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Product Description
Review
Praise for "The Man with the Baltic Stare" "The central character is a Pyongyang police officer, the likeable Inspector O, who knows that in North Korea mysteries are never solved, just absorbed into larger mysteries.... Mr. Church keeps his own counsel, so it is not known how he comes by his information, but the scenic details and atmospherics suggest more than a passing acquaintance with the realities of life in North Korea." --"The Economist"
"Each Inspector O novel is a strange new trip through the looking glass, and this one is every bit as praiseworthy as its predecessors." --"Booklist," starred review
"Church once again shows an extraordinary ability to bring that enigmatic country to life, a feat made even more impressive by the wholly plausible near-future setting. Satisfied readers will hail Church as the equal of le Carre." -"Publishers Weekly," starred review
"In literary retirement, [Church] employs the accumulated intelligence to get inside 'enemy' skin--us
Product Description
Inspector O has been wrenched from retirement and ordered back to Pyongyang for a final assignment. The two Koreas, he learns, are now cooperating - very quietly - to maintain stability in the North. Stability requires that O lead an investigation into a crime of passion. O is instructed to make sure that the case goes away. Remnants of the old regime, foreign powers, rival gangs - all want a piece of the action, and all make it clear that if O values his life, he will not get in their way. O isn't sure where his loyalties lie, and he doesn't have much time to figure out whether it's better to be noble or be dead.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
(4.5 stars) Author James Church takes his series of mysteries set in North Korea in new directions with this surprising fourth novel. Church, a former intelligence officer with the U.S. government, has spent much time in Asia, and presumably North Korea, and he makes a foray here into speculative fiction-not speculating on life in North Korea in the far distant future, but in the very immediate future. When this novel opens, it is 2016, and Inspector O, the iconoclastic officer who has been the fascinating main character of the three previous novels, has been happily retired from action, living in blessed isolation on a mountain top. Suddenly, he is brought back to Pyongyang for a special assignment.
Church uses a great deal of (rare) tongue-in-cheek humor and irony here to show how much Pyongyang has changed since O's retirement five years ago. He doesn't understand the concept of tipping, of "turndown service" in his hotel, or the expression "Pleasant dreams." He is even more mystified by his assignment to work with, and take orders from, Major Kim from South Korea, who is in North Korea to bring permanent co-operation between the countries. As confused as O is, however, so, too, is the reader, who learns along with O what circumstances have brought about such momentous changes. O's first assignment is to go to Macau to investigate the murder of a woman in a hotel room. The "killer" has been apprehended, but it is essential to the future of North Korea that this man not be the killer. O's assignment is to wipe out any tracks that might connect this man to the crime. Though no one will say who he is, he is supposedly so highly placed in the North Korean government that if he is compromised in any way, the country will not be able to bring about the transition to a more cooperative state.
The plot becomes complicated as the author reveals through O's activities that North Korea has now become so weakened that the Chinese plan to move into North Korea to prevent further collapse. The South Koreans are determined to keep them out. At the same time, the Japanese are on the east coast of the country, waiting to make their move, and the Russians are in the northeast. Some of the old guard in North Korea want to maintain old ways and are willing to fight to ensure that, and some of the people with whom O has had previous relationships, some of them living in hiding or exile, are now ready to return. Murders occur to complicate all the negotiations, what is said to be real may not be real, and the motives ascribed to various factions may be wrong.
As in all the other novels in this series, O is not always sure what is going on, and his ignorance and confusion parallel those of the reader. Though this novel is particularly complicated, O himself becomes more human, more sympathetic, and more able to keep the reader interested and committed to knowing the outcome. For readers who are willing to set aside the norms of mysteries that have a predictable beginning, middle, and end and are willing to accept the uncertainties required by Church's novels, this one starring Inspector O is one of the most interesting and unusual mysteries in the genre today. Mary Whipple
Church uses a great deal of (rare) tongue-in-cheek humor and irony here to show how much Pyongyang has changed since O's retirement five years ago. He doesn't understand the concept of tipping, of "turndown service" in his hotel, or the expression "Pleasant dreams." He is even more mystified by his assignment to work with, and take orders from, Major Kim from South Korea, who is in North Korea to bring permanent co-operation between the countries. As confused as O is, however, so, too, is the reader, who learns along with O what circumstances have brought about such momentous changes. O's first assignment is to go to Macau to investigate the murder of a woman in a hotel room. The "killer" has been apprehended, but it is essential to the future of North Korea that this man not be the killer. O's assignment is to wipe out any tracks that might connect this man to the crime. Though no one will say who he is, he is supposedly so highly placed in the North Korean government that if he is compromised in any way, the country will not be able to bring about the transition to a more cooperative state.
