The Old Woman with the Knife: A Novel
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

At the start of Korean author Byeong-Mo's English-language debut, a gripping and often unpredictable suspense novel, a 65-year-old woman on a crowded Seoul subway train observes a male jerk, upset at having to stand, berate a seated young woman, even after she says that her pregnancy merits a seat. When he disembarks, the older woman follows and fatally stabs him with a knife coated with poison. It turns out this woman, code-named Hornclaw, works for a company offering "disease control specialists," who commit murder for paying clients. Hornclaw's continuing employment is threatened by younger rivals within her company, her declining physical abilities, and a fear that she's now someone else's target. A subtle character portrait is matched by striking prose (Hornclaw "sometimes wonders what difference it makes to take away ten or forty-five years from a life, when the essence of life is continuous loss and abrasion that leaves behind only traces of what used to be, like streaks of chalk on a chalkboard"). Crime fiction readers looking for something a bit different will relish this one. Agent: Barbara Zitwer, Barbara J. Zitwer Agency. (Mar.)

At 65, Hornclaw is slowing down at work and content to live quietly in a small apartment with her rescue dog. She should be cashing out her share of the company, but she's made the mistake of growing close to a doctor and his family after an emergency visit. Such connections are dangerous stuff in her business--actually, she's an assassin routinely hired to do in cheating spouses, corporate enemies, and the like--and there are repercussions. From an award-winning, internationally best-selling South Korean author making her English-language debut; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

What happens when a chance encounter causes a 65-year-old Korean assassin to question what she's always had to do to survive? Hornclaw is an aging "disease control specialist" who's built a 45-year-long career on eliminating targets her agency's clientele deem "vermin" without asking any questions--usually with a poisoned knife. Now her increasingly fragile health and the emotional ripples from an unexpected connection she makes with a doctor and his family threaten her plans for a leisurely retirement. Despite the peculiar objective of her work, Hornclaw must also navigate the mundane annoyances of corporate life, including bureaucracy, dismissive younger colleagues, and petty disagreements with management. The realistic detail with which Gu describes the agency's day-to-day operations prevents the novel from veering into a melodramatic blood bath, as do the novel's incisive observations about the harsh economic and social realities of modern Korean society, including economic recession, poverty among senior citizens, and the effects of the lingering American military presence. Behind the skillfully rendered (if occasionally drawn-out) fight scenes, Gu poignantly animates the desperate circumstances that motivate these characters to turn to contract killing in the first place. Despite Gu's skill in dramatizing details, though, the novel's larger narrative arc and epiphanies can feel rushed and mechanical. At times it seems that the characters could use a few more chapters for their complex lives to unfold in a way that does their transformations justice. A thriller with heart that would benefit from more time to beat just a bit longer. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

At 65, Hornclaw is slowing down at work and content to live quietly in a small apartment with her rescue dog. She should be cashing out her share of the company, but she's made the mistake of growing close to a doctor and his family after an emergency visit. Such connections are dangerous stuff in her business—actually, she's an assassin routinely hired to do in cheating spouses, corporate enemies, and the like—and there are repercussions. From an award-winning, internationally best-selling South Korean author making her English-language debut; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

At the start of Korean author Byeong-Mo's English-language debut, a gripping and often unpredictable suspense novel, a 65-year-old woman on a crowded Seoul subway train observes a male jerk, upset at having to stand, berate a seated young woman, even after she says that her pregnancy merits a seat. When he disembarks, the older woman follows and fatally stabs him with a knife coated with poison. It turns out this woman, code-named Hornclaw, works for a company offering "disease control specialists," who commit murder for paying clients. Hornclaw's continuing employment is threatened by younger rivals within her company, her declining physical abilities, and a fear that she's now someone else's target. A subtle character portrait is matched by striking prose (Hornclaw "sometimes wonders what difference it makes to take away ten or forty-five years from a life, when the essence of life is continuous loss and abrasion that leaves behind only traces of what used to be, like streaks of chalk on a chalkboard"). Crime fiction readers looking for something a bit different will relish this one. Agent: Barbara Zitwer, Barbara J. Zitwer Agency. (Mar.)