December 6 (novel)
December 6 is a 2003 thriller novel by American author Martin Cruz Smith.[1]
 First edition | |
| Author | Martin Cruz Smith |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 30 September 2002 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 (hardback) |
| ISBN | 0-684-87253-6 |
Plot summary
In late 1941, Harry Niles has many of the same problems in Tokyo as Rick Blaine encounters at the same time in Casablanca.[2][3] Harry's place, the "Happy Paris", a bar-club for American and European expatriates, newspapermen and diplomats, is in Tokyo's entertainment district and it's only 24 hours or so before Japanese fighters and bombers will hit Pearl Harbor. During that time, Niles has to consult with the local US ambassador, get rid of a passionately dangerous lover, shrug off the brutal attentions of the police, escape the vengeance of an aggrieved samurai officer and take himself off the island, the exit points from which are all tightly stoppered. He has the benefits of a largely unsupervised childhood in Tokyo, is highly fluent in the Japanese language and culture, and is subtle, swift and cunning.
Alternative title
The novel was published in England under the name Tokyo Station.[4]
References
- Howard W. French (October 8, 2002). "Arts Abroad: After 2 Visits, Taking On Japan at War". The New York Times.
- Jonathan Yardley (October 13, 2002). "Tokyo 1941, on the eve of Pearl Harbor". Chicago Sun-Times.
- "The science of fiction: telling history as it was, and as it 't". The Japan Times. September 15, 2002.
- Mark Lawson (26 October 2002). "Revenge of the samurai". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2011.