A novel by Un-su Kim, translated by Sora Kim-Russell

It is an age-old story: Plotters plot, Trackers track, Assassins kill people, the Bear disposes of human remains and libraries are not what they seem, right? Well, maybe.

Reseng, an assassin, who has spent his life bound-up in the trade of dealing out death to others, is almost killed by a bomb set in his toilet. Poetic justice you say? Well, in this action-filled and oddly peopled novel of a blood-soaked Korea, such an event becomes a summons to change.

"The Plotters" is the first English translation of Mr. Kim's work and shows great promise. To the translator, Ms. Russell, I have this bit of advice; if you are going to write about guns you should know something about them. The "cartridge" you referred to is called a magazine. It is that metal device that goes into the weapon and holds the ammunition in a semi-automatic rifle, or pistol.

If you like a story with a quirk, or two, and an anti-hero with a smirky outlook on life search no further, Reseng and "friends" await. Highly recommended to those searching for a story that is out of the ordinary.

My thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the opportunity to review the uncorrected proof of this novel.

I just couldn't stay with this one... It started out interesting, then felt like it was flopping all over the place a bit and started losing me, then I get drawn back in, only to find the cycle repeating itself... Eventually it got to be too much: too quirky, too unusual, too freeform for me. Still, the writing was very good and it might just be a case of the wrong book at the wrong time. I'm intrigued enough by the concept to come back to it, but for now I just couldn't find my way into and through it.

A strange and stunning tale of a city controlled by a network of assassins for hire. This book surprised me on every page. I've never read anything like it. What an extraordinary pleasure.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I selected this book on a whim because the description immediately caught my attention. I was not disappointed. This story follows an assassin named Reseng and the plotter behind him (the one who plots the actual kill). There are several other interesting characters along the way. The story of Reseng stalking a victim begins on page one. One of the things that initially grabbed me was the smooth translation from Korean to English. Sometimes a translation feels choppy, this was not the case. I highly recommend this book.

The Plotters is well written and intriguing, but the subject matter and coarse details are not to my taste.

What a pleasant surprise! I had no idea what to expect going into this book, but what I got was a brutal, surreal, and funny thriller. It's a series of what feels like interconnected vignettes that are filled with some of the most entertaining characters I've read in a while, with a total David Lynch vibe.

And excellently translated to boot. I can't wait for more of Kim's work to be released in English.

I really enjoyed this book! It met all my reading desires, 1) Nicely crafted and well written 2) well developed characters 3) interesting story line, and last but not least 4) the opportunity to learn. Well done Author Un-su Kim and translator Sora Kim-Russell, congrats on your first American publication, well done, I expect this to be highly successful for you. I look forward to more translated publications.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Doubleday in exchange for my honest review.

Wow. The Plotters is a surprising and unusual read. It reminds me in ways of the movie The Matador with Pierce Brosnan or maybe something by Quentin Tarantino; Pulp Fiction, maybe.

Reseng is a South Korean hitman. Raised by Old Raccoon in the Library of Dogs, he is assigned hits by a group of powerful men called the Plotters. Reseng is aging. He's 24 and beginning to distrust the people and reasons for his assignments. Because of this, he also doubts his chances of a long life. The book is full of insights into human nature, unexpected humor, and a page-turning thriller with unforgettable characters. Loved it!

I've talked on my blog about my deep love of Korean cinema, which defies any sort of genre boundaries and easy classification in favor of wild, ambitious stories that defy expectations, go to wild extremes, and mix black comedy and dark tone effortlessly with brutal violence or surprising heart. So it's no surprise that Korean fiction is equally odd, if Un-su Kim's The Plotters is any indication. The broad outlines seem familiar enough - a professional assassin is starting to question orders and might be being betrayed by those who employ him - but none of that really conveys what an unusual book this truly is.

For one thing, there's The Plotters' bizarre cast of characters, which includes a man whose pet incineration service also allows him to dispose of assassination targets, a librarian who never reads books, an orphan literally left in a trash can, a slew of hypercapable assassins and crime lords, and a whole swath of dangerous elements inhabiting the book's seedy underground. But then there's the world Kim has created, with libraries full of unread books, retired generals living with their dogs, political vacuums, men in shadowy chairs pulling the strings of the assassins' lives, and so much more. It's all close to our own world, but Kim adds so many slightly offbeat touches that you can't help but find it all the more vibrant - oh, and very darkly funny. From toilet bombs to casually severed fingers, The Plotters is a book with a morbid sense of humor, but one that absolutely worked for me - these are violent men, so why wouldn't their sense of humor be equally dark?

None of this, though, really conveys what it's like to read The Plotters, which defies easy categorization. Yes, it's a book where an assassin defies his orders and begins to feel that his handlers have betrayed him, but this isn't the easy showdown of a conspiracy thriller or a brutal throwdown between lethal assassins. It's about political corruption, and a lack of use for human life, and a desire for power that's universal - in other words, it's not the titular "plotters" that are the problem - it's the whole world, which has no shortage of men who want horrible things done, as long as they don't have to do it themselves.

