THE ORPHAN MASTER S SON (PULITZER 2013)

Part bildungsroman, part political thriller, part exposé of the most secretive country in the world, this is the story of a North Korean orphan who rises up through the ranks of the DPRK army as a tunnel soldier, a professional kidnapper, and a military intelligence officer, ultimately to become--for a very short time--a rival to the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il. Yet it is also a love story--as one character in the novel claims, "the greatest North Korean love story ever told." After reading it, you'll never look at a map of the Korean peninsula the same way.