San Francisco, 1958, is the splendid, vibrant, setting for a crime noir story called HUNTERS POINT. The unusual character of a Japanese American private investigator, Katsuhiro “Kats” Takemoto, makes this a PI story without compare. Harbourside districts are the focus, with money to be made from redevelopment. This is the kind of story which really engages me, and within a few pages I was swept into the bustling community.
To start with, a boat building firm run by a Maltese family, the Vellos, is under pressure to sell, with intimidation and random work problems. Kats is asked to find out who is behind the troubles of the warehouse district. A former teen inmate of a Japanese American internment camp, later a decorated veteran of a WW2 battalion made up of similar young men, fighting in Italy, Kats is used to walking in two or more worlds. He starts by investigating dodgy building firms with a sports stadium contract, but the sphere quickly expands to government coverups.
I knew little of the city’s history, but those who know more will love this tale for the walk-on parts, with actor and soldier Jimmy Stewart, creative artists Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg, and official photographer of the internment process, Dorothea Lange, all featuring - and treated kindly. A major supporting role is taken by Shigeyoshi Murao, the bookstore owner arrested for blasphemy after allowing Beatnik books to be sold from his store; Shig, as his friends call him, accompanies Kats into some sticky situations. Molly Hayes, an Irish American lady, also features, and I am pleased that these two continue by Kats’s side in the second book of this Kats Takemotoseries, Midnight Climax.
Hunters Point Naval Base provides the title for this thriller, and much that was secret at the time can now be discussed. I learned a lot about the early experiments with nuclear powered vessels, but the information is generally provided through conversation, so it’s easy to absorb. A line drawing at the start of several chapters illustrates the settings, which I found helpful. Overall, I love this book, with its frequent dips into Asian cultures and the awakening of the built environmental movement.
Author Peter Kageyama has previously written non-fiction about the built environment. He explains in an endnote that Kats’s experiences in some ways mirrored those of his family. HUNTERS POINT wraps it all up as historical PI crime noir, a splendid way to honour San Franciso and its inhabitants. I’m already reading the second book.
The Cold War and the Beat Poets of North Beach collide in 1958 San Francisco in Peter Kageyama’s noir thriller about a Japanese American private eye investigating the mysterious goings on at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.
SAN FRANCISCO, 1958. World War 2 veteran, Katsuhiro, “Kats” Takemoto is a Nisei, second generation Japanese American and the private detective for those who don’t get noticed by the police or get the attention of traditional private eyes. The city is exploding with population growth and creative expression as the Beat poets and artists fill coffee shops and galleries. When a young Beat poet enlists Kats to keep his family from being pushed out of the Bayview Heights neighborhood by a shady developer, Kats learns that the conspiracy to take over the land around Hunters Point runs deep into Cold War fears and politics. Kats takes on the US government, the Navy, unscrupulous businessmen and the west coast mafia as he and his friends race to find the truth.
Award winning author Peter Kageyama’s debut novel brings the post-war San Francisco scene to life with historic characters including Jimmy Stewart, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Alfred Hitchcock and Shig Murao, along with the dynamics of racial identity for Japanese Americans finding their footing again in America following the war and internment.
Excerpt
Katsuhiro Takemoto watched the man who was watching the woman. Voyeurism wasn’t unusual for Kats. As a private detective, he spent too much time quietly observing the lives of others. Today was different. Today he knew the man he was watching.
Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge, was where tourists, lovers, and even the locals came for the spectacular view of the bridge and the bay. It was unusually empty today, but Kats wasn’t looking at the scenery. The tall man in the dapper gray suit and brown hat kept his distance as he watched the woman walk toward the embankment’s edge. He didn’t need to conceal himself, as the woman was focused on the bouquet of flowers she held in her white, gloved hands. Even at this distance, Kats knew she was beautiful. Her hair was platinum blond and swept up, and she wore a dark blue dress that flattered her high-heeled walk.
She stopped at the elevated edge and began to slowly pick apart her bouquet, throwing the flowers one at a time into the cold water below. The gray-suited man shifted back and forth as if he was trying to puzzle out the meaning of this gesture. As the last of the flowers fell from the woman’s hands, she purposefully turned toward the bay and jumped into the water.
The man stood stunned for a moment but then rushed forward to where she had stood. Throwing off his coat and hat, he approached the water and prepared to leap.
“Cut!” came the voice over Kats’s shoulder. Instantly the empty park was filled with activity. Production assistants rushed forward, the stuntmen and stunt women crawled back up the embankment, and costumers grabbed the coat and hat as the park transformed into a Hollywood movie set.
Kats turned his attention to the gray-suited man who had turned and was walking back toward the camera and the large presence sitting there. Alfred Hitchcock, the acclaimed film director, sat talking with his cameraman and his assistants. “That was fine, James. I believe we have what we need,” Hitchcock said in his unmistakable voice. Never one to lavish praise on even the finest actors, everyone knew that was Hitch’s way, especially the man in the gray suit who was an old hand at dealing with the demanding director.
Jimmy Stewart, America’s favorite male actor for over a decade, smiled as he approached the director. Even though the reshoot of this scene could probably have been done with a stand-in, Stewart was happy to reprise the scene and the character he had inhabited since late summer. “How about some b-roll of me swimming in the bay?” quipped the actor with a smile.
Hitch elongated his already elongated face, “Thank you, James. We are quite done with San Francisco.” Production delays and these reshoots had put Hitchcock behind schedule, and everyone knew he was feeling pressure from the studio. He was anxious to return to the controlled confines of Paramount Studios in Hollywood to finish his film.
Kats quietly stood back as several folks approached the actor and attended to various bits of business. Eventually Stewart broke away and, turning to Kats, smiled and said, “What do you think?”
“I thought I was going to have to jump in after you.” Stewart laughed, and Kats smiled at the face familiar to everyone in America. Kats was still amazed that he and this American icon had become friends over the past several months. The movie had brought them together.
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