People Who Eat Darkness (audiobook)

“A masterpiece of writing this surely is, but it is more than that—it is a committed, compassionate, courageous act of journalism that changes the way we think. Everyone who has ever loved someone and held that life dear should read this stunning book, and shiver.”—Chris Cleave, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Little Bee

“I opened this book as a skeptic. I am not a lover of true crime…But Richard Lloyd Parryʼs remarkable examination of [this] crime—what it revealed about Japanese society and how it unsettled conventional notions of bereavement—elevates his book above the genre. People Who Eat Darkness is a searing exploration of evil and trauma and how both ultimately elude understanding or resolution…Just as the grief of Blackman’s parents is unassaugeable, Obara and his motives are unknowable. That is the darkness at the heart of this book, one Lloyd Parry conveys with extraordinary effect and emotion…People Who Eat Darkness is a fascinating mediation that does not pretend to offer pat answers to obscene mysteries.”—New York Times Book Review

“[A] masterful literary true crime story, which earns its comparisons to Truman Capoteʼs In Cold Blood and Norman Mailerʼs The Executioner’s Song…Like the case of Etan Patz, the Lucie Blackman disappearance captured the public imagination. By writing about it in such culturally informed detail, Parry subtly encourages an understanding that goes past the headlines. It is a dark, unforgettable ride.”—Los Angeles Times

“A big, ambitious true-crime book in the tradition of Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song and Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.”—Esquire

“London Times Asia editor and Tokyo bureau chief Parry…offers an exceptional—and terrifying—account of sexual sadism, the Japanese legal system, and a family ripped apart by tragedy…Parry discovered a side of Japan he hadn’t known; his Tokyo thrums with energy, and the long-dead Lucie haunts the page as her killer fills the reader’s consciousness with an undeniable sense of dread.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This true crime tale reads like a novel, but few of its fictional counterparts have this much insight into murder cases and the psychology of the people involved…Parry’s prose is reminiscent of true crime greats Truman Capote and Vincent Bugliosi. This well-written story, likely to elicit tears and even nightmares from readers, is recommended for all who enjoy true crime, thrillers, and cross-cultural narratives.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Parry has a knack of tacitly cross-examining his readers…not implicating them exactly, but immersing them in a darkness that thickens as facts come to light…[He] skillfully manipulates the narrative to keep the reader in a state of awful uncertainty about what will happen next.”—Observer (London)

“An utterly compelling read.”—Mo Hayder, internationally bestselling author

“Extraordinary, compulsive, and brilliant.”—David Peace, author of the Red Riding quartet and the Tokyo trilogy 

“For fans of true crime and slowly unfolding mysteries.”—Kirkus Reviews