The plot becomes complicated as the author reveals through O's activities that North Korea has now become so weakened that the Chinese plan to move into North Korea to prevent further collapse. The South Koreans are determined to keep them out. At the same time, the Japanese are on the east coast of the country, waiting to make their move, and the Russians are in the northeast. Some of the old guard in North Korea want to maintain old ways and are willing to fight to ensure that, and some of the people with whom O has had previous relationships, some of them living in hiding or exile, are now ready to return. Murders occur to complicate all the negotiations, what is said to be real may not be real, and the motives ascribed to various factions may be wrong.
As in all the other novels in this series, O is not always sure what is going on, and his ignorance and confusion parallel those of the reader. Though this novel is particularly complicated, O himself becomes more human, more sympathetic, and more able to keep the reader interested and committed to knowing the outcome. For readers who are willing to set aside the norms of mysteries that have a predictable beginning, middle, and end and are willing to accept the uncertainties required by Church's novels, this one starring Inspector O is one of the most interesting and unusual mysteries in the genre today. Mary Whipple
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Perhaps the most subtle and insightful of the Inspector O Series
5 Sep 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As previous reviews of the Inspector O books indicate, James Church weaves into his mysteries set in North Korea real events that he once tracked as an intelligence officer and now observes as an academic. In one book it was North Korea's dealings through its Gold Star Bank in Austria, in another the Israeli attempt to halt North Korean missile sales to the Middle East. In "The Man with the Baltic Stare," the fourth of the novels, the focus is quite different and turns to two issues of strategic importance: who will succeed the current leader of North Korea and will North Korean survive as an independent nation.
"The Man with the Baltic Stare" is set in the indefinite, but not too distant, future, with the action unfolding in P'yongyang, Macau, and Prague. As it opens, the potential collapse of North Korea has led four neighboring countries to begin nibbling at the edges of North Korean sovereign rule. Chinese and South Korean officials are the most aggressive in trying to assert their authority, and the appeal of this novel is enhanced by how well Church handles the motivations of his multicultural cast as O tries to sort out an overseas murder that may involve the heir apparent. As the investigation proceeds, Church also uses the interplay of Inspector O with the South Korean and Chinese interlopers to define what it means to be North Korean, even for someone like O who has always marched to his own drummer.
Common to the Inspector O novels is an overwhelming sense of paranoia and tension, both hallmarks of life in North Korea. In reading "The Man with the Baltic Stare," i shared that sense of tension and unease. Until the end of the novel, I understood relatively little of how the characters related to each other and what O was trying to accomplish, and ultimately I felt that I walked in the shoes of the equally disoriented O. This, more than anything else, may testify to Church's skill in crafting this book.
"The Man with the Baltic Stare" is set in the indefinite, but not too distant, future, with the action unfolding in P'yongyang, Macau, and Prague. As it opens, the potential collapse of North Korea has led four neighboring countries to begin nibbling at the edges of North Korean sovereign rule. Chinese and South Korean officials are the most aggressive in trying to assert their authority, and the appeal of this novel is enhanced by how well Church handles the motivations of his multicultural cast as O tries to sort out an overseas murder that may involve the heir apparent. As the investigation proceeds, Church also uses the interplay of Inspector O with the South Korean and Chinese interlopers to define what it means to be North Korean, even for someone like O who has always marched to his own drummer.
