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Finalist 2022 Kindle Book Awards Best Mystery/Thriller

"[Garver] has crafted an engaging, if violence-laden, story that introduces readers to the underbelly of Tokyo. There's plenty of action, suspense, and even some romance as Fisher's saga unfolds, keeping readers on their toes. [Garver] is able to tell the story at a perfect pace that keeps the reader invested. [He] succeeds in defining the characters through their actions...particularly Fisher, who at first presents as a hot-headed brute, but evolves to become highly sympathetic. This book is fresh and unique, offering a vivid setting and distinctive characters. The author does a fine job with characterization, particularly for Fisher, but also for lesser players who enhance the story." -- The BookLife Prize

“A gripping, twisty thriller…deftly, tautly plotted.” — Kirkus Reviews 

“5 out of 5…The gripping thriller Ways to Die in Tokyo follows a broken man as he tries to rebuild his family—and to survive Tokyo’s criminal underground…intriguing and insightful…suspenseful…emotional and satisfying.” — Foreword Clarion Reviews

For years Hank Fisher has chased his dream of becoming a mixed martial arts champion. Now he’s on a losing streak in his adopted home of Tokyo, Japan, and realizing maybe the dream was never meant to be. Broke, divorced, and alone, he hasn’t seen his ex-wife and twin sons in two years and has no idea where they are. He gets kicked out of his gym after an altercation with a training partner and thinks he’s hit rock bottom.

But Fisher’s troubles are only just beginning. The PI he hired two months ago to find his family wants more money before he’ll tell Fisher where they are. So when a friend tells Fisher about a high-paying bodyguard gig for a yakuza group, Fisher throws caution to the wind and takes the job.

But the job doesn’t go as planned, and within forty-eight hours, Fisher has hurt one of the men he was hired to protect, unwittingly stolen a bag of drug money, and become a possible murder suspect. On the run from a pack of ruthless gangsters, the cops and a US federal agent he doesn’t know whether he can trust, it doesn’t seem like things can get any worse for Hank Fisher.

Until, that is, his friends start dying.

Now he has to stay alive long enough to save his family from the same fate.

Thomas Ran Garver was born and raised in Northern California. He has a B.A. in Japanese language from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law. He has had a lifelong interest in the martial arts and has been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since 1995. He holds black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. He lives in Tokyo, Japan, with his wife and two sons.