(Bloomsbury – ISBN: 0 7475 8172 X – YA)

“One phone call turns Adam Grey’s world upside down. His sister’s gone missing. Halfway round the world in a neon nightmare of a city, she’s disappeared in Tokyo. And his parents aren’t doing anything, the police aren’t doing anything. No one’s doing any damn thing at all. Adam really only has one option. Go there himself and find her, and to hell with the consequences.”

So goes the back cover copy to Tokyo, and, because I wanted the book to be as realistic as possible, just like my lead character Adam, I really only had one option and I went to Tokyo, too. Also like Adam, I was on my own, I had no friends there and I spoke no Japanese. It was a real adventure and making the trip, I think, brought something extra to the book.

All the pictures on the cover were taken by me as I trawled the main drags, subways and side streets to look at the places Adam would have had to go and people he might have met. I can’t wait to go back.

Reviews
‘The focus in this gripping thriller remains firmly with Adam and not the missing sister. Vivid and cinematic, Tokyo is an immensely satisfying read, right up to the last page.’ – The Scotsman

‘By putting his teenage hero in one of the most overwhelming cities in the world, Marks gives us a visceral sense of what it would feel like to look for a lost person in a place of dizzying movement and non-stop consumerism. Best of all he packs the book with description without letting the action sag.’ – Philadelphia Inquirer

‘An immediate, pacy, closely observed teenage adventure.’ – The Bookseller

‘With Radio Radio Graham Marks found an ideal wavelength for young adult stories, and has not lost it since. [The hero,] Adam is totally convincing…but Tokyo is convincing, too: an alien culture full of bizarre familiarities, it dominates the book with vibrant, intimidating, seductive life. The novel is partly a quest, partly an underworld thriller, partly a love story, with an original and compelling take on each.’ – Peter Hollindale, School Librarian

‘A vividly portrayed movie of Tokyo…a genuine page-turner.’ Kirkus Review

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