December 6: A Novel
Ever wonder how things might have been different for Rick Blaine, the  ostensibly selfish nightclub owner fromCasablanca, had he lived in  Japan during the 1940s, rather than Morocco? Martin Cruz Smith offers a  reasonable scenario inDecember 6.This slickly plotted, exotically atmospheric thriller opens in Tokyo just a few  days before bombs start raining on Pearl Harbor. There we meet roguish Harry  Niles, the culturally conflicted son of religious missionaries and owner of the  Happy Paris, a club known for its enigmatic jukebox jockey, Michiko, who also  happens to be Harry's mistress. With war rumors rampant, Harry--distrusted by  both U.S. and Japanese authorities--"was skipping town. Any sane person would."  He has a seat waiting on what may be the final flight out to Hong Kong, and  plans to escape from there to the States with a British diplomat's wife. But  first, there are business and personal affairs to settle, not the least of which  is an oil-tank con he's been running on the Imperial Navy--a desperate strategy  to stop his beloved Japan from entering into self-destructive conflict with  America. Harry also has to duck a sword-wielding military fanatic, who's seeking  revenge for a long-ago incident that cost him honor, and bid sayonara to  Michiko, a woman as scary as she is seductive. (Oh, well, at least they'll  always have the Happy Paris.)This book memorably re-creates wartime Tokyo, with its pet beetles and mincing  geishas and naive belief that "victory lies in a faith in victory." Yet it's  Harry Niles--cynical on top, sentimental beneath--who really carriesDecember  6, a novel as brilliantly convoluted and captivating as any Smith (Gorky Park,Havana Bay) has yet concocted.--J. Kingston Pierce--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.