Publisher: Harvill Secker (Trade Paperback – 12 November 2025)
English Translation: Brian Bergstrom
Series: Hitman – Book Four
Length: 291 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
One of Japan’s most entertaining thriller authors, Kotaro Isaka, presents a great new entry in his shared crime fiction universe, with the wonderfully unhinged and entertaining Hotel Lucky Seven.
Kotaro Isaka is an amazing author who has dominated the Japanese crime fiction scene for years, thanks to his amazing and over-the-top thrillers that are filled with distinctive characters and entertaining narratives. In recent years, Isaka has gained more of a Western following as several of his books have been translated and released in English. This includes his best-known novel, Bullet Train, which was adapted into a particularly entertaining film with Brad Pitt a couple of years ago. While I loved the film, I am also a major fan of the original Bullet Train novel, which is very different from its adaptation in its own awesome way. Having really enjoyed Bullet Train when it came out, I’ve tried to read the other translated Isaka novels that have come out in his Hitman series, including the cool prequel novel Three Assassins. While I did miss out on The Mantis, I made sure to grab a copy of Isaka’s latest book, Hotel Lucky Seven (released in Japan under the title 777). Serving as a direct sequel to Bullet Train, Hotel Lucky Seven follows the terminally unlucky assassin Nanao, as he finds himself in a whole new mess.
Plot Synopsis:
A luxury hotel full of assassins – what could go wrong?
Nanao ‘the unluckiest assassin in the world’ has been hired to deliver a birthday present to a guest at a luxury Tokyo Hotel. It seems like a simple assignment but by the time he leaves the guest’s room one man is dead and more will soon follow. As events spiral out of control as it becomes clear several different killers, with varying missions, are all taking a stay in the hotel at the same time. And they’re all particularly interested in a young woman with a photographic memory, hiding out on one of the twenty floors.
Will Nanao find the truth about what’s going on? And will he check out alive?
In this original, gripping and inventive follow-up to the international bestseller Bullet Train, Kotaro Isaka demonstrates his unparalleled gift for unique characters and unexpected twists.
Hotel Lucky Seven was another very impressive outing from Isaka, as he once again wows with his outrageous array of assassins, fighting for their lives amongst a complex conspiracy narrative. Slick, relentlessly entertaining and very addictive, Hotel Lucky Seven was an amazing read, and one that I powered through in less than a day.
Isaka created another very fun over-the-top story for Hotel Lucky Seven that quickly drags you in with its fantastic action. Initially focusing on the main protagonist, Nanao, who has only recently recovered from his near-death experience on the deadly bullet train, the book sees the constantly unlucky character enter a hotel for a routine delivery, only to find himself in the middle of another quickly deteriorating situation. Forced to kill someone while delivering a birthday present, Nanao soon find himself drawn into a larger confrontation involving Kamino, a young woman with an impressive memory, who is trying to escape her underworld boss. Having accidently killed or incapacitated Kamino’s bodyguards while trying to flee the hotel to save his handler, Nanao soon finds himself reluctantly helping Kamino contend with a band of assassins known as the Six. This proves to be a great central focus for Lucky Seven, which Isaka further enhances with intriguing chapters focused on other amusing characters like the killer team of Pillow and Blanket, two effective body removalists who are stalking the halls of the hotel on their own mission, as well as some interesting interludes around a famous politician in the restaurant who is being interviewed by an ambitious reporter.
These interlocking storylines come together nicely as the book continue, and I liked how well the various chapters flowed into each other. Isaka keeps loading up the action as Nanao uses his unlikely combat skills against the various members of the slowly dwindling six as he desperately tries to escape the hotel. After some very entertaining antics, as well as a couple of over-the-top deaths, the author sets up for the big conclusion, with the surviving characters coming together for a big confrontation. While the story had been very fun, if relatively straightforward, up to this point, Isaka throws in an excellent twist that makes you re-evaluate the rest of the book. There was a ton of great build-up throughout the entire story, with your perspective of one character completely changing in the best ways. This really enhanced the overall impact of the entire story, and I came away very satisfied and intrigued by this impressive piece of Japanese fiction.
I really enjoyed the great style that Isaka utilised in Hotel Lucky Seven, which is reminiscent of the rest of the books in his Hitman series. Made up of fast-paced chapters that switch between the several main characters, Isaka moves his exciting story along very effectively, quickly grabbing the reader’s attention with his complex characters, entertaining action, and great humour. Serving as both an enjoyable sequel to Bullet Train and a fun standalone crime thriller, this is a very accessible novel for any reader to get into, even with its subtle yet noticeable Japanese aesthetics. Indeed, I felt that Hotel Lucky Seven had more of a certain cinematic edge than Isaka’s previous novels, no doubt a result of the success he had with the Bullet Train film, and this help to make this book a lot easier to appreciate for new readers. It also helped that some of the characters, such as killers known as the Six, would be fun to cast in a film adaptation, and the over-the-top figures terrorising a hotel with blowguns were particularly fun.
Speaking of awesome characters, I personally loved seeing the return of the unlucky killer Nanao, who was the best part of the original Bullet Train novel (where his role was a little less central than Brad Pitt’s in the film). Serving much more a central role in this sequel, Nanao was the heart-and-soul of Hotel Lucky Seven, and it was very fun to see him continue to get in trouble while trying to do the right thing. The rest of the characters are a little more serious, well as serious as people living in a world of killers can be, and I liked the certain philosophical edge that several of them had when it comes to their actions, especially the fun killer duo of Pillow and Blanket. Throw in a couple of interesting additional villains, none of whom are really what they seem and who benefit from some layered backstories and misdirection with their intentions. This extremely unique cast really fit the light-hearted vibe that Isaka loaded this excellent thriller with, and I had a wonderful time seeing their murderous antics and complex interactions unfold.
Overall, I had a wonderful time with Hotel Lucky Seven, which was one of the more entertaining and compelling thrillers I read last year. A very worthy sequel to Bullet Train, Hotel Lucky Seven was another incredible read from Kotaro Isaka that will keep you hooked right to end with his awesome action, brilliant humour and fantastic storytelling. It honestly will be interesting to see if Hotel Lucky Seven gets a film adaptation at some point, which honestly could turn into something very fun if they get a good cast for it.
The Unseen Library 