Nightmare Range
The Collected Sueno and Bascom Short Stories
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Twenty years ago, Martin Limón published his first mystery story featuring Sergeant George Sueño, a young Mexican American army detective stationed on the US 8th Army base in South Korea in the early 1970s, the heart of the Cold War. George and his investigating partner, the rowdy and short-fused Sergeant Ernie Bascom, are assigned cases in which the 8th Army has come into conflict with local Korean law enforcement--often incidents in which American soldiers, who are not known for being on their best behavior in their Asian host country, have committed a crime. George Sueño's job is partially to solve crimes, but mostly to cover top brass's backside and make sure the US Army doesn't look bad. Thoughtful, observant George, who is conversant in Korean, constantly faces difficult choices about whether to follow his orders or his conscience.
Nine critically acclaimed novels later, Soho Crime is releasing a collection of Martin Limón's award-winning short stories featuring Sergeants Sueño and Bascom. The stories within have been published over the last twenty years in a variety of magazines, mostly in Alfred Hitchcock, but have never before been available in book form. This beautifully produced limited-edition hardcover volume is sure to attract both critical attention and to appeal to collectors. A must-have for literary mystery readers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the 17 stories in this strong collection from Lim n (The Joy Brigade and seven other novels set in Cold War era South Korea), 8th Army Criminal Investigation Division detectives George Sue o and Ernie Bascom often deal with prostitutes, swindlers, and black marketers who pop up wherever na ve soldiers and American relative wealth intersect with Korean poverty and political desperation. Sue o draws on his ability to speak passable Korean to investigate crimes that the Army brass and the autocratic Korean authorities would just as soon sweep under the rug. Standouts include "Seoul Story," with its tour of the social layers of Lim n's milieu, and "The Gray Asian Sky," featuring Sue o's heartbreaking romance with a Korean woman. An underlying theme of justice for the innocent often a young Korean trapped in a pitiful situation or an inexperienced American soldier in over his head keeps the tales from becoming mired in gloom.
Customer Reviews
Telling it like it is.
Those of us that served in 8th Army in Seoul Korea can relate to this book. It’s the only non-fiction about american military in Korea during the cold war.