{"product_id":"the-rope-artist-by-fuminori-nakamura-sam-bett","title":"The Rope Artist by Fuminori Nakamura, Sam Bett","description":"\u003cp\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\/p\u003e\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"What the Sleuth!?","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52777493758133,"sku":"9781641295697","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1002\/1506\/2709\/files\/9781641295697.jpg?v=1783532571","url":"https:\/\/whatthesleuth.com\/products\/the-rope-artist-by-fuminori-nakamura-sam-bett","provider":"What the Sleuth!?","version":"1.0","type":"link"}