The plot thickens as we discover more about the relationship he shared with his mother and then of a father and brother too. We begin to learn more as flashbacks to Yu-jin’s early life are interspersed with present day activity. But the picture still doesn’t knit together, nothing seems to make sense. These trigger memories – or rather partial memories – of a few words spoken here and there and some actions taken by him the previous night. Not in this case, at least.Īs Yu-jin explores the apartment he shares with his mother he quickly discovers one surprise after another. That said, this is crime fiction and therefore the core of the tale should be familiar - shouldn’t it? Well, no.

The stories are inclined to surprise me as the feel of the narrative is somehow subtly altered by the different way people relate to each other and the off-centre (to me) way the characters live their daily lives. I do like translated fiction as the books tend to highlight differences in culture and behaviour that I find fascinating. Set in South Korea, there's an element of things feeling slightly ‘off’ from the start. But not everything is quite as it seems, as we are to find out. He's soon to discover the surprising truth. What happened the night before? He can't recall.

He's clearly had these before and feels that this might account for his feelings of disorientation. Yu-jin, awakes one day, in his home, afraid that he’s had a seizure. It's a claustrophobic, tense and surprising tale of a few days in the life of a twenty-six-year-old male student. This is one of those books where I really don't want to give too much away. A shocking and addictive psychological thriller, The Good Son explores the mysteries of mind and memory, and the twisted relationship between a mother and son, with incredible urgency. Thus begins Yu-jin's frantic three-day search to uncover what happened that night, and to finally learn the truth about himself and his family. But was she calling for help? Or begging for her life? All he has is a faint impression of his mother calling his name. He can't remember much about the night before having suffered from seizures for most of his life, Yu-jin often has trouble with his memory. Yu-jin soon discovers her murdered body, lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs of their stylish Seoul duplex. Ripley meets The Bad Seed in this breathless, chilling psychological thriller by the bestselling novelist known as 'Korea's Stephen King' Who can you trust if you can't trust yourself?Įarly one morning, twenty-six-year-old Yu-jin wakes up to a strange metallic smell, and a phone call from his brother asking if everything's all right at home - he missed a call from their mother in the middle of the night.

The good son you jeong jeong summary