17th-century 17th-century-japan acceptance adaptation ambiguity apostasy belief bestseller bestselling bestselling-author betrayal biblicalteaching capital-punishment catholicism character-driven christian-fiction christian-literature christian-missionaries christian-persecution christianity christianity-in-japan colonialism colonization compelling complex-characters confession conflict conscience consequences conspiracy conversion corruption courtroom courtroom-drama courtroom-suspense courtroom-thriller cover-up crime crime-and-punishment crime-drama crime-fiction crime-thriller 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-and-doubt faith-crisis faithfulness family family-drama fast-paced fiction foreigner forgiveness god gripping guilt guilty-conscience hidden-christians historical historical-fiction history historyofdoctrines human-nature human-suffering identity identity-crisis inner-conflict inner-struggle inner-turmoil innocence innocent-man intense internal-conflict internal-struggle 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 legal-drama legal-ethics legal-suspense legal-system legal-thriller literature love loyalty manipulation martyrdom mission missionaries missionary missionary-work moral-ambiguity moral-dilemma moral-dilemmas morality murder murder-mystery mystery nagasaki novel oppression original page-turner persecution personal-struggle portuguese-missionaries power priests prison psychological psychological-suspense psychological-thriller questioning redemption religion religious-beliefs religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-exploration religious-faith religious-fanaticism religious-identity religious-intolerance religious-oppression religious-persecution religious-themes religious-tolerance religiousaspects resilience revenge sacrifice salvation samurai secrecy secrets self-discovery self-sacrifice shusaku-endo silence silence-of-god small-town spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spiritual-struggle spirituality struggle suffering survival suspense suspenseful texas theology thought-provoking thriller thrilling tradition truth twists-and-turns western-influence wrongful-conviction