Since a few years, I have started reading crime fiction set in different countries. This is an exciting way of getting to know, without even visiting, a country or a place, it's people and culture. I prefer the unvarnished truth these books give me... while what a tourist actually visiting the place gets is beauty, nice people and pleasant experiences... but not the underbelly
I am listing here books set in North Korea written by someone under the pseudonym of James Church. He is apparently, I am quoting from Wikipedia here..."A former western intelligence officer with decades of experience in Asia. For the obvious reasons, he will not reveal who he actually is.
The books are:
A corpse in Koryo 2006
Hidden moon 2007
Bamboo and blood 2008
The man with the Baltic stare 2010
A drop of Chinese blood 2012
The gentleman from Japan 2016
I am waiting for these after booking them at the Toronto Public library. These books must be really good as every one of the books is in circulation and I am on a waitlist!. The reviews were good and comparing the protagonist to one of my favorite fictional characters i.e Arkady Renko the Moscow based police officer created by Martin Cruz Smith.
I have searched for crime fiction from North Korea but there seem to be almost no other books. I can imagine the million obstacles to anyone doing anything creative and truthful in this unfortunate country. These books must be worth their weight in gold simply because of the secrecy of this country and zero access to any sort of information about life in this closed country. I am looking forward to reading these books and telling you guys if I enjoyed them.
The orphan master's son by Adam Johnson 2012, set in North Korea is partly a crime fiction story which has received rave reviews.
I am currently reading a set of short stories smuggled out of North Korea i.e. The confession by Bondi (not real name of author) which is not crime fiction ...it should be crime fiction, considering the crimes of the government against it's own people and it should not be called 'fiction' as these stories seem sadly true.
Recently published and well accepted by readers is
Star of the north by D.B.John (May 2018)
A corpse in Koryo: I finished reading this. It was okay. I got to learn the utter poverty in this country where even the government officials don't have simple things in the office and little by way of food to eat. So you can imagine the lives of others! I am trying to read the other books but they are not holding my attention and I may stop reading. It was good in bits and pieces.
I am listing here books set in North Korea written by someone under the pseudonym of James Church. He is apparently, I am quoting from Wikipedia here..."A former western intelligence officer with decades of experience in Asia. For the obvious reasons, he will not reveal who he actually is.
The books are:
A corpse in Koryo 2006
Hidden moon 2007
Bamboo and blood 2008
The man with the Baltic stare 2010
A drop of Chinese blood 2012
The gentleman from Japan 2016
I am waiting for these after booking them at the Toronto Public library. These books must be really good as every one of the books is in circulation and I am on a waitlist!. The reviews were good and comparing the protagonist to one of my favorite fictional characters i.e Arkady Renko the Moscow based police officer created by Martin Cruz Smith.
I have searched for crime fiction from North Korea but there seem to be almost no other books. I can imagine the million obstacles to anyone doing anything creative and truthful in this unfortunate country. These books must be worth their weight in gold simply because of the secrecy of this country and zero access to any sort of information about life in this closed country. I am looking forward to reading these books and telling you guys if I enjoyed them.
The orphan master's son by Adam Johnson 2012, set in North Korea is partly a crime fiction story which has received rave reviews.
I am currently reading a set of short stories smuggled out of North Korea i.e. The confession by Bondi (not real name of author) which is not crime fiction ...it should be crime fiction, considering the crimes of the government against it's own people and it should not be called 'fiction' as these stories seem sadly true.
Recently published and well accepted by readers is
Star of the north by D.B.John (May 2018)
A corpse in Koryo: I finished reading this. It was okay. I got to learn the utter poverty in this country where even the government officials don't have simple things in the office and little by way of food to eat. So you can imagine the lives of others! I am trying to read the other books but they are not holding my attention and I may stop reading. It was good in bits and pieces.
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