The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong

Yu-Jin wakes up covered in blood and without any memory of the night before. He vaguely thinks he heard his mother crying out his name at some point. But he really isn't certain. When he goes downstairs to check on her, Yu-Jin finds his mother dead on the floor. Her throat have been slit straight across by a sharp object. 

Now Yu-Jin must piece together what happened the night before. All he can remember is his mother calling his name- maybe. If she did scream his name, was it because she was crying for his help or begging him for her life?

I first heard about The Good Son a couple of weeks ago on The Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon was just about to go on Summer vacation and he wanted something to read. Fallon had selected 5 books. It was up to the audience to vote on which. While The Good Son was not the winner (The Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi was the overwhelming victor) it was this Korean thriller that interested me the most of the quintet of novels.

The Good Son's author, You-Jeong Jeong, is supposedly considered the Asian Stephen King. At least, that's according to Jimmy Fallon. That plus the premise I previously mentioned were what sold me on finding this book. I must tell you, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would. 

I went to my local library and discovered on a computer that the book was on the new book shelf. However, due to a glitch in the database's programming, the author's name was recorded as Chong. Apparently, Chong is the Americanized version of Jeong. Thus, it was catalogued and shelved in error. Thus, if you are looking for this book at your local library and you can't find it in the J's, check under C for Chong.

At just over 300 pages and written/translated in a very smooth and engaging pace, this was a quick read. It was very deceptive at times. Though the novel was not as scary as I was expecting from the South Korean version of Stephen King, The Good Son did have a couple of eerie moments. 

The book was translated by award winning translator, Chi-Young Kim. I would be very interested by someone who has read The Good Son in it's native language to tell me how it differed from the English interpretation. There's a very legitimate question here- did I enjoy the creativity of You-Jeong Jeong? Or was it the choice of words by Chi-Young Kim that won me over? Either way, I would be more than willing to read more from either the author or translator!

Going on a quick vacay? Or want a summer read for a rainy evening? The Good Son will fit the bill. 

It's a bloody mystery without being gory. It's a sensual thriller without being overtly sexual. And it was this close to being what Jimmy Fallon was going to read while on his summer hiatus. Just don't do what he did and miss out on this international chiller from Penguin Books.

Written by You-Jeong Jeong
Translated by Chi-Young Kim
Publisher: Penguin Books
US Release: June, 2018

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

This review was published concurrently on Outrightgeekery.com.