People Who Eat Darkness

The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo - and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up

By: Richard Lloyd Parry

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Lucie Blackman - tall, blond, 21 years old - stepped out into the vastness of Tokyo in the summer of 2000 and disappeared. The following winter, her dismembered remains were found buried in a seaside cave. The seven months in between had seen a massive search for the missing girl involving Japanese policemen, British private detectives, and Lucie’s desperate but bitterly divided parents. Had Lucie been abducted by a religious cult or snatched by human traffickers? Who was the mysterious man she had gone to meet? And what did her work as a hostess in the notorious Roppongi district of Tokyo really involve?

Richard Lloyd Parry, an award-winning foreign correspondent, followed the case from the beginning. Over the course of a decade, as the rest of the world forgot but the trial dragged on, he traveled to four continents to interview those connected with the story, assiduously followed the court proceedings, and won unique access to the Japanese detectives who investigated the case. Ultimately he earned the respect of the victim’s family and delved deep into the mind and background of the man accused of the crime - Joji Obara, described by the judge as “unprecedented and extremely evil.” The result is a book at once thrilling and revelatory.

Richard Lloyd Parry is the Asia editor and Tokyo bureau chief of the London Times and the author of In the Time of Madness.

©2011, 2012 Richard Lloyd Parry (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A masterpiece of writing this surely is, but it is more than that - it is a committed, compassionate, courageous act of journalism that changes the way we think. Everyone who has ever loved someone and held that life dear should read this stunning book, and shiver.” (Chris Cleave, number one New York Times best-selling author of Little Bee)

“I opened this book as a skeptic. I am not a lover of true crime…. But Richard Lloyd Parry's remarkable examination of [this] crime, what it revealed about Japanese society and how it unsettled conventional notions of bereavement, elevates his book above the genre. People Who Eat Darkness is a searing exploration of evil and trauma and how both ultimately elude understanding or resolution.… Just as the grief of Blackman’s parents is unassaugeable, Obara and his motives are unknowable. That is the darkness at the heart of this book, one Lloyd Parry conveys with extraordinary effect and emotion.… People Who Eat Darkness is a fascinating mediation that does not pretend to offer pat answers to obscene mysteries.” ( New York Times Book Review)

“[A] masterful literary true crime story, which earns its comparisons to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and Norman Mailer's The Executioner’s Song.… Like the case of Etan Patz, the Lucie Blackman disappearance captured the public imagination. By writing about it in such culturally informed detail, Parry subtly encourages an understanding that goes past the headlines. It is a dark, unforgettable ride.” ( Los Angeles Times)

Fascinating story! Well told

What made the experience of listening to People Who Eat Darkness the most enjoyable?

As a true crime lover and someone not familiar with this story, I learned not only about the story of the crime, but also the background. Learning about subculture of Japan was fascinating.

I enjoyed the cultural aspects of this story

This was a 3.5 for me. The first part was very interesting, particularly when the author delved into the culture of the Japanese hostesses. I was intrigued until around the point where Lucie's body was found. After that, while some parts were interesting, particularly the workings of the Japanese legal system, much of it began to drag. There is no doubt that it was well researched and that the author spent significant time on this case; however, I felt it could have been a bit shorter.

Intriuging

Would you listen to People Who Eat Darkness again? Why?

Where many missing/murdered stories end, this one goes far deeper. The author sensitively and comprehensively unpacks multiple perspectives and details embedded in the murder of Lucie Blackman, such as the cultural aspects- she was a foreigner, but so too was her killer, whose family sought to overcome discrimination and thus over-scheduled and over-educated their little boy from the age of three. This case spans many years, the amount of research undertaken had to be quite daunting, yet the author organizes the overwhelming amount of material and makes it thrilling.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, he's an audie winner and never disappoints.

Anatomy of a crime

Narration was excellent. The delivery was like a news announcement, in a way, but kept my attention. It was dramatic but not theatrical. There were times when I felt the author could have included less detail but at the same time that detail was necessary to understanding the characters involved, the crime, and the society in which that crime occurred. Overall highly recommended.

