I found the second book in the Kats Takemoto series, MIDNIGHT CLIMAX, more violent and Asian themed than the first book, HUNTERS POINT. Japanese American private investigator, Katsuhiro “Kats” Takemoto, his friend, Beatnik bookstore owner Shigeyoshi Murao, and Irish redhead Molly Hayes are caught up in a violent storm of rivalry, deception and government coverups.
San Francisco is home to a rich cultural mix in 1958, with Chinese Tongs, or family-based gangs, competing for control of money-making businesses, some of which are not legal. A government agency is working with the Hei Long Tong to use their prostitution facilities to test LSD on unsuspecting men. According to the author, Peter Kageyama, this did actually happen, and the operation was codenamed Midnight Climax. The young women involved are not protected by agents, and when matters go wrong, one lady, Mai Su Han, is killed. She was related to a Hop Sing Tong leader, Lin Tai Lo, called John, and he is given a fake story, so he asks PI Kats to investigate.
We are once more treated to a tour of the historical districts, with insight into how restaurants and other businesses were run. I kept making comparisons with The Godfather, given the deadly turf wars, and the fact that Kats, like Michael Corleone, is a decorated veteran. While I enjoyed the first crime story Hunters Pointbetter than Midnight Climax, the author makes quite similar points about irresponsible government operations, state secrecy, and macho cultures. Anyone looking for a military context story, with fights, shootings and several deaths, will get a great deal more from Kats’s latest adventure than the action. Cameos by recognisable people are fewer, but we look inside some hearts, and see that the world war left deep scars.
MIDNIGHT CLIMAX contains unforgettable characters, and expands the detailed understanding of the people who made San Francisco a twentieth-century city home to poets, cooks and veterans. I’m hoping for a third in the series by Peter Kageyama.
Kats Takemoto, the nisei private detective from Hunters Point, returns to investigate the murder of a young Chinese girl, killed in a covert CIA brothel in the heart of San Francisco. Her family, members of a Tong, a powerful Chinatown gang, demand vengeance that threatens to start an all-out war in Chinatown unless Kats can discover the truth behind the slaying. Along the way he will discover a personal connection to the suspected killer, a fellow veteran who was tortured and experimented on, turning him into a lethal weapon and a ticking bomb. Kats and his friends race to find this soldier before the government and the rival Tong gangs spiral into more bloodshed.
EXCERPT
Kats moved slowly toward Epps. “I’m not with them,” he gestured to the men scattered on the ground. “I’m a friend of Dr. Turier. Do you remember Dr. Turier?” he said in his most calming voice. “I want to take you to him. We can make everything OK.” Kats wasn’t sure if the words were even registering, but the man didn’t move to attack or retreat. He was about to take another step forward when he heard a siren echo from up the street.
At the sound, Epps’ face twisted, and he surged forward toward Kats. Even though he was ready, Kats was shocked at how fast the man was. He pivoted to the side, like a matador with a charging bull, and as Epps passed by, Kats fired a fist into the man’s lower back, straight into the kidney. The strike should have disabled the man, but Epps barely grunted and whipped around with such speed and ferocity that Kats was immediately on the defensive. Epps shot his right fist toward Kat’s head. Instinctively, he raised his left arm to block the blow, saving himself at the cost of his arm. He rocked back, feeling like he’d been hit with a baseball bat, and his arm fell to the side, numb and lifeless. Kats had fought men who were stronger than he was. He’d also fought men who were faster. But he’d never fought someone stronger and faster. He dropped to one knee trying to gather himself as Epps turned again and charged.
As the wild-eyed man came at him, Kats knew his only chance was to redirect that savage energy, so as Epps raced forward, he welcomed him in and rolled backward, using his good arm to pull the man over him, actually accelerating his charge into the concrete wall behind him. The man met the wall with an audible grunt, and Kats had a moment to gather himself, but only a moment. Within seconds, Epps was again on his feet, facing Kats, seeming to seethe with power. Then from the garage entrance a flashing red light appeared, and a siren echoed up the walls. Epps spun toward the light and, seeing the approaching police car, bolted toward the open wall. Reaching the second-floor wall, he leaped over it in one smooth motion. Kats raced forward in time to see that Epps had landed safely and was already running down the alley toward a chain-link fence. Reaching the ten-foot fence, he appeared to run up the barrier in one long step and then was over and gone in one swift, near superhuman move. As Kats stood there, his chest heaving and his arm throbbing and hanging uselessly at his side, he wondered how he could possibly stop this living science experiment.
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