A review by trudilibrarian
The Crimson Labyrinth by Yusuke Kishi

3.0

I was so psyched to get my hands on a copy of this book. I mean, the premise is AWESOME. It's [b:The Running Man|11607|The Running Man|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333160557s/11607.jpg|3652165] meets [b:Battle Royale|57891|Battle Royale|Koushun Takami|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1331235272s/57891.jpg|2786327] with smatterings of [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1337857402s/2767052.jpg|2792775] running all through it. I just can't get enough of these demented dystopias of staged survival competitions destined for public consumption played in extremis to satiate society's blood lust. In his review Gavin writes: "humanity knows no bounds for violence in a voyeuristic capacity" and isn't that the truth? My favorite of all these stories is Stephen King's Bachman novel - [b:The Long Walk|9014|The Long Walk|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309212400s/9014.jpg|522169]. I've read nothing that comes close to King's imagining of such a deathly scenario, this book included.

Nevertheless, [b:The Crimson Labyrinth|55448|The Crimson Labyrinth|Yusuke Kishi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320402814s/55448.jpg|54034] is still quite good, with lots of pulpy action and nail-biting peril. Japanese horror writer Yusuke Kishi puts his own spin on the "deadly games" theme by introducing some pretty twisted plot elements I haven't seen before. I also enjoyed how he takes his time building the suspense. The first half of the novel is a man vs. nature survival scenario with a group of people pitted more against their environment than against each other. Kishi shows a fondness for details, describing the landscape, food, and other items and information the group collects from each of their "checkpoints".

This is a "game", but the players don't know how they got to be where they are, or more importantly why. The why remains a mystery until the very end, and some readers may be underwhelmed by the explanation. I thought it was a fairly interesting twist, but came a little too close to the end out of nowhere almost as an afterthought with no real confirmation to send you away with a satisfying "a-ha" feeling. Still, Kishi presents a very tantalizing possibility.

Character development is at a minimum here and I would have liked to get the story from more points of view rather than the two main characters, especially from those characters who meet such unpleasant ends. Details please. What is lacking in character though, Kishi makes up for in style and action. This is quite the thrilling, adrenaline ride. Not the best I've read in the genre, but I am definitely recommending it!!!!