{"product_id":"the-rope-artist-1","title":"The Rope Artist","description":"Used hardcover in Good condition. \u003cb\u003eThe aftermath of the murder of a bondage teacher reveals the darkest corners of the human mind in this chilling new mystery from the master of Japanese literary noir.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwo detectives. Two identical women. One dead body— then two, then three, then four. All knotted up in Japan’s underground BDSM scene and kinbaku, a form of rope bondage which bears a complex cultural history of spirituality, torture, cleansing, and sacrifice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Togashi, a junior member of the police force, investigates the murder of a kinbaku instructor, he finds himself unable to resist his own private transgressive desires. In contrast, Togashi’s Sherlock Holmesian colleague Hayama is morally upright to a fault, with a stalwart commitment to the truth and nearly superhuman powers of deduction. When Hayama notices a dangerous measure of darkness within Togashi, he embarks on a parallel investigation, which soon spirals out of control. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnflinching in its flayed-raw treatment of identity, violence, sexuality, power, the occult, and the divine, The Rope Artist is both viscerally painful and unexpectedly hopeful—a genre homage that shines a light on the most dangerous elements of the human psyche.","brand":"Nakamura, Fuminori","offers":[{"title":"Good","offer_id":52729746424091,"sku":"mon0000796127","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0958\/4004\/3291\/files\/9922713482772.jpg?v=1785891296","url":"https:\/\/bookalley.com\/products\/the-rope-artist-1","provider":"Book Alley","version":"1.0","type":"link"}