A young insurance saleswoman is found strangled at Mitsuse Pass. Her family and friends are shocked and terrified. The pass—which tunnels through a mountainous region of southern Japan—has an eerie history: a hideout for robbers, murderers, and ghostly creatures lurking at night.

Soon afterward, a young construction worker becomes the primary suspect. As the investigation unfolds, the events leading up to the murder come darkly into focus, revealing a troubled cast of characters: the victim, Yoshino, a woman much too eager for acceptance; the suspect, Yuichi, a car enthusiast misunderstood by everyone around him; the victim’s middle-aged father, a barber disappointed with his life; and the suspect’s aging grandmother, who survived the starvation of postwar Japan only to be tormented by local gangsters. And, finally, there is desperate Mitsuyo, the lonely woman who finds Yuichi online and makes the big mistake of falling for him.

A stunningly dark thriller and a tapestry of noir, Villain is the English-language debut for Shuichi Yoshida, one of Japan’s most acclaimed and accomplished writers. From desolate seaside towns and lighthouses to love hotels and online chat rooms, Villain reveals the inner lives of men and women who all have something to hide. Part police procedural, part gritty realism, Villain is a coolly seductive story of loneliness and alienation in the southernmost reaches of Japan.

吉田修一

YOSHIDA SHUICHI

生於1968年，高中以前生活在長崎，後遷到東京。法政大學企業管理係畢業。以《最後的兒子》獲得第84屆文學界新人奬。該作品也成為第117屆芥川奬入圍作品。

此後，又陸續發錶瞭《碎片》、WATER等作品。2002年以《同樓生活》獲得山本周五郎奬，同時期再以《公園生活》奪下第127屆芥川奬。其他著作有《熱帶魚》、《星期天“們”》、《地標》、《長崎亂樂阪》、《7月24日大道》和《惡人》等。