Within the first few pages, we are aware, without confirmation, that our young narrator/ hero Yu-jin is a murderer. Of course, the norms are quite turned on their head. In this book, the author ruthlessly marries crime to intense literary fiction. And writers oblige with more creative content whereas they leave the format or the framework (read generic norms) almost undisturbed. The format and its denouement are almost always within fairly watertight expectations. The issue with crime fiction is that however well written, as a genre it exists on a plateau. Written with a steady deft touch and a sparseness that underlines menace throughout, The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong is a book I felt unease reading and yet could not put down. From such a deviant yet simple scenario, a fascinating and terrifying story constructs. The issue with everyday gruesome is that it is so plausible, so real. And imagine the slow discovery the murderer is you! Imagine you wake up far too early one morning covered in blood and slowly piece together that your mother has been murdered downstairs. Imagine you aren’t quite well and being off your medication makes you. It takes a particular kind of mind to plumb the depths of the unimaginable.
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