Genres
Publication
Harvill Secker (2018), 448 pages
Description
Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:�??A thrilling tale of abduction and escape in North Korea....highly entertaining." �??The Washington Post A propulsive and ambitious thriller about a woman trying to rescue her twin sister from captivity in North Korea, and the North Korean citizens with whom she forms an unlikely alliance Star of the North opens in 1998, when a Korean American teenager is kidnapped from a South Korean beach by North Korean operatives. Twelve years later, her brilliant twin sister, Jenna, is still searching for her, and ends up on the radar of the CIA. When evidence that her sister may still be alive in North Korea comes to light, Jenna will do anything possible to rescue her�??including undertaking a daring mission into the heart of the regime. Her story is masterfully braided together with two other narrative threads. In one, a North Korean peasant woman finds a forbidden international aid balloon and uses the valuables inside to launch a dangerously lucrative black-market business. In the other, a high-ranking North Korean official discovers, to his horror, that he may be descended from a traitor, a fact that could mean his death if it is revealed. As the novel progresses, these narrative strands converge and connect in surprising ways, ultimately building to an explosive and unforgettabl… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Carolee888
I have been interested in North Korea for as long as I can remember. My uncle fought in the Korean War. It was before I was in grade school and I remember that I was full of questions that I never asked. This thriller written by D.B John with great skill and attention to historical facts
There are
Mrs. Moon lived with her second husband She had been punished for many years because her first husband helped the Americans during the war. It is through Mrs, Moon's voice that the condition of life in North Korea is told.for both the poor and the imprisoned. She does not buy into the cult of the Dear Leader. She decides that nothing makes sense in North Korea. Everything is upside down. The people are told that they were living in the land of plenty but they were starving except for the elite class. They are told that the Dear Leader cares very much for them but he actually lives in extreme luxury.
Colonel Cho is from the elite class. He and his twin brother were adopted long ago by a rich family but he does not know about that until after his brother was offered a big promotion in the government. He is not told of his family origins. He is unaware of the dark secrets of the government until he is exposed by the government for having father who was a traitor.
The character's stories intersect and you are left wondering how a how nation of people could be kept in the dark, living in a surreal prison. But reading this book, you learn how it is done, how the people are live in this very dangerous country. This is very compelling and sensitive story that will not leave you.
I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the Publisher as a win from FirstReads but that in no way made a difference in my thoughts or feelings in this review.
There are
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three main characters, Jenna who is half Korean and half black, Her father fought in the war and her mother was from North Korea. Jenna had recently lost her father and was grieving for him but twenty years prior, her identical twin, Susie, was kidnapped along with her boyfriend off a beach. Susie was the person she felt closest to in her life. She never could completely accept the government's report that Susie had drowned.Mrs. Moon lived with her second husband She had been punished for many years because her first husband helped the Americans during the war. It is through Mrs, Moon's voice that the condition of life in North Korea is told.for both the poor and the imprisoned. She does not buy into the cult of the Dear Leader. She decides that nothing makes sense in North Korea. Everything is upside down. The people are told that they were living in the land of plenty but they were starving except for the elite class. They are told that the Dear Leader cares very much for them but he actually lives in extreme luxury.
Colonel Cho is from the elite class. He and his twin brother were adopted long ago by a rich family but he does not know about that until after his brother was offered a big promotion in the government. He is not told of his family origins. He is unaware of the dark secrets of the government until he is exposed by the government for having father who was a traitor.
The character's stories intersect and you are left wondering how a how nation of people could be kept in the dark, living in a surreal prison. But reading this book, you learn how it is done, how the people are live in this very dangerous country. This is very compelling and sensitive story that will not leave you.
I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the Publisher as a win from FirstReads but that in no way made a difference in my thoughts or feelings in this review.
