The Night of Baba Yaga

*A Telegraph Thriller of the YearWinner of the Crime Fiction Lover Best Translation - Editor's ChoiceShortlisted for the CrimeFest Specsavers Debut Award**Longlisted for the CWA Dagger in Translation*
'The epitome of the female-led revenge thriller.' CRIME FICTION LOVER'Enraging, funny and exciting.' THE TIMES
'A fantastically brutal gore fest, this was WILD! If you're looking for a book with Kill Bill and John Wick vibes then look no further, this was a short read but hell, it packed a PUNCH.' @thespookybookclub
Fierce, mixed-race fighter Shindo has been kidnapped by the yakuza. After brutally beating most of them in an attempt to escape, she is forced to work as a bodyguard to protect the gang boss's sheltered daughter Shoko, a strange, friendless eighteen-year-old who could order Shindo's death in a moment.
At first Shindo derides Shoko's naïvete, but as the men around them grow ever more bloodthirsty and controlling, she becomes ferociously devoted to her charge. However, she knows that if things continue as they are, neither woman can expect to survive much longer.
But could there ever be a different life for two people like them?
READERS LOVE THE NIGHT OF BABA YAGA:
'So, so immersive with moments of real tenderness in amidst all the violence and gore. [...] Highly recommend.' @manareadsbooks
'There are some books that as you're reading you can totally see as a great movie, this was one of those for me.' @katandthebookshelf
'Every page is bursting with action [...] If you're looking for a read that'll get your heart racing and keep you guessing, this is it. It's the kind of book you'll probably devour in one sitting because you can't put it down. Seriously, I can't recommend this enough.' @bookish_mum_insta
'Searingly violent and wonderfully tender by turns.' GUARDIAN
'Slick and brutal.' LUCIE MCKNIGHT HARDY
'A lean and mean tale of female empowerment.' LA TIMES
'A violent and transgressive marvel.' JOHN COPENHAVER
'A breezy, sleazy piece of revisionist pulp.' TOM BENN
'A gripping, unbreakable thriller.' TOKYO WEEKENDER
'This tender yet furious crime saga will leave readers hungry for more from Otani soon.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review

Akira Otani was born in Tokyo in 1981. Beginning her career writing for video games, she made her literary debut with the short story collection Nobody Said We're Perfect, an exploration of relationships between women. An out lesbian, she is the author of the essay collection Since You're So Curious About My Body and the forthcoming novel Rurika, Born 2019, Turns 50. The Night of Baba Yaga is her first book to be translated into English.
Sam Bett is a fiction writer and Japanese translator. Working with David Boyd, he co-translated the Mieko Kawakami novels Heaven, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize; All the Lovers in the Night, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction; and Breasts and Eggs.