A thrilling debut novel for fans of Liane Moriarty and Celeste Ng about how far we’ll go to protect our families—and our deepest secretsMy husband asked me to lie. Not a big lie. He probably didn’t even consider it a lie, and neither did I, at first . . .In rural Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine—a pressurized oxygen chamber … Miracle Submarine—a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic “dives” with the hopes of curing issues like autism or infertility. But when the Miracle Submarine mysteriously explodes, killing two people, a dramatic murder trial upends the Yoos’ small community.
Who or what caused the explosion? Was it the mother of one of the patients, who claimed to be sick that day but was smoking down by the creek? Or was it Young and Pak themselves, hoping to cash in on a big insurance payment and send their daughter to college? The ensuing trial uncovers unimaginable secrets from that night—trysts in the woods, mysterious notes, child-abuse charges—as well as tense rivalries and alliances among a group of people driven to extraordinary degrees of desperation and sacrifice.
Angie Kim’s Miracle Creek is a thoroughly contemporary take on the courtroom drama, drawing on the author’s own life as a Korean immigrant, former trial lawyer, and mother of a real-life “submarine” patient. Both a compelling page-turner and an excavation of identity and the desire for connection, Miracle Creek is a brilliant, empathetic debut from an exciting new voice.
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Miracle Creek is a marvel, a taut courtroom thriller that ultimately tells the most human story imaginable, a story of good intentions and reckless passions. Compelling, generous, at once empathetic and unsparing. I am wrecked, I am heartened and hopeful, which means, in short, that Miracle Creek is pretty much the perfect novel for these chaotic times in which we live.
A captivating, tightly-woven courtroom drama with a crime at its heart and characters I loved to follow! This is a fantastic debut from Kim, who uses a courtroom as the launching pad to tell the story of a devastating crime that left two people dead. The trial reveals deep secrets that suggest that wasn’t just an accident.
I found the story detailed and the plot intricately woven, the characters sympathetically created. I don’t often read courtroom stories because they can be a little tedious, but Miracle Creek was more focused on the crime at the heart, making it suspenseful and beautiful.
With wonderful themes of parenting, inter-racial marriage, special needs parenting and fertility challenges, book clubs will have a lot to talk about here. Miracle Creek is definitely one to add to your 2019 TBR list.
In Angie Kim’s Miracle Creek, the story begins with the explosion of a therapeutic oxygen chamber run by Korean immigrants, Park and Young Yoo. The chamber is operated in their back yard in rural Virginia. Two people are killed in the explosion; Kitt, the mother of an autistic eight-year-old and Henry, the autistic son of Elizabeth. Elizabeth is charged with murder. From there the story goes through the courtroom drama and the interactions between seven parents who theoretically support one another but actually harbor other ideas. An excellent ending and a wonderful read.
An incredibly rich thriller and courtroom drama, interrogating marriage, parenthood, the immigrant experience, the insidious nature of jealousy, the limits of camaraderie, the dangers of zealotry. The story centers on an explosion in a hyperbaric chamber dubbed Miracle Submarine that kills two people and injures others. We get POV chapters from the surviving occupants and the family who runs the submarine moving suspicion and blame around until the truth is ultimately revealed. While some characters may be “unlikable,” all are drawn with care and emotional truth that made this reader empathize with their individual plights. A literary page-turner with emotional heft.
More Than Five Stars!!!
Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the review copy.
Every once in a while, a really special book comes along, a book that is just perfect for you in so many ways, and for me this is one of those books. Miracle Creek is a delectable combination of medical fiction, mystery, courtroom drama, and immigrant story all tightly woven into a fast paced and wonderfully readable novel.
