Yusuke Kishi  (1959–)  became an avid reader after encountering Ruth Stiles Gannett's My Father's Dragon series as a small child, and steeped himself in science fiction and mysteries during his grade-school years. Upon graduating from Kyoto University his sights were set on becoming a writer, but he went to work for a major life insurance company and wrote only on the side for several years. His first recognition was an Honorable Mention for a short story he entered in the Hayakawa SF Contest in 1986. Later, he quit his job to concentrate on writing, and in 1996 his Isola received an Honorable Mention in the Japan Horror Story Awards, which led to its being published as Jusanbanme no perusona, Isola (Isola, the Thirteenth Persona). The following year his novel Kuroi ie (The Black House) won the Japan Horror Story Awards Grand Prize and became a million-seller. He received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Garasu no hamma (The Glass Hammer) in 2005, and the Japan SF Grand Prize for Shinsekai yori (From the New World) in 2008. His star continues to rise, as his bestseller Aku no kyoten (Lesson of the Evil) was voted Number One in the 2011 Konomys rankings and brought him his first nomination for the Naoki Prize.