Door to Bitterness
It's been seven years since Army CID cops George Sueno and Ernie Bascom hit the streets of Seoul (since 1998'sBuddha's Money), but nothing much has changed. They're still a couple of mismatched coppers, Korea is still a political and social mess, and justice remains a very fluid concept. It's September 1974. George wakes up in an alley. He has got a few cuts and bruises, but it's what he doesn't have that's of primary importance: his gun and his badge. Stolen, apparently. Both gun and badge are used not too long after in a casino robbery by two men who looked a lot like Sueno and Bascom. It's pretty clear that George was targeted, but can he and Ernie figure out whodunit and why before even worse things happen? As usual, Limon paints a picture of Korea in the mid-1970s that is so detailed and richly atmospheric that the reader's senses are flooded with the sounds, smells, and tastes of the place. Fans of the Sueno-Bascom series, who have been waiting eagerly for a new novel, can relax. It was well worth the wait.David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved