| Set in North Korea, this is probably a 'first' to portray a very enigmatic police inspector in a very enigmatic country. Inspector O is the man set up by the communist military regime to solve a very strange case of mafia-style car thieving. Except that it isn't quite as it seems.
Inspector O is a pawn (with a bite!) as it soon becomes apparent that some very senior officials have an agenda of their own which is carried out with stark brutality. Alongside this almost total disregard for death is the excellent Inspector, trying to work out who is pulling his strings. His own chief sends him into the country near the Chinese border to try to get to the bottom of the mysterious goings-on but, as ever, he cannot escape the main suspect who seems to playing him almost like a fish! Then, as is usual for Inspector O, he is called back to the capital before he can complete his investigations when a body of a foreigner turns up in the city's main hotel; which of the regimes is setting up the Inspector yet again for a very large – if not permanent – tumble from grace and how all this finally relates to the death of his parents during the war and the connection his now deceased grandfather had to Chief Inspector Pak, perhaps Inspector O's one and only remaining friend. The story is a flashback in fact with some very clever flash-forwards to Inspector O's de-briefing with a British spook. Both the body in the hotel, the curious case of the stolen cars, escape into China and the powerful but nonetheless criminal military figures all come together so that only in the last few pages do we learn the answers. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 50% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 30 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: The antagonists are: - communists How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting Asia/Pacific Yes Asian country: - Korea(s) Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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