Star of the North

Author/Guide: D B John

Why a Booktrail?

1984, 2000s: North Korea and the USA are on the brink of war

ISBN: 978-1787300477
Genre: Thriller

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What you need to know before your trail

A young American woman disappears without trace from a South Korean island.

The CIA recruits her twin sister to uncover the truth.

Now, she must go undercover in the world’s most deadly state.

Only by infiltrating the dark heart of the terrifying regime will she be able to save her sister…and herself.

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Travel Guide

North and South Korea

Not a country much written about or explored in this way in fiction and what a world which the author had created! The most secretive and potentially dangerous regime in the world. What an insight this author provides. What an eye opener! Can’t reveal much here as you really have to read it to believe it. The workings of the government, the regimes the people had to endure, the lies they are told on a daily basis, the restrictions of life there, “Bureau 39” and what happens to religion and how the country ressembles something along the lines of the “Ministry of Truth” in 1984..

The author explains that so much about North Korea is stranger than fiction.

“ It is a hereditary Marxist monarchy whose people are sealed shut from the outside world. They are told that they live in a land of plenty and freedom, yet children are sent to the Gulag for the thought-crimes of their parents, and the regime has used starvation as a means of political control. Such a state has over the years, behaved in a way that outsiders might fid very difficult to believe, let alone understand, so readers maybe interested to know which elements of the novel are drawn from fact”

The author note at the back of the book explains more but contains plot spoilers.

“From the village below” is the euphemism for the south…

There is A LOT of fine and detailed information at the end of the book which is not mentioned here as it does give away the plot. However, this has to be one of the most interesting and detailed author notes ever.

It concerns the cult of Kim and the moment the author sees one of the many statues of the self-styled leader.

You won’t believe what is true and what is not. Truth is very much stranger than fiction.

Booktrailer Review

Susan:@thebooktrailer

Epic thriller. I’ve not been this excited and enthralled with a thriller for a while. Not as brilliantly fascinating as this one. The setting is the most secretive regime in the world and this author has been there and crafted a stranger than fiction story which is as thrilling to read as I imagine it was to write. The level of research mentioned at the end of the book is quite something – hats off to the author in many ways!
As well as an explosive plot, complex characters real and fictional, political intrigue is high and the entire package is outstanding.
The setting of course really captures the imagination as its’s a country,people and regime the world knows little about. What we do know might not be true – secrecy breeds all kind of rumours.

This is what I would call a unique reading experience – on many levels. Much of the plot has been gleaned from intelligence operations and it certainly reads realistically! I was sitting on the edge of my seat half the time. It’s a mesmerising reading experience. Ooh there’s so much I want to shout about but it’ll give the plot away. You have to discover this for yourself.

I’ll need time to recover before the next book but I will be at the front of the queue!