Lulu, $1.25
Historical Fiction, 2007
The Pet Rabbit is the first book in Silapa Jarun’s Ono Suzue: A Man of Talent in the Meiji Era series. At the time of writing, it’s available as a download at Lulu because the author is unable to sell this book to any electronic publisher out there. Perhaps that is because this is not an erotic romance story. It’s a yaoi tale but the main character, Ono Suzue, is a sociopath. It’s not for everybody. Fortunately for the author and me, this is a story that is right up my alley.
Professor Ono Suzue is a doctor. I don’t know how to reveal more about him without giving away spoilers, so let me just say that he is a very charismatic character who at the same time is deranged enough to commit all kinds of nasty acts in the name of what he perceives to be a greater good. Set in Tokyo in 1883, this story introduces the good doctor by having him seduce a student, Kawana Tomoji, into being his unwitting biological experiment test subject as well as instrument in a plan he is hatching against the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Pet Rabbit is a delicious read. It manages to be disquietingly sick and disturbing at times without the author resorting to outright gore. Suzue is a completely amoral larger-than-life sociopath who is fascinating and repulsive at the same time. He is a well-written antihero in my opinion and I find myself itching to follow more of his bloodthirsty actions.
The quibble I have with this story is that the story is short and therefore there is a rushed feel to the overall storyline development. The story has its implausible moments at times, but that’s okay with me however because this is, after all, a larger-than-life story with typical exaggerated yaoi elements and therefore it isn’t meant to reflect reality accurately. I just wish the story has been longer because I really find Ono Suzue a most magnetic bad boy to remember.
