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by Michael Pronko (Author)
Running from a life she didn't choose, in a city she doesn't know.
In the glow of Tokyo's endless neon, three bodies lie in a studio-one of them still breathing. Detective Hiroshi Shimizu is called from his desk and thrown into a case that spirals through the city's darkest arteries. What begins as a brutal multiple murder soon leads him into the sleek, deadly machinery of human trafficking, cryptocurrency laundering, and the people who profit from both.
Somewhere in the chaos, a teenage girl named Sukanya has vanished-taking with her a stolen laptop that could expose an empire of exploitation. Hunted through Tokyo's alleys, hostess bars, and freight docks, she's the only witness who can unravel a web that stretches from the city's glittering skyline to its deepest shadows.
With his steadfast mentor Takamatsu and the ever-formidable Sakaguchi, Hiroshi follows the trail through brothels disguised as clubs, hackers' dens pulsing with code, and offices that reek of power and denial. Every lead points to the same truth: in Tokyo, traffic isn't just cars and trains-it's people. Bought, sold, erased.
As time runs out, Hiroshi faces a city where justice is negotiable and survival comes at a cost. To save the girl-and himself-he must navigate the blurred lines between victims and killers, cops and criminals, truth and the lies Tokyo tells itself.
Tokyo Traffic is a relentless noir thriller that rips through the heart of modern Japan-where technology hides sin, compassion is dangerous, and power profits from the powerless.
Awards & Recognition
- Gold Award - Literary Titan (2020)
- Gold Medallion - Book Readers Appreciation Group (B.R.A.G.) (2020)
- Reviewer's Choice - Feathered Quill Book Awards (2020)
- Winner - Thriller - Independent Press Award (2021)
- Winner - Thriller - National Indie Excellence Awards (2021)
- Silver Medal - Reader's Favorite Fiction Mystery Murder
- Silver Winner - Thriller and Suspense - Foreword Indies (2020)
- Bronze Award - Reader Views Reviewer's Choice Awards (2020-2021, Mystery/Thriller)