Tragic Story

Tragic story, but well told, granted a bit too indepth at times which takes aways from the main plot.

No stone unturned...

This is a fascinating true crime novel in that it doesn't just focus *on* the criminal and his crimes. If anything, they are very lightly touched upon; there is enough exploration and disclosure that the listener understands just how sickening Joji Obara is but the real focus is the ripple effect of how the crimes of one person can so drastically affect the lives of many. There are no harsh condemnations within (unless warranted) but **SPOILERS** there is one aspect that struck me as highly out-of-place compared with the rest of the novel: the author's dogged (but, to me, ultimately futile) attempt at defending Tim Blackman. For every other person, their actions and thoughts were discussed and left up to the reader to decide how to interpret (such as Sophie's tragic mix of viciousness and vulnerability) but not for Tim - no, no, Mr. Parry did his best to defend the man every time he could. Now, knowing that Joji Obara could possibly get parole in 2020, I can't help but wonder how much more publicity and money Mr. Blackman will try to squeeze out of a sympathetic public and how the money he and other victims previously accepted (a common practice which has the possibility of reducing sentences) will affect the case (it may not have mattered much at the time but the story is, horrifyingly enough, not finished). Hopefully the Japanese criminal justice system doesn't forget the depth of depravity Joji Obara is capable of and likely to repeat but who knows...

Well worth a listen

This story started off by immediately thrusting me into an unfamiliar world in Tokyo. I was mesmerized by the detail and action, which was colorfully and terrifyingly described. Then as the TV series law and order, it moves into the trial phase. This becomes more like a social science lecture. Very very interesting pulling together of the details surrounding the story. Here I tended to drift as some of the drawn out analysis of behavior and the reaction of the public seemed excessive. Maybe not. I have to say I learned a lot. Well worth listening to.

Great real life story, told on an unorthodox way

Great story of a really sad reality, of an otherwise safe japanese society, for males that is. The way of telling the story was somewhat confusing at points, but still very entertaining. I struggled to finish it, or leaving it a few days and picking it again and remembering the act it was on, because in my opinion the story sometimes had too much information, people introduced, etc. All are important in some ways, so appreciate the journalistic side of the author covering every single nook and cranny of the story for a very long time. I loved the way the narrator told the story, very easy to understand even at 1.25x, which sometimes is not easy to say of every narrator. 4 out of 5 just because of the pace the story had some times, but a close 5 out of 5 in my book

Riveting True Crime That Has More Depth Than You'd

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE AUDIOBOOK VERSION

First off, I have to say that true crime books are not my thing. However, a friend (who also isn’t a true crime person) made the book sound so good that I felt like I had to give it a go. The thing that really pushed me over the edge, though, was that Simon Vance narrated the book and I’ve heard about how great he is as a narrator. (And he is fabulous … I see the attraction.) As I listened about the account of the disappearance of 21-year-old Brit Lucie Blackman from the streets of Tokyo, I got caught up in the story just as Richard Lloyd Parry did. (Parry is the Asia Editor and Tokyo Bureau Chief for the London Times.) Aside from being a true crime book, it is also a glimpse into the culture and legal system of Japan, which was absolutely fascinating. The book also delves into how people grieve and react to violent crimes in different ways, and why families are often torn apart rather than brought together by such events. Parry does a brilliant job of weaving together a rather complex story in a way that was always interesting and informative. Even if true crime isn’t your thing, I still think you’d find much of interest in this well-written and riveting book. Consider it a crash course on Japanese culture, history and legal system if that makes you feel better.

Had me... then lost me... then had me...

"Oooh, a chilling premise. Let's find out what happened to these missing girls! Creepy! Who did this? Are they satanic? Are they... oh, I'm getting bored. yawn. Wait, what just happened? Better rewind... Oh, okay, this is getting better... Ooooh no way! Wow this is getting good!... Oh. Actually, that's kind of a letdown.... Well, I saw that coming. Should I just stop listening? No, i really want to see what happens. What should I have for dinner? ..."

-My brain while listening to this book