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LibraryThing member bibliobeck
A timely and insightful blockbuster of a read. An intriguing spy thriller set in America and North Korea as newly recruited spy Jenna searches for the sister everyone assumed drowned in South Korea, but who in fact may well be alive and part of a dastardly plot by the Kim regime in North Korea. The
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thing I loved about this book is that in addition to a fast paced and thrilling story-line, we are given an insight into the most secretive regime in the world. The author has experienced time in both North and South Korea and there is an illuminating section at the back of the book that details little known facts that underpin features in the story. A roller coaster of a ride, this gripping read deserves to be the thriller of the summer. Show Less
LibraryThing member GlennBell
The book is well written to be interesting and exciting. The adventures of the heroine are not realistic from the sense that a college student becomes a CIA agent that is able to identify a secret base in North Korea, propose new diplomatic policy to the President of the United States, partake in a
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mission in North Korea to abduct her twin sister, and kill the leader of North Korea. Not bad for a new hire to the CIA. The story line is based on some good research. It is an exciting story but not much romance, so not likely to make it to the movies. Show Less
LibraryThing member waldhaus1
Fascinating to read this at the time of the impending U S North Korea summit and to finish on the day it is scheduled to open. What a picture of North Korean society. I had forgotten that Japan had colonized Korea and was forced to leave at the end of WW II.- perhaps setting=off the Korean War not
Some of the details of the espionage stretched my suspension of disbelief, but the story moved well and was entertaining as well as informative.
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to much later. And of course Russia’s interest relates to their adjacent far eastern territory. Some of the details of the espionage stretched my suspension of disbelief, but the story moved well and was entertaining as well as informative.
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LibraryThing member jfe16
The disappearance of a Korean-American teenager and her boyfriend from a South Korean beach sets the scene for this story as the heartbroken families, given misleading information, continue to wonder what happened to the missing teens. Years later, the girl’s twin sister continues searching for
At the same time, a North Korean peasant woman is caught running a dangerous black-market business and a high-ranking North Korean official is desperate to keep his just-discovered lineage secret.
Filled with well-drawn characters and a strong sense of place, the compelling plot of this mesmerizing thriller fills the narrative with suspense and tension. As the unfolding storylines come together, unexpected twists in each of the tales reveal corruption, abduction, and terror.
Highly recommended.
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answers concerning Soo-min’s disappearance. With evidence that her twin sister is still alive, Jenna enters North Korea as a CIA recruit in hopes of rescuing her. At the same time, a North Korean peasant woman is caught running a dangerous black-market business and a high-ranking North Korean official is desperate to keep his just-discovered lineage secret.
Filled with well-drawn characters and a strong sense of place, the compelling plot of this mesmerizing thriller fills the narrative with suspense and tension. As the unfolding storylines come together, unexpected twists in each of the tales reveal corruption, abduction, and terror.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member john257hopper
This is a real edge-of-the-seat page turner of a thriller set in a country that has been much in the headlines over the last year or so with the roller coaster relationship between Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump. This novel does not, however, focus primarily on nuclear weapons, but on North Korea's
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abduction programme, with the story beginning with the capture of a young Korean-American holidaying with her boyfriend on a beach in South Korea. While they are written off as having drowned, back in the USA, her identical twin sister, convinced she is alive, sets out to find her. The novel involves many of the most prominent and notorious aspects of the appalling North Korean regime, in particular the Gulag camps, where three generations of one family can live out their entire lives in slavery because of a political "offence" committed by one family member. Another key character is a Korean high official who tries to defect after becoming disillusioned with the regime he has loyally served all his life, following a trip to the USA leading a delegation negotiating for more hard currency to support his country's ailing economy. Many of the characters and the situations they experience are based on incidents mentioned in real defectors' accounts. Despite this giving the novel well-grounded authenticity, I did find aspects of the conclusion of the resolution of the plot a bit far-fetched. An excellent read. Show Less
LibraryThing member muddyboy
This is the story of a set of twin girls of half Korean and half African American decent, They are separated when one sister is going to school in South Korea and is kidnapped by North Korea and is put in a secret program there. Her sister eventually gets a job in the CIA and after being apart for
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many years their lives intersect. Another major character is Cho a man who is seemingly doing well with his job in the repressive North Korean military. The book takes place during the time of Kim Jong-il. The book moves pretty vast and would appeal to those interested in international intrigue. Show Less
LibraryThing member linda.a.
