Tokyo Heist
Authors: Diana Renn
Tags: #Young Adult Fiction, #Art, #Mysteries & Detective Stories, #People & Places, #Asia, #Juvenile Fiction, #Art & Architecture
Advance praise for
Tokyo Heist
“A terrific heroine, exciting and unexpected plot twists, and fascinating and beautifully wrought real-life settings:
young adult mysteries do not get better than this
.”
—Peter Abrahams, author of the Echo Falls Mysteries and Edgar Award winner
“
Tokyo Heist
is a fast-paced, exotic adventure, a story where
The da Vinci Code
meets the wildly popular manga genre! Author Diana Renn infuses protagonist Violet with plenty of
chikara
(power) and Renn’s fresh, spot-on author’s voice is irresistible.
I couldn’t put it down!
”
—Alane Ferguson, author of the Forensic Mysteries and Edgar Award winner
“Fly to the coolest city on earth. Hunt for a missing masterpiece. Battle tattooed gangsters while rocking a kimono. And don’t forget to try the
shibazuke
. Adventures don’t get any more thrilling than
Tokyo Heist
.
You’ll want to jump right inside this book and live it.
”
—Kirsten Miller, author of the Kiki Strike series
“Hidden paintings, yakuza assassins, vivid settings, artful intrigue, and a taste of manga make
Tokyo Heist
an absorbing tale mystery readers will love
.”
—Linda Gerber, author of
Death by Latte
Contents
VIKING
Published by Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
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Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in 2012 by Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Copyright
©
Diana Renn, 2012
All rights reserved
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Renn, Diana.
Tokyo heist / by Diana Renn.
p. cm.
Summary: After a high-profile art heist of three van Gogh drawings in her home town of Seattle, sixteen-year-old Violet Rossi finds herself in Japan with her artist father, searching for the related van Gogh painting.
ISBN 978-1-101-57241-2
[1. Art thefts—Fiction. 2. Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890—Fiction. 3. Fathers and daughters—Fiction. 4. Seattle (Wash.)—Fiction. 5. Tokyo (Japan)—Fiction. 6. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.R2895Tok 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011043364
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
In memory of my grandmother, Esther Bruketta, who never went anywhere without an intriguing mystery tucked away in her purse
1
T
he wind, the rain, my soaked Converse sneakers: I blame it all on my dad. It’s his fault I waited in front of Jet City Comics for over an hour before hopping a bus to Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Now I’m slogging downtown through a rainstorm, dragging my suitcase through puddles.
Most of the art galleries are already closed for the day, but the Margo Wise Gallery glows with cool light. I duck under the awning and wipe my steamed-up glasses. Through the gallery window, I scan the crowd. Well-dressed men and women gather around paintings, eating off tiny plates, but I don’t see anybody whom I know. A jazz trio plays in a corner. Everyone will stare when I go in. I don’t look like an artist’s daughter. I look like a runaway trying to score food.
But I was invited! I take the damp, creased postcard from the pocket of my leather jacket.
GLENN MARKLUND, MADRONA GROVE: PAINTINGS FROM ORCAS ISLAND. ARTIST RECEPTION THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 6:00–8:00 PM.
My name, Violet Rossi, appears on a label above my mom’s address. The other side shows one of my dad’s paintings: a lone madrona tree on a bluff, its bark a collage of mottled browns, its leaves dark green and waxy. Its trunk sways to the left, like a woman sticking out her hip. The tree radiates
chikara
,
my favorite Japanese word. It means “confidence” or “power
.
”
I could use some
chikara
right now. I suddenly don’t know if my dad mailed the card himself, or if a computer just randomly spit out my name.
“Ganbatte!”
I whisper to my blurry reflection. That’s Japanese for “hang in there.” Characters are always saying that in manga and anime. My friends and I say it to each other at school. It will take a whole lot of
chikara
to walk into that gallery and put myself on display.
I twist my frizzed curls into a bun, which I secure with two lacquered chopsticks. I straighten my yellow kimono scarf, pick up my luggage, and step into the light and the laughter.
People surround my dad. A photographer snaps pictures of him. No wonder I didn’t see him at first. His normal uniform is a plaid shirt slung over a T-shirt. Paint-splattered jeans. Crooked glasses. His shoulder-length hair, pulled back in a ponytail, always looks oily. If you didn’t know he was an artist, you might think he’d spent a week living under the Aurora Bridge. In a cardboard box. Which, for all I know, he does. It’s not like I’ve actually
seen
his new house in Fremont, even though he’s been living there for almost three months.
But this evening, he wears crisp, black jeans and a black V-neck sweater. His blow-dried hair hangs loose. Maybe he didn’t pick me up after work because he was too busy styling his hair.
The gallery turns into a surrealist painting. Everything stretches and blurs. What if my dad doesn’t want me spending the next six weeks at his house? My mom flew to Rome this morning for her summer research fellowship. Two grad students are subletting our North Seattle condo. I have no doting relatives to take me in. As for friends, in a week, Edge will be at film camp. Reika is in Tokyo with her aunt and uncle. And I already told everyone that I’m spending my summer in the city, in the artsy Fremont district. How can I say my dad blew me off?