17th-century 17th-century-japan acceptance adaptation ambiguity apostasy belief bestseller bestselling bestselling-author betrayal capital-punishment catholicism character-driven christian-fiction christian-literature christian-missionaries christian-persecution christianity christianity-in-japan colonialism compelling complex-characters confession confessions conflict conscience consequences conspiracy conversion corruption courtroom courtroom-drama courtroom-suspense courtroom-thriller cover-up crime crime-and-punishment crime-drama crime-fiction crime-investigation crime-thriller criminal-justice cross-cultural cultural-assimilation cultural-clash cultural-clashes cultural-conflict cultural-identity cultural-imperialism culture-clash dark-secrets death-penalty death-row deceit deception doubt east-asia east-meets-west eastern-philosophy eastern-spirituality endurance ethical-dilemma ethics existentialism exploration faith faith-crisis faithfulness family family-drama family-relationships fast-paced fiction foreigner forgiveness god gripping guilt guilty guilty-conscience hidden-christians hidden-truth historical historical-fiction human-nature human-suffering identity identity-crisis inner-conflict inner-struggle inner-turmoil innocence innocent-man intense internal-conflict intrigue introspection investigation isolation japan japanese-culture japanese-literature japans-hidden-christians jesuit jesuit-missionaries jesuit-priest jesuit-priests jesuits journey judicial-system justice justice-system law lawyer lawyer-protagonist lawyers legal-drama legal-ethics legal-fiction legal-mystery legal-suspense legal-system legal-thriller lies literature love loyalty manipulation martyrdom mission missionaries missionary missionary-work moral-ambiguity moral-dilemma moral-dilemmas morality murder murder-mystery mystery nagasaki novel oppression page-turner persecution personal-struggle political-corruption portuguese-missionaries power priests prison psychological psychological-suspense psychological-thriller redemption religion religious-beliefs religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-exploration religious-faith religious-identity religious-intolerance religious-oppression religious-persecution religious-themes religious-tolerance resilience revenge sacrifice samurai secrecy secret secrets self-discovery self-sacrifice shusaku-endo silence silence-of-god sin small-town spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spiritual-struggle spirituality struggle suffering survival suspense suspenseful texas thought-provoking thriller tradition truth twists-and-turns western-influence wrongful-conviction