Thirty-year-old Jenna Williams is an assistant professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. The daughter of a Korean mother and an African-American father, twelve years earlier her identical twin, Soo-Min, together with her boyfriend, went missing from a South Korean beach;
There are three distinct storylines in this gripping and disturbing novel about North Korea and its repressive and brutal regime under the dynasty of the Kim family. One is told from Jenna’s viewpoint and is the one which, at least initially, acts as the “linchpin” of the developing story. The other two use North Korean characters, from very different backgrounds, to carry the story. Lieutenant Colonel Cho, from Pyongyang, is a member of the elite class; he is happily married and has a young son, nicknamed Books, whom he adores. For reasons he has no knowledge of, as very young children he and his brother were adopted by a rich family. However, now in line for promotion and a key role in a diplomatic mission to America, charged with negotiating a deal which will achieve financial aid for North Korea in exchange for abandonment of its nuclear program, his background is being vetted. He is anxious about this because he is well aware that, should it emerge that his biological parents were “enemies of the state”, he will face the dire consequences of “guilt by association”. His voice carries the story of how even the most “privileged” of the country can never feel secure in the continuation of their lives of privilege.
The third storyline follows the elderly Mrs Moon who lives, in abject poverty, with her second husband, in a restricted area in the north of the country, working on a penal farm. This is a punishment handed down many years earlier because her first husband had helped the Americans during the war. From her account, it soon becomes apparent that everyone living in this area not only faces shortages of absolutely everything and the risk of starvation, but also daily intimidation and brutality from local officials and the police. However, it soon becomes clear that Mrs Moon is prepared to take risks, to challenge the status quo and, when the opportunity comes for her to be part of a black-market economy, where anything and everything is used to trade for extra money and food, she quickly establishes herself as a courageous and resourceful leader, with all the risks this entails. Her story exposes the hypocrisies of a regime which extols how much its people are loved by its leader and how they are living in a land of plenty, whilst the reality is that they are living at starvation level whilst the elite enjoy unlimited luxury.
This moving and thought-provoking story gripped my attention from the start. The author managed the alternating stories of the three main characters in an impressive way, keeping each voice distinct as he gradually brought them together in a convincing way. Whilst I felt engaged with Jenna’s search for the truth (although there were moments when I did have to suspend disbelief at some of her actions!) it was the characters of Cho and Mrs Moon who stood out for me and who will, I know, remain so much more vivid in my memory. Each of their stories is heart-breaking and expose the reader to some very dark and disturbing images which, at times feel almost unbearable. I quickly felt drawn into the almost constant fear they had to live with as they tried to survive in a country where the rules could change at any moment, leaving them exposed to punishment, and even death. Just one image which I know will remain with me is a reflection from Mrs Moon, describing how children picked through the oxen-droppings in search of undigested seeds, how parents took food from their own children and how new graves were dug up and corpses disappeared without trace. This highlighted, in such a visceral way, the level of starvation experienced by the desperately poor people in rural communities. Although these two characters come from very different backgrounds, what they have in common is their courage, their willingness to take risks and their determination to survive – I felt full of admiration for them both, but I grew to love Mrs Moon!
In his descriptions of North Korea, the author powerfully evokes a country where there is little respect for the individual, where life hangs by a thread and where the slightest infringement is likely to lead to either imprisonment or death. The author’s brief visit to North Korea exposed him to the strangeness of life in that country and prompted him to discover more. His subsequent, extensive research revealed even more strangeness than he had imagined, enabling him to create a story which offers so many insights into this secretive regime and the ways in which its leaders use relentless intimidation to subdue its people. It also highlights how it uses (or, abuses!) the international diplomatic process to secure concessions whilst continuing to follow its own agenda. It would be all too easy to think that some of what he describes is exaggerated, even fanciful, but his research sources (highlights of which are included in his fascinating, detailed notes at the end of the novel) offer convincing evidence that this is not the case. His story demonstrates how it is that the regime continues to control its people, ensuring their compliance by the merciless brutality with which any infringements are dealt.
