Rising Sun

From Publishers Weekly A young American model is murdered in the corporate boardroom of Los Angeles's Nakomoto Tower on the new skyscraper's gala opening night. Murdered, that is, unless she was strangled while enjoying sadomasochistic sex that went too far. Nakomoto, a Japanese electronics giant, tries to hush up the embarrassing incident, setting in motion a murder investigation that serves Crichton ( Jurassic Park ) as the platform for a clever, tough-talking harangue on the dangers of Japanese economic competition and influence-peddling in the U.S. Divorced LAPD lieutenant Peter Smith, who has custody of his two-year-old daughter, and hard-boiled detective John Connor, who says things like "For a Japanese, consistent behavior is not possible," pursue the killer in a winding plot involving Japan's attempt to gain control of the U.S. computer industry. Although Crichton's didactic aims are often at cross-purposes with his storytelling, his entertaining, well-researched thriller cannot be easily dismissed as Japan-bashing because it raises important questions about that country's adversarial trade strategy and our inadequate response to it. He also provides a fascinating perspective on how he thinks the Japanese view Americans--as illiterate, childish, lazy people obsessed with TV, violence and aggressive litigation. 225,000 first printing; BOMC main selection. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal YA-- The celebrity-studded opening of a huge Japanese office building is marred by the murder of a beautiful American woman. Lt. Peter Smith is called in to investigate and is requested to bring along John Connor, an expert on Japanese culture and fluent in the language. So begins a riveting tale that combines suspense, technology, and a full-scale economic battle for survival. YAs will have no problem following the complex corporate business schemes described by Crichton, whose loyalties are obviously with America. Readers who fear that the Japanese are taking over the U. S. economy will not be reassured. - Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VA Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. Fiction,General,Technological,Mystery & Detective,Detective and Mystery Stories,Industries,Los Angeles (Calif.),Police Procedural,Police - California - Los Angeles,Business Intelligence,Corporations; Japanese - California - Los Angeles Rising Sun is a 1992 novel by Michael Crichton. It was his eighth under his own name and eighteenth overall, and is about a murder in the Los Angeles headquarters of Nakamoto, a fictional Japanese corporation. The book was published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. An image of fashion model Gia Carangi is incorporated in the cover art for the original edition. ---------- Also contained in: - [Rising Sun / The Andromeda Strain / Binary](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL23658811W) - [Two Complete Novels: Disclosure/Rising Sun][2] [1]: http://www.michaelcrichton.com/rising-sun/ [2]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL14950533W/Disclosure_Rising_Sun On the forty-fifth floor of the Nakamoto Tower in downtown L.A.—the new American headquarters of the immense Japanese conglomerate—a grand opening celebration is in full swing. On the forty-sixth floor, in an empty conference room, the dead body of a beautiful young woman is discovered. The investigation begins ... and immediately becomes a headlong chase through a twisting maze of industrial intrigue ... a no-holds-barred conflict in which control of a vital American technology is the fiercely coveted prize—and the Japanese saying "business is war" takes on a terrifying reality... --back cover During the grand opening celebration of the new American headquarters of an immense Japanese conglomerate, the dead body of a beautiful woman is found. The investigation begins, and immediately becomes a headlong chase through a twisting maze of industrial intrigue and a violent business battle that takes no prisoners.From the Paperback edition. Actually, I was sitting on my bed in my apartment in Culver City, watching the Lakers game with the sound turned off, while I tried to study vocabulary for my introductory Japanese class.