Jackson Alone by Jose Ando
Despite a compelling premise, Jose Ando's workplace mystery lacks the clarity needed to fully satisfy
Jackson, a Black, queer man in Japan, finds himself the victim of a bizarre workplace prank in this short debut novel by Jose Ando, translated into English from Japanese by Kalau Almony. When a QR code on the back of a gifted shirt reveals a pornographic video of him – or, at least, someone who looks just like him – to his colleagues, Jackson must stop the rumour mill by finding both the culprit and the real person in the video.
What follows is a sort of whodunnit minus the murder, carried out by a group of hapless and near-identical-looking young men. When Jackson meets Jerin, Ibuki and X, who have also anonymously received shirts that led to the same video, the four decide to work together to clear their names.
Soon, the investigation moves away from typical manhunt territory. Instead, it provides an opportunity to enact their own doppelganger experiment and gives way to reflections on the isolating nature of the Black, queer experience in Japan. Ando writes in the sparse, assured prose typical of classic Japanese mysteries but, whether a symptom of Almony’s translation or an issue present in the original Japanese text, the prose lacks the clarity necessary for the convoluted plot to fully satisfy. Despite a compelling premise, the issue becomes a barrier towards emotional engagement with the characters which the short novel never quite overcomes.