The infection begins…
The Ring Trilogy
by Koji Suzuki
Horror
Paperback, approx 288 pages, 5.25 x 8 inches
Ring: 978-1-932234-41-1 Buy.
Spiral: 978-1-932234-16-9 Buy.
Loop: 978-1-932234-25-1 Buy.
U.S.$13.95 / CAN$17.95
One night in Tokyo, four healthy teenagers die one after another of heart failure. Intrigued by the coincidence, a journalist investigates and learns of a videotape that the four watched together a week before dying. Amid a series of bizarre and frightening images is a warning that the viewer will die in exactly one week unless a certain act is performed. The description of the act, of course, has been erased from the videotape, and the journalist’s work to solve the mystery assumes a deadly urgency.
Ring is not only a chillingly told horror story but also a shrewdly intelligent and subversive commentary on the power of imagery and contagious consumerism. A blockbuster movie in Asia as well as a hit DreamWorks remake, the novel sold almost 3 million copies in Japan. Ring is the thriller that spawned the entire J-horror craze.
Though there is a Ring 2 movie, it has nothing to do with Koji Suzuki’s story. The real sequel, an avidly-awaited follow-up to the epoch-making Ring, is the acclaimed Spiral, in which Suzuki folds the story back on itself, reinterprets it, and adds levels of complexity, science, and horror. The Ring virus is mutating, and Ando, a medical doctor, must choose between possibly betraying his species and bringing back his drowned son. You don’t know what the Ring is yet…
In Loop, the trilogy’s mind-blowing conclusion, you know even less as the very reality of the Ring/Spiral world is questioned. The real world is the unreal in this highly cerebral metaphysical thriller.
"Suzuki's ambitious trilogy does succeed, and it's hard not to be impressed with his aplomb in turning a straight supernatural horror mystery around into a piece of pure science fiction.”—TIMES
"Suzuki is called the Stephen King of his country, but that's not really accurate; King isn't nearly as adept at creating complex characters, explaining scientific principles or writing the kind of dialogue that might actually be spoken by humans.”—Las Vegas Mercury
"Aptly billed as the Japanese Stephen King.”—Publishers Weekly
"(Suzuki’s) stories have a unique, alchemical quality to them and he has demonstrated a miraculous power for transmuting the very common into the very frightening.”—Rue Morgue
Praise for the RING:
"Anyone curious in how the Japanese see themselves will find this book a fascinating, and ultimately highly disturbing, experience." —Publishers Weekly
"From its eerie opening to its chilling conclusion, this novel by the "Stephen King of Asia" will keep readers glued to its pages." —Library Journal
"But Suzuki is plowing a path that nobody else has traveled, as his 'Ring'-virus is born into an all-too vulnerable world. There are so many extremely clever riffs that never made it into either movie that readers aren't likely to notice how wide the road recently traveled is until they catch their breath and manage to look back." —Agony Columns
Praise for SPIRAL:
“An enduring modern archetype”—SF Reader
Praise for LOOP:
"Loop is a Suzuki masterpiece and will shake you to your core whether you like it or not." —Book Magazine (Japan)
"[Suzuki] does not disappoint... Loop satisfies better than the original or its sequel when you want real answers." —bookslut.com
