Released: 10th May 2018
Genre: Thriller
Number of Pages: 424
What do you know about North Korea? Outside of the country being the last major dictatorship on Earth, we can only imagine the horrors that have transpired within its borders over the last fifty years. D. B. John, a resident of South Korea and one of the few westerners to visit the north has delivered a powerful and unrelenting thriller.
Set both in and out of North Korea in 2010, Star of the North follows Jenna Williams, a Korean-African American weighed heavily by the disappearance of her twin sister Soo-Min twelve years prior. It’s suspected that Kim-Jong Il and his secret service are to blame, and she is soon approached by the Central Intelligence Agency; tensions are rising between the two nations and Williams has the chance to not only strike a blow against the dictator but also track down her sister. What follows is a collection of set pieces grounded in a more realistic tone; the author leverages his real-life experience to tell a believable story from the way Jenna is trained as an operative to the brutal repression inside North Korea. Things are expertly paced, holding on one character for just the right amount of time while dropping twists and turns at all the right moments.
The novel takes place from three perspectives; Jenna’s exploits with the CIA, the elderly Mrs Moon as she tries to get by in the ruthless North Korean society and finally Lieutenant Colonel Cho, a high-ranking officer in the country’s foreign affairs. The book’s first act gives us plenty of time to get to know the characters and understand their struggles, ensuring that when the action heats up, we’re exhilarated. There’s also a great use of contrast showing oppression at one moment and a more open freedom the next, which emphasises the distance between the two nations on a societal level. But what makes the plot engaging is how these characters eventually intersect and this is matched by heightened tension.
Recommended?
YES: No matter which genre you’re into, Star of the North is a taut and viscerally engaging thriller that demands your attention; a novel that firmly plants itself in a more realistic tone while delivering some incredibly arresting action. The fact that it’s somewhat implemented into real world history adds a further layer of authenticity which lends the brutal events in the book a chilling relevance.
The last few pages of the novel lay out the author’s inspirations for the story and give some detail on the real-life events that have transpired within North Korea. The book is still relatively new and on the topic of adaptations, the source material could make for a white-knuckled thriller on the big screen. The author has said on GoodReads that there may be a follow-up in the future. For now, Star of the North is one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time.
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