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A review by siriuschico
Star of the North by D.B. John
4.0
Star of the north is a curious mix of fantastic atmosphere, chilling dystopia and very immature spy story.
Let's start with the positives. It is clear that D. B. John did his homework, he knows a lot about North Korea, and he expertly use this knowledge to build an atmosphere and living background. North Korea is really a horrible can of worms, and they have really done it all - abductions, drug production, public executions, gulags, selective breeding or human experiments. And in this dream-like dystopia (which is real!), we can read stories about Mrs Moon - one of the lower class of society, which struggles to survive and Lieutenant Colonel Cho - the cream of the society. This part of the book is impressive, it is really bustling with life, and it's worth five stars alone.
However, there is an additional main character - Jenna, a young CIA agent obsessed with the possible abduction of her twin sister - to North Korea! Unfortunately, the whole part of this story is a little bit cheap. There is not much character in Jenna, she is just obsessed with her twin, and I really couldn't believe that she went through CIA training successfully. She has only one interesting scene, where she is pretending to be Terminator while she is high on methamphetamine.
The whole package is a fun and easy thriller built on the grotesque and horror world of North Korea.
Let's start with the positives. It is clear that D. B. John did his homework, he knows a lot about North Korea, and he expertly use this knowledge to build an atmosphere and living background. North Korea is really a horrible can of worms, and they have really done it all - abductions, drug production, public executions, gulags, selective breeding or human experiments. And in this dream-like dystopia (which is real!), we can read stories about Mrs Moon - one of the lower class of society, which struggles to survive and Lieutenant Colonel Cho - the cream of the society. This part of the book is impressive, it is really bustling with life, and it's worth five stars alone.
However, there is an additional main character - Jenna, a young CIA agent obsessed with the possible abduction of her twin sister - to North Korea! Unfortunately, the whole part of this story is a little bit cheap. There is not much character in Jenna, she is just obsessed with her twin, and I really couldn't believe that she went through CIA training successfully. She has only one interesting scene, where she is pretending to be Terminator while she is high on methamphetamine.
The whole package is a fun and easy thriller built on the grotesque and horror world of North Korea.