Rising Sun

A Novel

By: Michael Crichton

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

A riveting thriller of corporate intrigue and cutthroat competition between American and Japanese business interests.

On the forty-fifth floor of the Nakamoto tower in downtown Los Angeles - the new American headquarters of the immense Japanese conglomerate - a grand opening celebration is in full swing.

On the forty-sixth floor, in an empty conference room, the corpse of a beautiful young woman is discovered.

The investigation immediately becomes a headlong chase through a twisting maze of industrial intrigue, a no-holds-barred conflict in which control of a vital American technology is the fiercely coveted prize - and in which the Japanese saying "business is war" takes on a terrifying reality.

Rising Sun was made into a film, starring Sean Connery.

©1992 CrichtonSun LLC (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A grand maze of plot twists... Crichton's gift for spinning a timely yarn is going to be enough, once again, to serve a current tenant of the bestseller list with an eviction notice." - New York Daily News

✨MacLeod Andrews = Subarashīdesu 素晴らしいです Fantastic

Any additional comments?

Just fantastic! The action, the betrayals, the murder... -contented sigh- just what an action junkie like me needed.

Wish the ending hadn't left me feeling an "uneasy feeling," and all the political preachy feel of the story had my interest else where for a bit but but man oh man, there is not a bored moment in this story.

And I'm not really into FM romances anymore but I kind of wanted more of a story for LAPD lieutenant Smith and the Japanese/Black lab assistant Theresa . I am all about that 💖Interracial love💖 thing! In a way I wish the story had ended with those two side by side because it would have left that tiny spark of hope that, everything would be ok.

A subarashīdesu performance of a superb story.

Dated, but good writing

Michael Crichton is a fantastic writer, and this story was very informative for its time. Decades later, the landscape between Japan and America has drastically changed, so it is not as relevant. Still, some Japanese traditions in this novel still exist and the entertainment value is still fun

. It was almost like a trip back to the 1980's.

Mid nineties Japan Bashing

I got through about half of this book and I was curious about how it would resolve itself. However, the Japan bashing got to be too much for me to take. Granted that it was written in the mid nineties and things might have been different then but for the mid 2010s it was just toooo much

Dated and ethnocentric, at least, but good story

Interesting read reflecting a time past and world view gone. Excessive exposition and no small bias, but the story is otherwise entertaining and the narrator is excellent.

Good but not great.

The movie expectations hurt it for me. Sean Connery hard to beat. As this is original, pretty good.

How I miss Crichton's writing!

Although I saw the movie with Sean Connery first, I'm glad I finally listened to the book. I learned a lot about how the oriental do business--they consider it to be WAR!

It was thought-provoking to listen to the comparison between how the US Congress hog-tied America's businesses, allowing the other country to essentially gain control of America's technology. And how Congress's failure to protect our nation's brain trust has crippled our economy! It is infuriating that in the other country, when an American applies for a patent, they must show all aspects of their invention, which is open to other country's companies to copy, for SEVEN years. Then by the time the patent is granted it is USELESS because it has already been stolen, and/or improved upon and been used in that country's technology! When inventors refuse to sell their technology that country buys the company. With our stolen technology, and the death of many of our manufacturing companies here in America, the other country slows down delivery of things like microchips to US companies, again to give its companies an edge.

The US has no such restrictions for foreign governments. Thankfully, in the past decade or two Congress has begun to wake up. Perhaps now the US Congress will level the playing field, putting the same restrictions on foreign governments and their companies that are, at a minimum, as stringent as those placed on US companies!

Enlightening book. Truly, the other country sees business as WAR and up to now they have certainly conquered the US in a number of fields, such as technology, technology manufacturing, the arts such as television and movies. They control some (at least 20) of our major technology universities, have purchased some of our best golf courses which they have slowly closed to US players (since the fee to join is $1,000,000+), and are now buying up hundreds of thousands of acres to raise beef which they sell only to the other country's market. And it won't allow US beef (in any appreciable amounts) into it's country (each PIECE has to be tested), nor will its homemaker buy American beef as they consider it inferior to beef raised by that country's people in the US!

Like I said, enlightening book. Don't get me wrong, I do not hate that natiin. I and my daughter spent 10 wonderful days in there, living with a delightful host family, and I'd cheerfully do it again. There are so many things that were astounding, eye-opening, amazing, and perplexing about that country. But knowing how they think and why they do some things the way they do has, until now, been beyond my understanding. I will likely re-read this in the near future for the lesson in the different way our two cultures look at things, think about issues, and take action.

NOTE: In order for my review to be accepted (tried over 10 times before I realized it was likely censorship for the other country mentioned. Consequently, I went back and used different terms to represent the other country so it would go through the censorship. I guess that country has strong arms, even into audiobooks!

Better Than "As Good As The Movie"

While I love Sean Connery's portrayal of Captain John Connor in the film, this narrator does a fine job of adding a little of Connery's essence to the character's voice and demeanor in a way that doesn't the book and the film justice.

Stereotypes and lack of subtlety

Book favors delivering some socio-economic message and spouting stereotypes and incorrect information. e.g. Japanese have no problem with homosexuality, the Japanese legal system and its ultra high conviction rate, how safe any area of Japan is. They are generally the good stereotypes being spouted but still make the minimal research done on this book evident. Like they got all their information from a Japanese ambassador or a tourist. A problem because they come from a supposed expert on the justice system and Japan. Otherwise good dialogue and smooth description and delivery by the narrator. Some of the detective decisions seemed half assed too but I guess we're to assume they are just really efficient. I found this story acceptable.

Interesting and informative about Japanese business

Quit a bit different from Shogun. Modern Japanese business philosophy versus the American approach. I cannot say from personal experience how closely this story reflects actual beliefs and practices.

A very interesting and captivating story that seems cut and dried many times only to be off in another direction before the final solving of the case.

Dated

Written several decades ago, not really relevant any more. Story drags. Not Crichton's best work