Common to the Inspector O novels is an overwhelming sense of paranoia and tension, both hallmarks of life in North Korea. In reading "The Man with the Baltic Stare," i shared that sense of tension and unease. Until the end of the novel, I understood relatively little of how the characters related to each other and what O was trying to accomplish, and ultimately I felt that I walked in the shoes of the equally disoriented O. This, more than anything else, may testify to Church's skill in crafting this book.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
"Consider me a candle with nothing left to burn, no flame, all consumed."
7 Oct 2010
Format:Hardcover
(4.5 stars) Author James Church takes his series of mysteries set in North Korea in new directions with this surprising fourth novel. Church, a former intelligence officer with the U.S. government, has spent much time in Asia, and presumably North Korea, and he makes a foray here into speculative fiction-not speculating on life in North Korea in the far distant future, but in the very immediate future. When this novel opens, it is 2016, and Inspector O, the iconoclastic officer who has been the fascinating main character of the three previous novels, has been happily retired from action, living in blessed isolation on a mountain top. Suddenly, he is brought back to Pyongyang for a special assignment.
Church uses a great deal of (rare) tongue-in-cheek humor and irony here to show how much Pyongyang has changed since O's retirement five years ago. He doesn't understand the concept of tipping, of "turndown service" in his hotel, or the expression "Pleasant dreams." He is even more mystified by his assignment to work with, and take orders from, Major Kim from South Korea, who is in North Korea to bring permanent co-operation between the countries. As confused as O is, however, so, too, is the reader, who learns along with O what circumstances have brought about such momentous changes. O's first assignment is to go to Macau to investigate the murder of a woman in a hotel room. The "killer" has been apprehended, but it is essential to the future of North Korea that this man not be the killer. O's assignment is to wipe out any tracks that might connect this man to the crime. Though no one will say who he is, he is supposedly so highly placed in the North Korean government that if he is compromised in any way, the country will not be able to bring about the transition to a more cooperative state.
The plot becomes complicated as the author reveals through O's activities that North Korea has now become so weakened that the Chinese plan to move into North Korea to prevent further collapse. The South Koreans are determined to keep them out. At the same time, the Japanese are on the east coast of the country, waiting to make their move, and the Russians are in the northeast. Some of the old guard in North Korea want to maintain old ways and are willing to fight to ensure that, and some of the people with whom O has had previous relationships, some of them living in hiding or exile, are now ready to return. Murders occur to complicate all the negotiations, what is said to be real may not be real, and the motives ascribed to various factions may be wrong.
As in all the other novels in this series, O is not always sure what is going on, and his ignorance and confusion parallel those of the reader. Though this novel is particularly complicated, O himself becomes more human, more sympathetic, and more able to keep the reader interested and committed to knowing the outcome. For readers who are willing to set aside the norms of mysteries that have a predictable beginning, middle, and end and are willing to accept the uncertainties required by Church's novels, this one starring Inspector O is one of the most interesting and unusual mysteries in the genre today. Mary Whipple
A Corpse in the Koryo (Inspector O Novels)
Hidden Moon: An Inspector O Novel (Inspector O Novels)
Bamboo and Blood: An Inspector O Novel (Inspector O Novels)
Church uses a great deal of (rare) tongue-in-cheek humor and irony here to show how much Pyongyang has changed since O's retirement five years ago. He doesn't understand the concept of tipping, of "turndown service" in his hotel, or the expression "Pleasant dreams." He is even more mystified by his assignment to work with, and take orders from, Major Kim from South Korea, who is in North Korea to bring permanent co-operation between the countries. As confused as O is, however, so, too, is the reader, who learns along with O what circumstances have brought about such momentous changes. O's first assignment is to go to Macau to investigate the murder of a woman in a hotel room. The "killer" has been apprehended, but it is essential to the future of North Korea that this man not be the killer. O's assignment is to wipe out any tracks that might connect this man to the crime. Though no one will say who he is, he is supposedly so highly placed in the North Korean government that if he is compromised in any way, the country will not be able to bring about the transition to a more cooperative state.
