” Audition” by Ryu Murakami is a Japanese suspense novel originally published in the 1990’s .

This novel starts off like all the great ones do . A widowed man ( Aoyama) looks to jump back into the dating world on the suggestion of his son . Being a middle aged man who has been out of the dating scene for awhile he is not sure where to start. Here is when his filmmaker friend steps in and pitches an idea. They make a script for a romance film and hold an audition for the female lead that Aoyama can sit in on. Surprisingly, it works . Aoyama finds the perfect woman for him… Or at least that’s what he thinks. Aoyama’s friend warns him not to rush in , his son warns him to be careful, and even a former geisha is pointing out some red flags to him. Is this woman as dangerous as the people around Aoyama seem to think or are they making a big deal out of nothing ? Well lets just watch this audition and see !

This book is a masterclass in suspense . You , as the reader , get just enough extra information to keep you panicking for this man the whole way through . At times I could feel myself yelling in my head for the main character to watch out . Nothing more to say , buy the damn book.