TO SERIES OR NOT TO SERIES
Posted by: Gary Niebuhr
The good news is that with this title, Bamboo and Blood (2008) by James Church, it does not matter. James Church is the pseudonym of a former Western intelligence officer with decades of experience in Korea. This is the third book in this series following A Corpse in the Koryo (2006) and Hidden Moon (2007). Inspector O of the North Korean Ministry of Public Security may act more like a traditional detective in the first two books but in this title, he finds himself in the role of spy.
O finds himself babysitting a visitor to his country in 1997, a role that he finds confusing and uncomfortable. Pyongyang does not see many foreigners but when the visitors appear interested in the country’s nuclear missile program, it creates incredible tension. O’s superior, Chief Inspector Pak, is a calming influence on O and a great sounding board for the inspector. However, he is also the man who assigns O the confusing job of exploring the life of a North Korean woman who was murdered abroad, possibly in Pakistan. Eventually sent to Geneva to keep a diplomat from defecting, O finds himself buried in intrigue as nations line themselves up to get access to this secret society’s military secrets.
O is referred to as a man who likes “chewing on tiny facts.” The power of this novel is that it is a slow introspective work. The tone is moody and the language is dense. It reminds me of John LeCarre’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold or any of Janwillem Van de Wetering’s Amsterdam cop series novels.
While all this sounds challenging, which it is, the novel is complex enough to provide plenty to discuss whether you have read the other books in the series or not.
