Penance

A chilling Japanese psychological thriller and Edgar Award finalist about four women, forever connected by one horrible day in their childhood — fifteen years later, someone wants to make sure they never forget.

When they were girls, Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko were tricked into leaving their friend Emily with a mysterious stranger. Then the unthinkable occurred: Emily was found murdered hours later.

The four friends were never able to describe the stranger to the police; the killer’s trail went cold. Asako, the bereaved mother, curses the surviving girls, vowing that they will be the ones to pay for her daughter’s murder . . .

Like Confessions, Kanae Minato’s award-winning, internationally bestselling debut, Penance is a dark tale of revenge and psychological drama that will leave readers breathless.

• "With echoes of fairy tales and a Rashomon-like narrative structure, Minato's Penance is as ethereal and literary as it is a sharp, tight crime novel."
  Literary Hub
• "[A] suspenseful psychological melodrama. . . . Filled with strange entwinings of chance and effect, free will and manipulation, the mundane and the bizarre."
  The Wall Street Journal
• "Minato writes character driven mystery/crime novels that take deep dives into people's psychology-especially girls and women-with an unflinching look at the dark side of humans. I will read any novel she writes."
  
  BookRiot
• "Minato's simple, clear voice highlights the stories' psychological intensity, and themes of powerlessness evolving to strength, duty, and redemption create layers of interest that are perfect for book-group dissection."
  Booklist (starred review)
• "Moving, tension-filled . . . Minato has crafted an unnerving tale of tragedy, guilt, and penance."
  Publishers Weekly
• "Kanae Minato is a brilliant storyteller."
  Emily St. John Mandel, New York Times bestselling author of Station Eleven