Hidden Moon (Thorndike Reviewers' Choice) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

James Church (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2008 | Series: Thorndike Reviewers' Choice

Inspector O returns from a mission abroad to find his new police commander waiting at his office door. There has been a bank robbery - the first ever in Pyongyang - and the commander wants action.O must start investigating - and immediately - as various ministries demand action. Except, as usual, nothing is ever as it seems in North Korea. Before long, O has met a beautiful bank manager, a sharp club owner and the mysterious man in the brown hat, and they all have agendas - none of which involve O solving this robbery. But solve it he must, before the wrong ministry comes into power, and O is held accountable.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The former U.S. intelligence agent writing as James Church offers a unique perspective on North Korea in his standout second Inspector O mystery, following 2006's acclaimed A Corpse in the Koryo. Series hero O, an inspector with the ministry of public security, is determined to maintain some moral and professional standards while toiling in an inefficient bureaucracy where competing intelligence services spend significant time spying on each other to detect the slightest trace of ideological impurity. His assignment this time is a classic no-win: his superior directs him to investigate a bank robbery, an unheard-of crime in Pyongyang, but no one is cooperating, suggesting that the truth is not something the government actually wants discovered. O is further taxed when a visiting British dignitary's arrival apparently triggers an assassination plot that could have ramifications for the current regime. With wit and efficiency, Church masterfully evokes the challenges of enforcing the law in an authoritarian society and weds the intriguing atmosphere to a fast-moving and engaging plot. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Following up his exciting A Corpse in the Koryo (2006), which introduced the likable North Korean police officer Inspector O, Church (a former intelligence officer writing under a pseudonym) offers up a mystery involving a rarity in Korean society: a bank robbery. Men in silk stockings (also very rare) have held up the Gold Star Bank in broad daylight, and, frankly, the authorities have no idea how to handle it. So they give the case to Inspector O, hoping that his expertise with offbeat cases will help. Little do they or he expect the treachery that lies down the road. Like its predecessor, the novel relies heavily on its setting, which the author brings vividly to life, and on its characters, the witty, wily Inspector O and the various colleagues, witnesses, and suspects he encounters. While the first novel invited comparisons to Martin Cruz Smith and Robert Janes, this second in the series makes it clear no comparisons are necessary: this series stands on its own. Pitt, David --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 487 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (February 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1410404307
• ISBN-13: 978-1410404305
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,008,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fair writing, interesting characters, poor plot, November 25, 2007

By 

Michael P. Maslanka (dallas, texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hidden Moon: An Inspector O Novel (Inspector O Novels) (Hardcover)

I was looking forward to a good read after a sterling Wall Street Journal review. Sad to write, it did not measure up. Inspector O is a good character---a Marlowe type seeking truth at all costs in a society, North Korea, which hides it at all costs. But the plot is disjointed. There are three or four threads(fair enough, a typical scheme) but they never get pulled together. An important character is not even introduced until mid-way through the novel. The writing is sometimes more than decent, hitting lyrical notes from time to time. I will give any third effort a look(or maybe try the first) but there is too much good noir out there to take a Korean side trip.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, since I had high expectations after the first book, September 20, 2009

By 

Canghuixu (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hidden Moon: An Inspector O Novel (Inspector O Novels) (Paperback)

I was really pleased to see this come out because I really enjoyed "The Corpse in the Koryo". Unfortunately, though, it doesn't measure up. The prose is vivid and the characters are nicely sketched, and there is the same nicely done atmosphere as the first book, but the plot doesn't make a lot of sense. And the lack of sense doesn't reflect deliberate ambiguity, which can work sometimes, but rather what struck me as sloppiness. I normally don't worry too much about plotting, and I am sympathetic to the idea that in a place like North Korea, there would be a lot of chaos and strange goings-on, but I still think there was a problem with the execution. The conclusion in particular had a tacked-on, hastily-written feel to it that made me think the author couldn't figure out how to end the book so finally wrote something in a hurry.

I do hope we see some more of Inspector Oh.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great follow-up to his first book...., February 8, 2009

By 

R. Fleck - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hidden Moon: An Inspector O Novel (Inspector O Novels) (Paperback)

As mentioned in my first review I read his first book more for the insight into North Korea than for the mystery aspect. This book is less about what day to day life is like in North Korea and more about the absuridty of living in a country where nothing is what it seems to be. The character development of Inspector O is outstanding. His constant banter with his boss and others throughout the book brings humor to what otherwise would be a humorless situation. The beginning of the book was a tad slow and then it really picked up and I couldn't put it down until the end.