Iori Fujiwara (1948–2007) is a recognized master of the modern Japanese detective story, winner of many awards. Having graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1973 with a degree in French literature, the author of the bestseller “Darkness in the Palm,” already familiar to Russian readers, worked for the Dentsu advertising corporation until his death. Haley's meticulousness, Chandler's sad irony, Murakami's mysticism and characters in the spirit of Takeshi Kitano's films brought Fujiwara wild popularity. And finally, perhaps his most famous novel, “An Umbrella for a Terrorist,” is being published in Russian. Awarded both the Edogawa Rampo Prize (Japan's highest award in the detective genre) and the prestigious Naoki Literary Prize, the book sold over a million copies. The hero of this novel, a bartender in a tiny pub and an experienced alcoholic, accidentally witnesses a terrorist attack in a central park in Tokyo. . Among the many victims of the explosion are the head of the counter-terrorism department, as well as our hero’s best friend and former lover, whom he has not seen for a quarter of a century, since the student unrest of the late 60s. All these years he wanted to escape from the past and the secrets hidden in it, but now it overtook him and swirled him into a bloody whirlpool in which the interests of the yakuza, terrorist plans, revenge for devoted friendship and big money were intertwined...

Fujiwara - an excellent psychological detective, a kind of Japanese Chandler. Very vivid verbal presentation of the first-person narrator. But his main strength, perhaps, is how masterfully he leads the reader by the nose. The main character of any Fujiwara novel is to some extent an outcast who has fallen out of the “classical” life according to the rules of Japanese society. At the beginning of the book, we get acquainted with this hero and try to live in his shoes according to the same rules of the game, but by the end our idea of him changes dramatically, and the “game” itself - the surrounding reality - is turned inside out. In other words, we are dealing with certain psychological werewolves who live in a constantly changing world. Dmitry Kovalenin

A new Japanese literary star has risen on the book shelves of Russia - Iori Fujiwara. The success of his novels is predetermined. Fujiwara's books have a special understanding of honor, moral standards, intra-family and corporate relations. And they greatly influence the Russian perception of Japan as a country where “concepts” are more important than law and common sense. We have practically the same thing. And one more thing: Fujiwara's main characters drink an awful lot. Beer, sake, whiskey and whatever they pour. This is such Russian extreme drunkenness, during which you can move mountains...Russian newspaper (about the novel by Iori Fujiwara “Darkness in the Palm”)