The story centers on the Yoo family who have recently immigrated from Korea. In an effort to support themselves and their teenage daughter, Mary, Pak and Young open a business offering hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in a submarine shaped chamber they call “the miracle submarine.” Patients drive long distance to undergo this experimental treatment with the hopes this will be the one that finally makes a difference. Elizabeth brings her autistic son, Henry, who has been improving more slowly than she would like. No stranger to alternative treatments, Elizabeth hopes this will be the one that changes Henry into a normal childl. Kitt bring her youngest child, TJ, who is severely autistic, constantly banging his head, and only calming when Barney the purple dinosaur is on screen. Teresa comes with Rosa, her teenage daughter who developed cerebral palsy after a viral illness, and Matt, whose Korean wife is family friends with the Yoos, hopes to improve his sperm function to cure their infertility. Within the close confines of the submarine, these strangers develop a forced intimacy over the long hours of the “dives,”, a sort of makeshift dysfunctional family. When a horrific tragedy occurs—someone sets fire to the chamber with patients inside, leading to the death of Henry and Kitt and the serious injury of Matt, Pak and Mary—the riveting story is set in motion. I couldn’t stop turning the pages to figure out who set the fire and why.
Kim utilizes an interesting structure to tell the story. The first chapter, entitled, “The Incident,” is told from Young’s first person point of view on the day of the fire and all of the following chapters are in third person close point of view one year later when Elizabeth has been put on trial for arson, rotating among all of the characters who survived the tragedy. Every character has a plausible motive to commit the crime and a compelling storyline. Sometimes with so many narrators, I find some more interesting than others, but in this case Kim does a commendable job creating story arcs for every character that are all believable and interesting.
Kim’s writing is lyrical, seamless, and articulate. I often found myself stopping to highlight a beautiful turn of phrase or unique description. Within the gorgeous prose, Kim also addresses many important topics and themes, including the difficulty of raising a child with special needs, the challenges of immigrating to a country where you don’t speak the language or know the customs, and the problems that arise in an interracial marriage.
So many elements of Miracle Creek come from the author’s own experience. She immigrated to America from Korea as a preteen, she experienced HBOT first hand with her son who suffered from hearing loss and gastrointestinal disorders, and she is a former trial attorney. Kim makes use of all of her life experiences to make every scene believable, realistic, and heart wrenching. For more about Kim’s experiences and her inspiration for writing the novel, check out this wonderful piece she wrote for Vogue magazine:
https://www.vogue.com/article/angie-k…
I finished Miracle Creek on January 18th, and yet I know without a doubt it will be on of my favorites novels of the year, and likely of all time.
Hands down one of the best books I’ve read in the past year. Touching, thought-provoking, page-turning, beautifully written, and brimming with authenticity, from the heartbreaking portrait of an immigrant family’s experience, to an examination of commitments made (and sometimes broken) in parenthood and marriage and even friendship, to the courtroom drama and mystery at its core. Angie Kim has won me over in every possible way; I already can’t wait to read what she writes next. My highest recommendation.
I can’t speak highly enough of this courtroom drama. The depth of the characters and the intricate lies that tie together so flawlessly make for a thoughtful and engaging read. Definitely a best book of 2019.
What a master class in story telling–the compelling and unique crime, told through the eyes of several of those who have life-and-death stakes in the case. It’s chilling and immersive–an inside look at the legal systems, family dynamics, the immigrant experience, motherhood and justice. And betrayal. Truly wonderful.
I never like to say too much in my reviews but I will say I know for a fact that I will be thinking about this novel for a very long time. It was hard seeing the words through my tears in several parts throughout the novel, tears because this book was absolutely heartbreaking and tears because it was so beautifully realistically human. The character development and courtroom drama were masterfully done, I felt like I was in that courtroom with everyone. Truly a haunting examination of how everything we do has consequences and sometimes those consequences can drastically change your life as well as so many others lives. I think the most powerful thing I got from this novel was no matter how cut and dry something looks, no matter how unequivocally we think we know something, we can be so unbelievably wrong. I’ve always said that the most dangerous thing we can do as people is to assume, it can cause a chain reaction so powerful that it can destroy friendships, love, and lives forever. I feel blessed to have read this novel and I want to give everyone I know a copy of it. Brilliantly done Angie Kim (@AngieKimWriter)!!! I will be eagerly awaiting your next novel.
