Shogo Hatano has beaten thousands of applicants to become one of six final candidates in the running for a graduate position at Japan's most exclusive tech company. But Spiralinks will only make an offer to one of them, decided by a group vote in their last interview ...
As deliberations begin at the glossy high-rise office in Tokyo, Hatano finds six envelopes addressed to them all. Each contains a shocking revelation about one candidate: six secrets so terrible that they could ruin more than just careers. They could destroy lives.
With the clock ticking, Hatano must figure out who planted the damning evidence and convince the others that he deserves the job of all their dreams.
But one person in the room is a monster capable of anything in the pursuit of their goal. Or is it possible that, behind their polite masks and slick words, six monsters hide in plain sight? Are any of them truly who they say they are?
AKINARI ASAKURA is a Japanese writer and novelist known for his work as the writer of Show-ha Shoten! Hisaward-winning works have been translated around the world, adapted for stage, screen and into manga comics. This would be his debut novel translated into the English language.
HAYDN TROWELL is an Australian translator of Japanese literature whose work has appeared in Granta, Electric Literature, and Words Without Borders. He has translated fiction by major prize-winning authors such as Yasunari Kawabata, Maki Kashimada, and Rie Qudan, and he has worked extensively with publishers in Australia, Japan, the UK, and the US. Haydn holds a PhD in translation studies from Monash University and has a background in both translation and creative writing.
