpetrated.

Every character in this book has secrets - dark, dark secrets - our two protagonists included. And whether they are evil or just ignorant, the people they are investigating are definitely and unequivocally evil, the kind of evil capable of perpetrating unthinkable crimes: the ancient Yakuza mob boss and his sexually ambiguous Nurse.

Probably nothing I have written about this book so far gives you any desire to read it. But this is one of the most well-written books I have read in a long time. To label it 'crime fiction' or 'mystery' or some other genre is to do it a grave disservice. At times it comes closest to horror, although author Mo Hayder seldom rubs our noses in the details. She seems to belong to the school of writers who prefer to let the reader's imagination fill in the details. Depending on how vivid your imagination is, this may be a good or bad thing.

Certainly this is not a 'feel good' book. But I found it strangely irresistible. The prose is beautifully written and the story is meticulously paced and plotted. Again, this is one of the best-written books I have read in quite some time.

I also think, and I believe that the author would agree, that the historical Rape of Nanking should not be forgotten. The atrocities committed there are on the same level, if not on the same scale, as those of the Holocaust. In a sense, though, they are worse, since no evil dictator or twisted mastermind ordered the Rape of Nanking. It was a disaster without purpose or meaning. But the whole event has been largely buried and forgotten both in Asia and in the Western world.

Hayder's almost poetic prose unearths the story as only good fiction can.

This book is not for the faint of heart. But it is definitely worth reading.
16 people found this helpful
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Donald M. Seekins
5.0 out of 5 stars Grim reading, but excellent characters and plot
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
Although as a (semi-retired) specialist on modern Asian history I have a big interest in fictional depictions of the region, especially Japan, I was reluctant at first to download Mo Hayder's THE DEVIL OF NANKING because other reviewers claimed it was so horrific. But in fact, anyone who is familiar with the history of modern Asia, especially Japan's invasion and ravaging of China, will not be shocked by this novel. For example, there are many accounts of cannibalism practiced by members of the Japanese Imperial Army from diverse, non-fiction sources - not only in China but in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. And much of this cannibalism was not due to starvation conditions but a kind of perverted militarist macho.

The characters are vivid: the yakuza chief, Fuyuki, is evil incarnate, as well as his sadistic accomplice The Nurse. The protagonist, Grey, is profoundly broken, but finds redemption of sorts through her tireless search for grim details about the Nanjing Massacre in uneasy partnership with a Chinese professor, Shi Chengming. Then, there is Jason, her creepy "boyfriend." As someone who has lived in Japan for a long time, Hayder's description of Tokyo in the 1990s rings (largely) true. The narrative sustains itself admirably, and builds to a very satisfying climax.

The present rightwing government of Japan tries hard to suppress discussion the Nanjing Massacre and other atrocities such as the "comfort women" and Unit 731. If THE DEVIL OF NANKING raises awareness about this history among westerners, it will have served a very good purpose.
7 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars slow and disturbing
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
A thought provoking dark story.
I admit I didn't understand the female protagonist's reason for traveling to Japan and her hunt for the film up until the very end.
And I'm still not 100% sold.
But it is still a good written book.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Hugo
4.0 out of 5 stars Producto en buen estado
Reviewed in Mexico on August 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
El producto llegó en buen estado y antes de lo previsto.
Sin embargo, poco tiempo después (cuestión de días) bajó su precio aprox un 30%... lo cual me decepcionó.
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Bratislava / Slovakia
1.0 out of 5 stars second or third hand book
Reviewed in India on August 13, 2021
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it was a very dark yellow pages book....very disappointing!
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T
5.0 out of 5 stars Sehr zu empfehlen
Reviewed in Germany on May 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
Unglaubliche Geschichte, die Elemente aus wahren Begebenheiten enthält, die mir gar nicht bekannt waren. So habe ich mein internationales Geschichtswissen wieder weiter ausgebaut.
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patamodelette
5.0 out of 5 stars prenant jusqu'a la fin
Reviewed in France on July 30, 2012
Verified Purchase
C'est un livre que je relis sur Kindle quelques années plus tard et Mo Haider on aime ou on n'aime pas, je fais partie des fans du premier jour. Un roman noir a souhait ou le fantastique rejoint l'histoire et ses abominations. Il y a quelques longueurs a mon avis dans les passages sur les événements de Nanjing, mais le livre se dévore d'une traite a l'autre, permettant de découvrir une autre face de l'Asie, entre le Japon et la Chine. Un excellent livre que je recommande, mais âmes sensibles s'abstenir.
One person found this helpful
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Ms. Rj Edwards
5.0 out of 5 stars Weird, creepy, vile......brilliant!!!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2006
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I initially read Birdman and the Treatment, and while I enjoyed both, I didn't really find myself as gripped as I thought that I would be. The whole police/whodunnit/serial murderer thing has been done to death (no pun intended!), and while both books WERE very good I longed for a bit more of the extreme from Mo Hayder. I found this in Tokyo. Each and every character in the book is so well developed that you can completely picture what they look like in your head. As I was reading it, it was almost as if a film was playing in my head because the characters are so vivid and interesting. The heroine, Grey, is an endearing character despite her dodgy past and her obsession with Nanking, and you find yourself really routing for her. I also liked the "character" of the Nurse which may sound weird if you have read the book, but I found "her" really terrifying, especially when she visits Jason. Nasty nasty nasty. The book is written in an interesting way in that it is told from two people's perspectives during two different time periods. I enjoyed this writing style and found myself gripped to both storylines. I also liked the way not everything is spelled out to you. There are times when Mo gives you the bare minimum and leaves the reader's mind to run wild, which can be very effective (although perhaps a little frustrating at times). Some people may think that the story is a little far fetched, but I think that this is because it is hard to relate to a place like Tokyo unless you have ever been there (don't get me wrong....I don't really think that the Japanese are all "meat eaters"). I think the fact that Grey's story is located in an unfamiliar city adds to the creepiness and overall horror of this story. All in all, an absolutely brilliant book. Read it NOW!
6 people found this helpful
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