Evil and the Mask

In this second novel by the award-winning author of The Thief, we are introduced to an 11-year-old boy, Fumihiro, and his elderly father who have a dark, complicated relationship. The rich and privileged father is a deranged man who charges his son to be "a cancer on the world." Fumihiro is to be educated in the art of destruction and unhappiness to continue the work set into motion by his evil parent and other members of his twisted family. In order to break his spirit, Fumihiro is allowed to fall in love—only to have that love torn from him to destroy his happiness. When the book jumps into the future, we find the main character has changed his identity in an attempt to exact revenge against his father. He also seeks out the love of his life. But before Fumihiro can carry out his plan, other people emerge from the shadows to confront him. He must use the evil he has harnessed to shift his own destiny.