Crichton - Rising Sun

Rising Sun. Michael Crichton. Ballantine. 1992. This is a murder mystery-thriller with political undertones. Actually the political issues are very blatant. It is different from much else of Crichton's work in that there is no science-fiction element. A murder is commited in the offices of a powerful Japanese conglomerate. Two police officers are assigned. They are part of a unit titled Special Operations, which seems to exist soley to interact with the Japanese. This book was made into a very good movie starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes back in the early 1990's. The book tells the same story in more detail, and clears up some of the inconsistencies of the movie. It was written when Japan's economy was very hot, and the international power of their companies was growing. Some Americans became paranoid, or at least concerned, that Japan might gain control of the U.S. through purchasing its assets. This idea is outdated today, and seems so when reading the book. But even so, Rising Sun is an excellent murder mystery very much worth the read.