North Korea’s deadliest weapon is sleeper agent Song Sun Young. Married with children and living the good life in New York City, she has waited seven years to activate the mission she was trained to do: infiltrate America’s financial infrastructure. She prays the call from her handlers will never come, because she loves her husband and kids and affluent New York lifestyle.But the call does come. … does come. During volatile negotiations between the White House and Pyongyang, Song is hurled back into a reality she had hoped to leave behind forever.
Unbeknownst to her, the CIA has already broken her cover. Working with retired Israeli operative Dalia Artzi, they track the Korean agent as she relentlessly executes her mission. Langley is pulling strings behind the scenes, confident of its advantage in this high-stakes game-until an unforeseen wild card from within its very ranks hijacks the operation for an unthinkable purpose.
Dalia realizes that Song has been the unwitting catalyst for the disaster now unfolding, and that she alone can stop it from engulfing the world.
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This story about North Korean sleeper agent Song really shines in the development of her character, lending credible insight into her motivations for doing the unthinkable. The contrasts between North Korea and the US, socially, economically, and politically, were well done and really hit home, after my recent read of Without You, There Is No Us. Song’s flight and fight are action-packed and page-turning. Where this book fell down slightly for me were the scenes involving the government agents tracking her. The characters were not as well developed, and the scenes lapsed into opaque descriptions of technology and weaponry.
This book is harsh and sometimes difficult but I find myself thinking about it whenever current events turn to the subject of North Korea, which unfortunately is often these days.
A unique trip around the world of current political intrigue. The story is believable and touches some areas of shortcomings in both the US and DRNK.
This was a really good spy thriller
Well written in a tight style. Current topic so made it more interesting. Highly believable.
Interesting picture of life in North Korea. Very much like tv show, The Americans,
I found it to be a compelling story.
Reading now. Very jumpy… skips back and forth between characters and is a bit hard to follow. I haven’t decided if I like it or not!
First half was good with an interesting plot. The protagonist then turned into a sociopath with no consequences and North Korea became astonishingly unrecognizable. Can not recommend this book.
A challenge to read … surprised I finished it. Disjointed story line. It’s a no-go.
The Korean Woman is similar in some ways to the hit TV show The Americans in that it is a story about an activated sleeper agent. In this case the agent is from North Korea and gets activated. Like The Americans the agent is conflicted as she has built a life and family. The reason for her activation the subsequent hunt for her, the CIA agents involved seemed unnecessarily complicated.
The story was engaging and had a somewhat surprising ending, although the author did provide a pretty big hint that was confusing at the time it showed up. It moved along at a pretty good pace and had some good character development although some characters more than others. It did seem a little short, but I didn’t pay a lot for it, so, maybe that’s to be expected. I’d still recommend if it doesn’t cost you that much!
It started out being believable, but the author got a little carried away at the end. I liked the anti-heroine, she’s feisty, amoral and tough, even if she’s not on our side. The other villain is just too much of a cartoon to be believable. It’s better than most of this genre.
While well written just not the subject matter I enjoy reading. Probably too realistic and reflective of the real world of today.