People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman - Richard Lloyd Parry

An incisive and compelling account of the case of Lucie Blackman. Lucie Blackman -- tall, blonde, and 21 years old -- stepped out into the vastness of Tokyo in the summer of 2000, and disappeared forever. The following winter, her dismembered remains were found buried in a seaside cave. 

The seven months inbetween had seen a massive search for the missing girl, involving Japanese policemen, British private detectives, Australian dowsers and Lucie's desperate, but bitterly divided, parents. As the case unfolded, it drew the attention of prime ministers and sado-masochists, ambassadors and con-men, and reporters from across the world. 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, has followed the case since Lucie's disappearance. Over the course of a decade, he has travelled to four continents to interview those caught up in the story, fought off a legal attack in the Japanese courts, and worked undercover as a barman in a Roppongi strip club. He has talked exhaustively to Lucie's friends and family and won unique access to the Japanese detectives who investigated the case. And he has delved into the mind and background of the man accused of the crime -- Joji Obara, described by the judge as 'unprecedented and extremely evil'.

With the finesse of a novelist, he reveals the astonishing truth about Lucie and her fate. People Who Eat Darkness is, by turns, a non-fiction thriller, a courtroom drama and the biography of both a victim and a killer. It is the story of a young woman who fell prey to unspeakable evil, and of a loving family torn apart by grief. And it is a fascinating insight into one of the world's most baffling and mysterious societies, a light shone into dark corners of Japan that the rest of the world has never glimpsed before.

I stumbled across this book accidentally. I am going to Japan at the end of the year and thought it would be good to read a real story of another traveller and their local experience. I didn't read the whole blurb so was a shocked when I realised what the story was actually about, and despite how it might not be the best story to read a story like this before travelling there, I was already so intrigued that I had to keep going.

It really was a heart-wrenching story and it really made me feel for the family and close friends of Lucie. Rather than bringing them together in their grief, it tore apart their already fragile relationship even more. 

I got the feeling that the author took the side of the father, but he did a really good job in still presenting all the sides fairly. 

I can't even begin to imagine how myself or my family would react to a situation like this so dare not comment on how they seemed to deal with it.

It was also interesting to see how the 'justice system' works in other countries and how it differs to here in Australia. I find it so hard to believe that someone can commit crimes like this and still continue to adamantly deny they did anything wrong, it would be interesting to see how Joji Obara feels at the end of his life sentence.  

This book is a must read for young women, especially those who like to travel.