Inspector O has been wrenched from retirement and ordered back to Pyongyang for a final assignment. The two Koreas, he learns, are now cooperating--very quietly--to maintain stability in the North. Stability requires that O lead an investigation into a crime of passion. O is instructed to make sure that the case goes away. Remnants of the old regime, foreign powers, rival gangs-- all want a piece of the action, and all make it clear that if O values his life, he will not get in their way. O isn't sure where his loyalties lie, and he doesn't have much time to figure out whether 'tis better to be noble or be dead.
Once again, James Church's spare, lyrical writing illuminates an unfamiliar landscape of whispers and shadows. "The Man with the Baltic Stare "is a chilling, atmospheric noir--a fascinating response to the works of Martin Cruz Smith and John le Carre.