Star of the North

Blurb: 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.

With recent events in North Korea, this is a timely novel. In the West, we find North Korea’s behaviour incomprehensible and incredibly threatening. This book gives you a look into the mind-set of the Leader, his officials and the common people. He is almost a Cult figure, with total control over what his people can see or hear. The events of the past have left an indelible print on how they view the outside world. While that may be understandable, it does not condone allowing the population to starve while he builds up his own assets and the country’s wartime assets. As always, absolute power corrupts … absolutely.

The story is riveting and how the three story-lines come together at the end is quite brilliant. One cannot help feeling sympathy for those caught up in this incredibly secretive and volatile country. This book is well worth reading for its suspense and adventure alone, without the added bonus of learning more about North Korea.

For those who can access backcopies of TV programs, there was a two part series by Lisa Ling called “Inside North Korea; Then and Now with Lisa Ling” 2017. It tells the story of Laura Ling, Lisa’s sister, who was captured crossing the border while on assignment for Current TV. Former President Clinton negotiated her and her colleague’s release.