Solzhenitsyn famously said - You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power—he's free again. From this story I feel I have gained some insight into how the Kim family has achieved this balance of control in such a monstrously effective way. Although there were times when I found it almost unbearable to read, it is one which I know will remain vivid in my mind, partly because I am aware that this level of control and brutality continues, making it hard to feel any optimism that change is likely in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, I was heartened by the courage shown by Mrs Moon because she carried the hope that there are people ready to make a stand. Many of the experiences faced by the characters were based on information from the memoirs of the very few North Koreans who have escaped the regime and defected so, maybe all we can do is hope that, somehow, many more will find a similar courage.
The dustjacket for this book describes it as “the most explosive thriller of the year” a big claim to make but it’s certainly the most gripping thriller I’ve read recently. However, with its political relevance and its insights into this secretive country, for me it is so much more than that because I have learnt so much and now feel motivated to increase my knowledge by following up on some of D.B. John’s reading recommendations.
Finally, I’m sure it will now be clear that I think this remarkable novel would be an excellent choice for reading groups!
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mystery surrounded their disappearance but, as no bodies were ever found, it was assumed that they had both drowned. The sisters had always shared an uncannily close bond and, convinced that Soo-Min is still alive, Jenna has never been able to accept the official report. When escalating tensions between the US and North Korea bring her to the attention of the CIA, her fluency in Korean, with an authentic Northern dialect, the fact that not only is she highly-intelligent but also ultra-fit, an expert in tae kwon do, all combine to make her an ideal candidate for an important peace mission to North Korea. An incentive offered by the recruiter from the CIA is the possibility that by agreeing she might finally discover the truth behind what happened to her sister. Breaking news, from a biracial man who has escaped from a North Korean prison camp, suggests that the kidnapping and imprisonment of young foreign nationals has been going on for decades, with the purpose of using them in a secret programme, makes Jenna wonder if this is what happened to her sister. Is there really a chance that she is still alive? This possibility proves an irresistible lure and she is fast-tracked through the demanding training programme. There are three distinct storylines in this gripping and disturbing novel about North Korea and its repressive and brutal regime under the dynasty of the Kim family. One is told from Jenna’s viewpoint and is the one which, at least initially, acts as the “linchpin” of the developing story. The other two use North Korean characters, from very different backgrounds, to carry the story. Lieutenant Colonel Cho, from Pyongyang, is a member of the elite class; he is happily married and has a young son, nicknamed Books, whom he adores. For reasons he has no knowledge of, as very young children he and his brother were adopted by a rich family. However, now in line for promotion and a key role in a diplomatic mission to America, charged with negotiating a deal which will achieve financial aid for North Korea in exchange for abandonment of its nuclear program, his background is being vetted. He is anxious about this because he is well aware that, should it emerge that his biological parents were “enemies of the state”, he will face the dire consequences of “guilt by association”. His voice carries the story of how even the most “privileged” of the country can never feel secure in the continuation of their lives of privilege.
The third storyline follows the elderly Mrs Moon who lives, in abject poverty, with her second husband, in a restricted area in the north of the country, working on a penal farm. This is a punishment handed down many years earlier because her first husband had helped the Americans during the war. From her account, it soon becomes apparent that everyone living in this area not only faces shortages of absolutely everything and the risk of starvation, but also daily intimidation and brutality from local officials and the police. However, it soon becomes clear that Mrs Moon is prepared to take risks, to challenge the status quo and, when the opportunity comes for her to be part of a black-market economy, where anything and everything is used to trade for extra money and food, she quickly establishes herself as a courageous and resourceful leader, with all the risks this entails. Her story exposes the hypocrisies of a regime which extols how much its people are loved by its leader and how they are living in a land of plenty, whilst the reality is that they are living at starvation level whilst the elite enjoy unlimited luxury.
