Originally written in Korean, this psychological thriller captures the reader’s attention from the moment Yu-Jin wakes up soaked in blood with no clear memory of what happened the night before. A 26-year-old with chronic health issues, Yu-Jin is as unreliable of a narrator as they come. He admits to the reader that he doesn’t take his medication, sneaks out late at night, often follows people, and has a tendency towards blackouts that he has no recollection of whatsoever. When he goes downstairs, he finds his mother on the floor with her throat slit, and back in his room, he discovers his late father’s straight razor, now bloody. Did he kill his mother? Even as Yu-jin scrambles to bury the evidence, he’s desperately trying to unearth the truth about his mother’s death– and himself. Yu-Jin isn’t purposefully withholding information; he just can’t remember details because of his seizures and the meds. Like Yu-jin, readers may feel dread creep along their skin as the truth is slowly revealed about the whole bloody mess, and once everything has been made clear, the brutal chill comes from more than the rain on the night of the murder.
–Sierra, Grass Roots Books & Music, Corvallis, OR
You won’t mind the weather if you curl up with a pageturner from Grass Roots or another indie bookseller.