Shitamachi Scam, the sixth audiobook in the award-winning Detective Hiroshi series by Michael Pronko, is available now performed by legendary narrator Peter Berkrot
Hello again, dear audiobooks friends. Today’s spotlight article is dedicated to Shitamachi Scam, the highly anticipated sixth audiobook in the award-winning Detective Hiroshi Series of mysteries set in the exotic metropolis of Tokyo, Japan.
If you’re not familiar yet with these novels, you should get acquainted with them as soon as possible because I can assure you that each is exquisitely written by the esteemed professor and multiple award-winning author, Michael Pronko.
As you should remember if you follow my articles here, I am a huge fan of Michael’s and I am always eagerly awaiting new installments in this captivating series. Shitamachi Scam arrives one year after Azabu Getaway, the previous excellent installment starring Detective Hiroshi.
I’m really glad to see once again multiple award-winning narrator and actor Peter Berkrot stepping back into Detective Hiroshi’s shoes for this adventure and I can’t wait to see how he handles this latest challenge. The audio production is a little over 10 hours in duration, which is quite common for books in this series. Now, let’s take a look at the Publisher’s Summary and find out more about the story of Shitamachi Scam. After that, I will tell you a few things about the author and the narrator, because both of them are amazing artists and have been awarded a lot of prizes.
After the suspicious deaths of a seventy-something woman and a student recluse, Detective Hiroshi tracks down a gang of scammers who target retirees, robbing them of their pensions, life savings, and even the deeds to their homes. Hiroshi teams up with Detective Ishii, who’s been running a women’s crime task force. Together, they find out who has been ripping off the pensions, life savings, and deeds to homes in Shitamachi, the older, eastern side of the city.
With his personal life on hold (almost), Hiroshi finds out how complex the traditional life of Tokyo still is. With old-school Detective Takamatsu and ex-sumo wrestler Chief Sakaguchi watching his back, he finds out who’s behind the scams, and who’s behind the scammers.
Michael Pronko is a Tokyo-based award-winning writer of murder, memoir, and music. His writing about Tokyo life and his character-driven mysteries have won awards and five-star reviews. Kirkus Reviews selected his second novel, The Moving Blade for their Best Books of 2018. The Last Train won the Shelf Unbound Competition for Best Independently Published Book. Michael also runs the website, Jazz in Japan, which covers the vibrant jazz scene in Tokyo and Yokohama.
During his over 25 years in Japan, he has written about Japanese culture, art, society, and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, and Artscape Japan. He has read his essays on NHK TV and done programs for Nippon Television based on his writings. A philosophy major, Michael traveled for years, ducking in and out of graduate schools, before finishing his PhD on Charles Dickens and film. He finally settled in Tokyo as a professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuin University. His seminars focus on contemporary novels, short stories and film adaptations. “All of my books are set in Tokyo, a city I’ve become addicted to for its size, sweep, and speed. It’s an amazing place to experience on a daily basis, to try to get hold of. I’m still overwhelmed by it at times, maybe most of the time, but writing about Tokyo in both fiction and non-fiction is one way to understand the place, and to understand myself, too,” Michael said. “I’ve come to feel that our lives are constructed by stories. We all have problems, conflicts, and confusions, but also moments when the sheer beauty of the world shines through. Thinking of those ups and downs, I feel stories are essential to live more freely and more creatively. They restore our humanity. Stories are also great fun! I feel privileged to keep working with stories and to be able to share those stories with others.” More about Michael’s life and writings in Tokyo at: www.michaelpronko.com
A veteran of stage and screen, Peter Berkrot‘s career spans four decades. Highlights include feature roles in Caddyshack and Showtime’s Brotherhood, and appearances on America’s Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries. His voice can be heard on television, radio, video games, documentaries and industrials. He is a prominent acting coach and a regular contributor to the award-winning news program Frontline produced by WGBH in Boston.
Peter served as director of narration for the Emmy-nominated The Truth About Cancer. He has also voiced over 600 audiobooks and more than 300 for children, winning 10 Earphones Awards and a 2012 Audie Award nomination. He received SOVAS awards in 2018 and 2019. His 2016 Audie Award was as part of a multi cast performance for THE STARLING PROJECT, starring Alfred Molina and was part of the ensemble in the Audible Original THE X-FILES: COLD CASES starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.
He was honored along with a brilliant cast of actors for THE VAULT OF HORROR, directed by William Dufris with an Independent Audiobook Award for AUDIO DRAMA. Favorite titles include Toby and the Secrets of the Tree by Timotee de Fombelle, Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith, The Accident by Linwood Barclay, The Last Policeman trilogy by Ben H. Winters, the Junior Bender series for Timothy Hallinan and Caddyshack: The making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story in which he is also featured as a character.
Stay tuned for my review of Shitamachi Scam in the upcoming weeks, but until then take care, stay safe, and don’t forget, always listen with your heart!
Victor Dima
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