Brian Klingborg has both a B.A. (University of California, Davis) and an M.A. (Harvard) in East Asian Studies and spent years living and working in Asia. He currently works in early childhood educational publishing and lives in New York City. Klingborg is the author of two non-fiction books on Shaolin kung fu; Kill Devil Falls; and the Lu Fei China mystery series (Thief of Souls, Wild Prey, and The Magistrate.)
Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. Klingborg's reply:
Lately, I’ve been scouring book recommendation lists for thrillers and crime novels written by Asian authors (in translation, of course). I’m currently about halfway through The Plotters, by Un-Su Kim.Visit Brian Klingborg's website.This book is a slightly meandering tale of an assassin named Reseng who lives in Seoul and works for a broker named Old Racoon. When someone tries to kill Reseng by planting a bomb in his toilet (what a way to go!), he starts down a quixotic and violent rabbit hole.
I’d have to say the jury is out on this one. Kim has a talent for sharply defined characters and interesting scenarios, but he also has a predilection for lengthy digressions that detract from the book’s momentum and tension. To be fair, I haven’t finished it yet, so perhaps all these asides will inform the conclusion in a satisfying way. But regardless, Kim is a talented and unusual writer. I’ll certainly check out his other work.
My Book, The Movie: Wild Prey.
Q&A with Brian Klingborg.
The Page 69 Test: Wild Prey.
--Marshal Zeringue
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