Jade Lady Burning by Martin Limón takes place in South Korea sometime in the 70s. As the story begins we are introduced to George Sueño and Ernie Bascom, two soldiers with the CID detachment of the Eighth United States Army. A local prostitute has been murdered in a horrific manner then burned in her hooch. Sueño and Bascom are thrust into the investigation in an effort to quickly find a suspect - or scapegoat - to satisfy all the "powers that be".
I really enjoyed this novel which had a gritty, almost noir ambiance to it. I found Sueño and Bascom to be quite likable despite, or maybe because of, their shortcomings. Not a part of the world that I'm familiar with (other than old episodes of M*A*S*H) I felt it probably offered a good representation of the time and place. I would recommend Jade Lady Burning to those who enjoy a good police procedural.
This was my first book read for the Asia portion of the Global Reading Challenge.
4 comments:
Unusual choice! But it sounds like you enjoyed it....your challenges do get you to leave a familiar path and travel elsewhere! I really need to put my heart into one.
Naw. I'll just read what I want. I'm kinda locked into my routine this season!
quid
Quite a different read for you Kelly, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Such ugly things happen in war zones. I hope they found the truly guilty party and not a convenient scapegoat.
Sounds different and more than a little upsetting.
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