The plot becomes complicated as the author reveals through O's activities that North Korea has now become so weakened that the Chinese plan to move into North Korea to prevent further collapse. The South Koreans are determined to keep them out. At the same time, the Japanese are on the east coast of the country, waiting to make their move, and the Russians are in the northeast. Some of the old guard in North Korea want to maintain old ways and are willing to fight to ensure that, and some of the people with whom O has had previous relationships, some of them living in hiding or exile, are now ready to return. Murders occur to complicate all the negotiations, what is said to be real may not be real, and the motives ascribed to various factions may be wrong.
As in all the other novels in this series, O is not always sure what is going on, and his ignorance and confusion parallel those of the reader. Though this novel is particularly complicated, O himself becomes more human, more sympathetic, and more able to keep the reader interested and committed to knowing the outcome. For readers who are willing to set aside the norms of mysteries that have a predictable beginning, middle, and end and are willing to accept the uncertainties required by Church's novels, this one starring Inspector O is one of the most interesting and unusual mysteries in the genre today. Mary Whipple
A Corpse in the Koryo (Inspector O Novels)
Hidden Moon: An Inspector O Novel (Inspector O Novels)
Bamboo and Blood: An Inspector O Novel (Inspector O Novels)
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Another Installment in a Great Series
17 Aug 2010
Format:Hardcover
I have really enjoyed the Inspector O series which is now up to its 4th installment with The Man with the Baltic Stare (catchy title there). It seems like there was more of a wait time between the 3rd and 4th books than there was between the others, but at last the wait is over.
Out of the previous 3 books, I liked the first the best and the second was my least favorite, although it was still good. The North Korea local color was probably strongest in the first than the next two which may be the main reason I felt this way. These books did not seem to end with a good resolution to the story, but then we are talking North Korea, so maybe that is normal for there and we should just accept it.
The Inspector is forever being made to investigate mysteries that apparently at least some in charge do not actually wished solved - this 4th book being no exception. Maybe this is part of some bizarre game played by higher ups. Again this is North Korea so who knows.
North Korea is one really crazy place, I mean really. Some of the local color that makes it into the books is really so strange that it is funny, at least until you step back and realize that this stuff really happens there to real people and then it becomes sad. But then lots of great stories are based on sad truths.
I guess the author has made use of some recent actual events in North Korea as background for this latest novel. Seems there was a new currency issued there recently which in effect robbed the people again - this time to apparently help finance the festivities surrounding the great leader's 100th birthday (that's the dead one who still holds public office). So there is probably lots of "improvement" in the situation in Pyongyang actually as in the story in the 4th novel. Though, the parts in the book about reunification seem a bit out of place given recent news - well maybe the author wrote it ahead of the recent ship sinking and all that - it is rather hard to keep up sometimes.
Be ready for lots of twists and turns and bizarreness North Korea style in this new book. I'll say no more so as not to ruin it for you.
Looking forward to book 5 already.
Out of the previous 3 books, I liked the first the best and the second was my least favorite, although it was still good. The North Korea local color was probably strongest in the first than the next two which may be the main reason I felt this way. These books did not seem to end with a good resolution to the story, but then we are talking North Korea, so maybe that is normal for there and we should just accept it.
The Inspector is forever being made to investigate mysteries that apparently at least some in charge do not actually wished solved - this 4th book being no exception. Maybe this is part of some bizarre game played by higher ups. Again this is North Korea so who knows.
North Korea is one really crazy place, I mean really. Some of the local color that makes it into the books is really so strange that it is funny, at least until you step back and realize that this stuff really happens there to real people and then it becomes sad. But then lots of great stories are based on sad truths.
I guess the author has made use of some recent actual events in North Korea as background for this latest novel. Seems there was a new currency issued there recently which in effect robbed the people again - this time to apparently help finance the festivities surrounding the great leader's 100th birthday (that's the dead one who still holds public office). So there is probably lots of "improvement" in the situation in Pyongyang actually as in the story in the 4th novel. Though, the parts in the book about reunification seem a bit out of place given recent news - well maybe the author wrote it ahead of the recent ship sinking and all that - it is rather hard to keep up sometimes.
Be ready for lots of twists and turns and bizarreness North Korea style in this new book. I'll say no more so as not to ruin it for you.
Looking forward to book 5 already.
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