{"product_id":"lady-joker-1","title":"Lady Joker (Lady Joker #1)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-War Japan: a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder; a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder; a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his ethnicity; a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down's syndrome.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who has died in suspicious circumstances. Intent on revenge against a society that values corporate behemoths more than human life, the five conspirators decide to carry out a heist: kidnap the CEO of Japan's largest beer conglomerate and extract blood money from the company's corrupt financiers. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eInspired by the unsolved true-crime kidnapping case perpetrated by \"the Monster with 21 Faces,\" \u003cem\u003eLady Joker\u003c\/em\u003e has become a cultural touchstone since its 1997 publication, acknowledged as the magnum opus by one of Japan's literary masters, twice adapted for film and TV and often taught in high school and college classrooms.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kaoru Takamura","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43418302218497,"sku":"9781529394214","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/websitecovertemplate-224.png?v=1697897969","url":"https:\/\/rarebirdsbooks.pro\/products\/lady-joker-1","provider":"Rare Birds Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}