Out of North Korea ~ Review

Out of North Korea
By Alana Terry

Ian McCallister is in trouble and he's not exactly sure how he got into it. Working as an independent photojournalist he was in China interviewing refugees who had escaped from North Korea. Somehow his actions got him arrested and sitting in a Chinese prison. If only he still had it so good. Yes, compared to the situation he now finds himself in a Chinese imprisonment is looking pretty good because somehow he has been taken across the border to North Korea.

With demands that he confess to his crimes and explain why he is in North Korea, Ian is stymied. His explanation that he was drugged and taken from China to North Korea is falling on deaf ears. And Ian is left wondering if the psychological torment of uncertainty and solitary confinement is worse than physical torture.

When the reason for his arrest is revealed the reader like Ian is surprised.

This book is told from Ian's point of view - very first person almost as if he were recording his thoughts and events in a journal. This has a decidedly different feel to it than previous works by Alana Terry. Her previous books about North Korea were told from the perspective of those who were from this country while this is told from that of an outsider.

I really enjoyed this book and for those who have read the Kennedy Stern series you will have a familiarity with Ian and Granma Lucy. If you never read her works before this is a good place to start because you don't need to read any of them to get into this book. Ian has issues and this just might be the wake-up call Granma Lucy has been praying for him to get. This is a timely book that features a location that is currently a news-making headline.

I was provided an advanced review copy of this book with no expectations of a review positive or otherwise. All opinions expressed are my own.