In his newest work of fiction, legendary Japanese writer Haruki Murakami tells a haunting tale of art, memory, and the traumas of the past. Killing Commendatore (Knopf, $30) follows a middle-aged artist at a crossroads in his life. Recently separated from his wife, the artist meets a mysterious bachelor who requests a portrait of himself. What follows takes the reader to a universe not unlike the one of Murakami’s seminal novel, 1Q84. Like a grand abstract painting, Killing Commendatore sweeps across centuries—from Nazi-era Austria to Japan’s Asuka Period to the mysteries of the present day—and rests in the idyllic settings that make Murakami’s works so memorable. Fans of Murakami’s rich prose will love Killing Commendatore’s fantasies. Like all great Murakami works, Killing Commendatore explores the caverns of human intimacy, never shying away from the forces of good and evil that make up our own relationships with the people closest to us.