The Mantis

Good dad or good assassin? Can he be both?

From the internationally bestselling author of BULLET TRAIN: A seemingly ordinary family man tries to juggle his home life with his job as a hitman.

Kabuto is an ordinary guy; stressed with work, hassled by his wife and disrespected by his teenage son. No wonder he visits his doctor so often. Except the ‘Doctor’ is actually his handler, and Kabuto is a hired assassin. Because although he may seem like a small man at home, Kabuto is really good at killing people.

But Kabuto is worn out with the business of murder. So he’s trying to pay his way out with a few last jobs. But when the final assignment puts his unsuspecting family in danger, Kabuto realises he is going to need every deadly skill he knows to keep them alive.

*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 CWA DAGGER FOR CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION*

Review

About the Author

Kotaro Isaka (Author)
Kotaro Isaka is a bestselling and multi-award-winning writer who is published around the world. He has won the Shincho Mystery Club Award, Mystery Writers of Japan Award, Japan Booksellers' Award and the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize and fourteen of his books have been adapted for film or TV. He is the author of the international bestseller Bullet Train, which was made into a major film starring Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock.


Sam Malissa (Translator)
Sam Malissa holds a PhD in Japanese Literature from Yale University. He has translated fiction by Toshiki Okada, Shun Medoruma, and Hideo Furukawa, among others.