There’s a nice feature on James Church and his Inspector O series in the NYT. Well worth a read, as are the books themselves. Here’s a good quote from the article: “If you want to understand North Korea then you need to read Inspector O,” said Michael Madden, who has spent years studying the North … [Read More]
Author: Robert Carlin
Selected publications by Robert Carlin
- The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, Little Brown 2013
Selected titles about Robert Carlin
- James Church: Inspector O series, Minotaur Books 2006
James Church interviewed on Korean Kontext
An interview with the elusive James Church, author of Corpse in the Koryo and the other fun novels in the Inspector O series. Podcast on Korean Kontext. http://bit.ly/cc3GbE # [Read More]
Bamboo and Blood: Inspector O is back on form
James Church: Bamboo and Blood St Martin’s Press, 2008 After Inspector O’s slightly disappointing second outing, James Church is back on form with the third novel in the series, Bamboo and Blood. In another fast-paced story, set against the backdrop of the North Korean 1997 famine and the US-DPRK talks in Geneva, Inspector O is … [Read More]
James Church: Hidden Moon
(Thomas Dunne Books, 2007) After A Corpse in the Koryo, the rip-roaring start to the Inspector O series, Hidden Moon comes as a bit of a disappointment. Maybe the freshness of the debut is a tough act to follow, but somehow the first time round Inspector O had more character. He’s still got his quirky … [Read More]
Book review: James Church — A Corpse in the Koryo
James Church: A Corpse in the Koryo Thomas Dunne Books, 2006 Inspector O is a maverick. No respecter of authority, he answers back to his boss, he drives the departmental car without permission, and even, horror of horrors, refuses to wear his Kim Il-sung badge. Not another cliché cop, you might groan. Well, he doesn’t … [Read More]