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Summary and Reviews of Bamboo and Blood by James Church

Bamboo and Blood by James Church

Bamboo and Blood

An Inspector O Novel

by James Church
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • First Published:
  • Nov 25, 2008, 304 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Feb 2010, 304 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

When the wife of a North Korean diplomat in Pakistan dies under suspicious circumstances, O is told to investigate, with a curious proviso: Don’t look too closely at the details, and stay away from the question of missiles. Soon, however, the Inspector discovers he is up to his ears in missiles - and somebody wants him dead.

The critically acclaimed A Corpse in the Koryo brought readers into the enigmatic workings of North Korean intelligence with the introduction of a new kind of detective---the mysterious Inspector O. In the follow-up, Hidden Moon, O threaded his way through the minefield of North Korean ministries into a larger conspiracy he was never supposed to touch.

Now the inspector returns . . .

In the winter of 1997, trying to stay alive during a famine that has devastated much of North Korea, Inspector O is ordered to play host to an Israeli agent who appears in Pyongyang. When the wife of a North Korean diplomat in Pakistan dies under suspicious circumstances, O is told to investigate, with a curious proviso: Don’t look too closely at the details, and stay away from the question of missiles. O knows he can’t avoid finding out what he is supposed to ignore on a trail that leads him from the dark, chilly rooms of Pyongyang to an abandoned secret facility deep in the countryside, guarded by a lonely general; and from the streets of New York to a bench beneath a horse chestnut tree on the shores of Lake Geneva, where the Inspector discovers he is up to his ears in missiles---and worse. Stalked by the past and wary of the future, O is convinced there is no one he can trust, and no one he can’t suspect. Swiss intelligence wants him out of the country; someone else wants him dead.

Once again, James Church’s spare, lyrical prose guides readers through an unfamiliar landscape of whispered words and shadows, a world wrapped in a level of mystery and complexity that few outsiders have experienced. With Inspector O, noir has a new home in North Korea, and James Church holds the keys.

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

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James Church has crafted the quintessential quiet man trying his best to do his job within a corrupt and volatile political system while not allowing its values to reset his own moral compass. The narrative says it all as Inspector O's first person account unveils a man of few words – indeed the dialogue is spare almost to the point of stark – but with incredibly picturesque and insightful observations. O is at once a man of his country, one gets a picture of a land of lean beauty and unforgiving climate, and of his own personal history, but not of his country's political regime...continued

Full Review (687 words)

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(Reviewed by Donna Chavez).

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Beyond the Book



North Korea
James Church paints a grim picture of what life is like and how a government agency functions within North Korea. It is a picture in bold contrast to the one portrayed by the official website of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPR). The ideals, as stated by Kim Il-Sung, predecessor to current leader Kim Jong Il, are that, "the superior organism always help [sic] the inferior one. The superior always assist [sic] the subordinates and he goes always to the working areas to understand the real situation and take [sic] the correct measures to solve the problems; he gives preference to the political work, to the people's work in all the activities, and improves the enthusiasm and the creative initiative...

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Read-Alikes

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