Miracle Creek grabbed me hard right from the start. This is a terrific courtroom thriller, a sly whodunit that’s beautifully written and also full of heart.
This is a gorgeous literary debut. Angie Kim takes on the classic form of courtroom drama and turns it into a wholly original and emotionally charged thriller full of heart and soul.
You learn all the major players’ backstories and become totally empathetic for them.
Their troubles and triumphs. Their… feelings. These are “real” people.
This work has some of the best characterizations I’ve ever read.
The prose shines on the page and is so heartfelt that you can feel the emotion in your soul.
There is a explosion at a medical facility in Miracle Creek, Virginia.
A woman stands accused of setting the fire that caused it.
Her own son and good friend were killed and several others severely injured.
But is she guilty?
I loved the way seeds of doubt are planted throughout the story so you’re constantly trying to figure out what REALLY happened. So much so that you are COMPLETELY bowled over when you do find out.
A “gotta-keep-reading-it” page-turner that grips and engages you from the first chapter.
This is what writing and storytelling are all about. Destined to be one of my favorite reads of 2019.
In a word: Superb.
Read it!
This story is the ultimate marriage of courtroom drama and character study. Gripping. Powerful. Tragic. Brilliant.
It’s hands-down the best thing I’ve read so far this year.
RATING: A
An incredibly crafted, fast paced murder mystery that grabbed me and never let go.
I listened to the audiobook. The multiple POV goes well with the courtroom trial and the deep-dive into the relationships. If you have a person in your life with special needs, be aware this story may impact you on another level.
(TW for sexual assault, suicide, and descriptions of a dead body.)
Reviews are my own.
What a fantastic debut. A mystery wrapped into a trial in a truly original setting. When a tragedy happens during a treatment session for several autistic children, one of the mothers ends up on trial. But every one of the witnesses is hiding something and all is not as it seems. I can’t wait to see what she writes next. Highly recommend.
When this book was recommended i was intrigued because it was centered on a topic I’d never read about – a hyperbaric chamber explosion. The questions then became: what happened? Who caused it? What secrets did each person hold? Why? I must say this story was a compelling courtroom drama, but the chapter by chapter unfolding of each character’s knowledge, secrets, and perspectives really captivated the reader. I guessed correctly who the guilty party was, but not so much of the motive. I was glad to see characters struggling with moral dilemmas within themselves and finally telling the truth. This story truly brings home the message that our actions have consequences for us and for those around us. A good read!
Taut, unpredictable, and satisfying, Miracle Creek is both a legal thriller and a deep, sympathetic portrait of families in crisis. Absolutely recommended.
Miracle Creek is an engrossing puzzle-box of a book: a twisty courtroom drama that also manages to be emotionally astute, culturally perceptive, and deeply empathetic. Angie Kim tackles hot-button subjects with a delicate touch, proving herself a master of both portraiture and storytelling. I loved this novel.
Pak and Young Yoo are Korean immigrants. They run an experimental facility, a hyperbolic chamber that resembles a submarine, that they believe helps people with all sorts of medical problems, from infertility to multiple sclerosis even autism. One day, the unthinkable happens! Their hyperbolic chamber explodes, with patients inside! But who did it? Lies fill the air, surrounding them. It seems that everyone has something to hide!
This is an interesting story, told from the different aspects of the different characters. As in real life, each character has his or her own agenda, his or her own truth. This is definitely a case for “the truth will set you free”.
Our author, Angie Kim, writes very well in this, her first book, describing picturesque settings, realistic characters and strong emotions. I look forward to her next book.
In the fast-paced novel Miracle Creek, readers search for pieces of a terrifying puzzle following a mysterious incident at a medical clinic offering a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to treat myriad conditions. It is a meticulously crafted tale of intense legal drama, which also deftly explores the psychological impacts of issues such as parenting children with autism, immigration and family separation, marital anxieties and coming of age. A trial lawyer turned author, Angie Kim has constructed a most original work—airtight with suspense.