This moving and thought-provoking story gripped my attention from the start. The author managed the alternating stories of the three main characters in an impressive way, keeping each voice distinct as he gradually brought them together in a convincing way. Whilst I felt engaged with Jenna’s search for the truth (although there were moments when I did have to suspend disbelief at some of her actions!) it was the characters of Cho and Mrs Moon who stood out for me and who will, I know, remain so much more vivid in my memory. Each of their stories is heart-breaking and expose the reader to some very dark and disturbing images which, at times feel almost unbearable. I quickly felt drawn into the almost constant fear they had to live with as they tried to survive in a country where the rules could change at any moment, leaving them exposed to punishment, and even death. Just one image which I know will remain with me is a reflection from Mrs Moon, describing how children picked through the oxen-droppings in search of undigested seeds, how parents took food from their own children and how new graves were dug up and corpses disappeared without trace. This highlighted, in such a visceral way, the level of starvation experienced by the desperately poor people in rural communities. Although these two characters come from very different backgrounds, what they have in common is their courage, their willingness to take risks and their determination to survive – I felt full of admiration for them both, but I grew to love Mrs Moon!
In his descriptions of North Korea, the author powerfully evokes a country where there is little respect for the individual, where life hangs by a thread and where the slightest infringement is likely to lead to either imprisonment or death. The author’s brief visit to North Korea exposed him to the strangeness of life in that country and prompted him to discover more. His subsequent, extensive research revealed even more strangeness than he had imagined, enabling him to create a story which offers so many insights into this secretive regime and the ways in which its leaders use relentless intimidation to subdue its people. It also highlights how it uses (or, abuses!) the international diplomatic process to secure concessions whilst continuing to follow its own agenda. It would be all too easy to think that some of what he describes is exaggerated, even fanciful, but his research sources (highlights of which are included in his fascinating, detailed notes at the end of the novel) offer convincing evidence that this is not the case. His story demonstrates how it is that the regime continues to control its people, ensuring their compliance by the merciless brutality with which any infringements are dealt.
Solzhenitsyn famously said - You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power—he's free again. From this story I feel I have gained some insight into how the Kim family has achieved this balance of control in such a monstrously effective way. Although there were times when I found it almost unbearable to read, it is one which I know will remain vivid in my mind, partly because I am aware that this level of control and brutality continues, making it hard to feel any optimism that change is likely in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, I was heartened by the courage shown by Mrs Moon because she carried the hope that there are people ready to make a stand. Many of the experiences faced by the characters were based on information from the memoirs of the very few North Koreans who have escaped the regime and defected so, maybe all we can do is hope that, somehow, many more will find a similar courage.
The dustjacket for this book describes it as “the most explosive thriller of the year” a big claim to make but it’s certainly the most gripping thriller I’ve read recently. However, with its political relevance and its insights into this secretive country, for me it is so much more than that because I have learnt so much and now feel motivated to increase my knowledge by following up on some of D.B. John’s reading recommendations.
Finally, I’m sure it will now be clear that I think this remarkable novel would be an excellent choice for reading groups!
Show Less
LibraryThing member catrn
I enjoyed the first 80% of this book. I believed I would be giving this book 4-5 stars. As a look into a culture and regime that most Americans know little about it was excellent . As a mystery I followed along happily trying to solve where the clues led. The difficulty starts with the thriller
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aspects. Through most of the book itt is an edge of your seat thriller. The pacing is tight the suspense heart stopping , until the end. Then the plot becomes so outrageous and implausible as to ruin the book completely for this reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member PattyLee
Sort of a spy/thriller. Unique in its plethora of info about the secretive NKorean regime.
Awards
RUSA CODES Reading List (Shortlist — 2019)
Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List (Selection — 2019)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018-05-03
ISBN
9781787300484