The Pachinko Girl

WINNER of Canadian Book Award In the Hidden Gems Category (2016)Ranked no. 18 on THE RED LIST Thriller of the Month (2020)Reviews from Amazon readers:★★★★★ "Emotionally complex and filled with passion. I am sure it will captivate readers from East and West."★★★★★ "Vann has a unique knowledge of Japan."★★★★★ "An interesting and beautifully told tale about modern clashes of culture and human growth."★★★★★ "Vann Chow makes an impressive debut. Not only does she respect her reader in assisting them with the languages differences in a very comfortable and natural manner, she also knows how to weave a story of intrigue that blossoms in so many varying facets of topics that reading her story is both highly entertaining and mesmerizing. Highly recommended!"An unforgettable, breathless debut fiction by author Vann Chow, THE PACHINKO GIRL is the winning selection of a Canadian book award. Its colossal story has been regarded as a mix of psychological thriller, murder mystery, corporate espionage. The book also exposes a slew of human rights and social issues such as gender inequality, hyper-sexualization of teens, domestic violence, business corruptions and medical ethics among others in Japan, through the eyes of a foreigner and his friends.Synopsis:An American businessman Smith who loved to linger in Pachinko parlors every night in his lonely life as a foreigner in Tokyo met Misa, a young Japanese hostess working there by chance. He quickly found out that Misa was entangled into a web of gang-controlled business operations that involved illegal drugs distribution, money laundering and prostitution beneath the harmless facade of Pachinko casinos. Knowing her personal woes, he gave her his winnings to help her out to survive a difficult patch and change paths. That large sum of money quickly incriminated them to false accusation of engaging in sex trade.Meanwhile, a film director Tanaka investigated the death of his idol Sergey Ribery, the legendary French arthouse movie-maker who happened to have filmed Misa in his last work in which she was seemingly strangled to death in the story. Tanaka sought the help of a psychologist who may shed some light into the strange casts of characters involved in the case, but the doctor was later murdered. Who did this? And what was he or she trying to cover up?THE PACHINKO GIRL is a colossal, twisted four-part psychological thriller story and it guarantees to run like a TV series. You won't want to put it down once you have started!