The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
The Devil of Nanking

The Devil of Nanking

an extraordinary, electrifying thriller by one of Britain's bestselling crime-writers

Summary

Fans of Stephen King, Stuart MacBride and Karin Slaughter will devour this warped and brutally bloodthirstly thriller from bestselling and prize-winning author Mo Hayder. Deeply haunting, this will stay with you well after the final page is turned...

'Haunting, lyrical, disturbing, important, suspenseful and wonderfully written' -- HARLAN COBEN
'Left me stunned and haunted. This is writing of breathtaking power and poetry' --
TESS GERRITSEN
'Couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review
'One of the best books I have read in a long time' -- ***** Reader review
'Weird, creepy, vile......brilliant!!!!!' -- ***** Reader review
'An absolutely brilliant book. Read it NOW!' -- ***** Reader review

*****
1990: Tokyo

Grey Hutchins is in pursuit of an obsession. She is searching for a piece of film taken during the infamous Nanking massacre of 1937. Some say it never existed. Grey is certain that it does, and that it lies hidden - somewhere in Tokyo.

Alone in an alien city, Grey becomes a hostess in an exclusive club catering for Japanese businessmen - and gangsters. One gangster dominates - an old man in a wheelchair surrounded by a terrifying entourage - who is rumoured to rely on a powerful elixir for his continued health. It is an elixir that others want - at any price ...

Previously published as Tokyo, The Devil of Nanking is a literary thriller of the highest order. With its heady atmosphere of overt violence, lurking fear and sexual tension, this is a novel that takes hold of the reader and does not let go until its explosive final pages.

Reviews

  • Haunting, lyrical, disturbing, important, suspenseful and wonderfully written
    HARLAN COBEN

About the author

Mo Hayder

MO HAYDER left school at fifteen. She worked as a barmaid, security guard, filmmaker, hostess in a Tokyo club, educational administrator and teacher of English as a foreign language in Asia. She had an MA in film from The American University in Washington DC and an MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University UK.

Mo was the Sunday Times bestselling author of ten stunning crime novels, including the Jack Caffery series. Her fifth crime novel Ritual was nominated for the Barry Award for Best Crime 2009 and voted Best Book of 2008 by Publisher's Weekly. She won the CWA Dagger in the Library in 2011. Gone, her seventh novel, won the Edgar Allen Poe Award and her novel Wolf was nominated for Best Novel in the 2015 Edgar Awards, and is currently being adapted for the BBC.

Set primarily in an alternate universe, her most recent novel, The Book of Sand, is the first in a series published posthumously under the author name THEO CLARE.

Mo Hayder was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in December 2020 and passed away in July 2021.

She leaves behind a husband and a daughter, a powerful legacy of books, and an incredible number of people who loved and admired her.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more