Seven Years of Darkness
A Novel
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4.0 • 9 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
"You-Jeong Jeong is a certified international phenomenon . . . Genuinely surprising and ultimately satisfying . . . Seven Years of Darkness [bolsters] the case for Jeong as one among the best at writing psychological suspense." —Los Angeles Times
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF SUMMER 2020 BY CRIMEREADS, BUSTLE, and AARP.org
The truth always rises to the surface...
When a young girl is found dead in Seryong Lake, a reservoir in a remote South Korean village, the police immediately begin their investigation. At the same time, three men--Yongje, the girl's father, and two security guards at the nearby dam, each of whom has something to hide about the night of her death--find themselves in an elaborate game of cat and mouse as they race to uncover what happened to her, without revealing their own closely guarded secrets.
After a final showdown at the dam results in a mass tragedy, one of the guards is convicted of murder and sent to prison. For seven years, his son, Sowon, lives in the shadow of his father's shocking and inexplicable crime; everywhere he goes, a seemingly concerted effort to reveal his identity as the reviled mass murderer's son follows him. When he receives a package that promises to reveal at last what really happened at Seryong Lake, Sowon must confront a present danger he never knew existed.
Dark, disturbing, and full of twists and turns, Seven Years of Darkness is the riveting new novel from the internationally celebrated author of The Good Son.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When Choi Sowon, the narrator of this riveting novel from Jeong (The Good Son), was 11 years old in 2004, Sowon's father, Choi Hyonsu, the head of security at Seryong Dam, was arrested for killing his wife and an 11-year-old girl and her father and for causing more deaths after opening the dam floodgates above Seryong Village. Hyonsu was convicted of mass murder and sent to prison, and an uncle in Seoul adopted Sowon. Seven years later, when Sowon receives a mysterious manuscript in the mail purporting to tell what really happened in 2004, Sowon realizes he faces a serious threat. Readers may think they know the full story, but the atmospheric plot unfolds in unexpected directions. Jeong does a good job making the unlikable Hyonsu deserving of sympathy, though some may wish she focused less on the past and more on Sowon's current predicament. A rushed ending also disappoints. But these are minor flaws. This twisty tale reinforces Jeong's place as the queen of South Korean thrillers.
