The Good Son (South Korea)

I think I first learned of this book from a crime book blog I recently started following - Crime By The Book. What attracted me to reading the book was probably the fact that it was a translation of a book originally written in Korean. There are tons of translated crime books from Nordic writers (Jo Nesbo and Yrsa Sigurdardottir, to name two) but I had never run across a book from a South Korean author and a female to boot. The author, You-jeoung Jeong has been described as a South Korea's version of Stephen King - high praise indeed. So while I am not by any stretch of the imagination a Stephen King expert, though I do recall reading many of his books in high school (Cujo, The Stand, It) I will do my best to provide by review.

Started: June 17, 2018

Finished: June 24, 2018

Setting: South Korea

Pages: 320 (epub)

Publication Date: May 3, 2018

The Good Son tells the story of You-jin, a 25-year old living with his mother in Seoul, South Korea. He wakes up one morning to discover his mother dead at the bottom of the stairs. She has been stabbed and her throat cut. You-jin has no recollection of what could have happened. He does not remember hearing any disturbances during the night. How could something this horrendous happen? And who did this? As the story unfolds we learn that You-jin has had a few "episodes" - seizures really, where he cannot recall blocks of time. Could this have happened here? And if so, what could have led up to this event?

Over the course of three days, in flashbacks we learn about You-jin, his family and events that unfold themselves in You-jin's mind and we start to have a better understanding of things. How there are two sides to every memory.

I originally gave this 3-stars in Goodreads, because I thought it better than "OK" but not "Great" as many reviewers have pegged it. But on reflection I start to wonder if my 3-star rating should not be upgraded to 4-star? I'm still not sure that it is worth a 5-star rating (at least for me) but as I reflect on the book and the ending, perhaps I have not been as generous with the rating as I should have been. I did like the ending, especially because I did not see it coming (I actually thought it would have another ending) and because it provided a great "twist." This may be one of those books that needs to sit with the reader a bit after you finish it in order to fully digest the story and how well the author was able to tell the story.

So, would I recommend this book? Yes, if for no other reason than the ability to read what many have labelled a psychological thriller from a talented female writer from South Korea. Would I be interested in reading more books from her? Definitely. OK - I think I just convinced my self to upgrade it to 4-stars.