What you end up with here is a wonderfully odd book, one that's equal parts riveting crime thriller, thoughtful character study, cynical political/social commentary, dark comedy, and action novel - and it does all of them effortlessly, sliding between genre boundaries like they never existed, and even giving you a wonderfully heartfelt section when you think you've got the book figured out. Like Korean cinema, this is a book that feels like nothing else out there, and while it sometimes gets too sprawling for its own good - and other times feels too hemmed in by the archetypal story it's telling - none of that kept me from having a blast reading it. It's a fun time, and if you want a crime thriller that won't feel like everything else out there, trust me, you'll love this one.

I thought the opening of this book was simply brilliant. The whole opening scene of one man stalking (and then oddly befriending) the other was simple, powerful, and artfully done. The writing was beautiful, with an intriguing set-up and great quotes like, "Black tea is steeped in imperialism. That's what gives it its flavor. Anything this flavorful has to be hiding an incredible amount of carnage."

Sadly, though, the rest of the book didn't wow me nearly as much.

I felt like this book had some pacing issues overall. But that may be because the way the book played out didn't necessarily line up with the expectations I had from reading the promo description. For instance, the mysterious plotter women mentioned in the promo materials do not show up until nearly the 70% mark! Once they appear we barely get to know them (one remains "the cross-eyed librarian" for the entirely of the book--that's about the extent her character is fleshed out.) That all felt like a missed opportunity.

So with little actual plotter action, this becomes mainly a book about an assassins, and that we spend most of our time with the lead character Reseng. My problem was I LIKED him, but didn't really love the character and quite honestly found all of the cat and mouse games among the assassins to be a little boring.

It was only when we were offered deeper glimpses into what made Reseng tick that I felt like the book really blossomed (like the lovely passage describing his brief time as a factory worker.) I didn't mind the violence in the book, just wished it had been balanced out by more of this type of human interest stuff. (I think that would have made the ending more impactful as well.)

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

sly-humor, Korea, translated, assassins, Asia

I like to see what fiction other cultures are writing and reading. I've enjoyed others from SE Asia and China, but not until now from Korea.
The story itself reminds me of several other books in which assassins are a major presence, but here I can feel a lot of tongue in cheek as well as some really sneaky humor that is even worse than puns. That being said, I do think that the translator was kind enough to substitute English language vernacular when needed.
Bottom line: I really enjoyed reading it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Doubleday Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

The Plotters by Un-su Kim
The Plotters
by Un-su Kim, Sora Kim-Russell (Goodreads Author) (Translator)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Dec 12, 2018 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: currently-reading

Enter Reseng, an antihero, an assassin who cold heartedly kills upon receiving a contract ... until suddenly two of closest friends mysteriously disappear. He was an orphan, adopted at age 4 by the Old Raccoon ... who actually is the intermediary between plotter and assassin ... who lives a rather unassuming life in a large unused library. Reseng was not allowed to go to school. ... nonetheless taught himself to read and was a voracious reader. This was his only outlet other than killing.
His closest assassin friend mysteriously doesn't follow through on a contract to kill a prostitute .. and then disappears for awhile , only to have his body turn up later. Reseng then investigates the dynamics behind the inevitable list for elimination and discovers the far reaching machinations involving the government and multinational corporations and their desire to maintain power.
Ultimately Reseng finds himself in a precarious position when he discovers a bomb in his toilet.
Reseng's grisly acts are juxtaposed with his quixotic relationship between two women ... a factory woman who he inadvertently courts and briefly lives with and an unexpectedly beautiful and smart female plotter ... with an extremely diverse agenda.
The denouement ramps up into a rather satisfying but unexpected Hollywood type of cinematic explosion. Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. This is the first English translation of Kim's oeuvre ... I look forward to the enjoyment of his other novels.

The Plotters is an incredible book. A profound look into the Korean world of plotters and paid assasins, It’s a strange, convincing, clever, thought-provoking thriller like nothing I've read before. This book introduces us to plotters, fixers, assassins guilds, assassins and targets. Filled with action and unforgettable characters. A deeply entertaining thriller! I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Plotters is an extraordinary book. A deep look into the fictional Korean world of plotters and paid assasins, it tells the story of one philosophical assasin, Reseng, who kills who he’s told to kill dispassionately, but wishes, although I’m not sure he knows it, that he had a “normal” life; a life where he has a wife and children, a decent job, in a factory, perhaps - a life where he is not privy to, part of, and always looking over his shoulder in case he’s next to cross death’s door.

Raised in”The Library” as an orphan by Old Racoon, a kingpin in the killing machine, Reseng teaches himself to read, unaware for a while that while The Library has books and a rotating series of Librarians, it is itself one of the many hearts of the machine. Reading classical literature makes him somewhat of an uneducated, but very intelligent, lay philosopher. He has an apartment and two Siamese cats named Desk and Lampshade, interesting felines who have molded their shapes to fit their names. And, in some cases, where he’s not fighting for his life, Reseng is a compassionate killer.

Things move along for a while but in the last third of the book, conflicts arise that put Reseng and Old Racoon in the crosshairs.

It takes a while to immerse yourself into this dystopian society, and I always wondered how real this dark culture was. It’s worth sticking to the book, and the reader will soon be unable to put it down.

In addition to Reseng and Old Racoon, there are other interesting and even lovable characters in the book, especially Bear, who operates a legitimate pet crematorium during the day and a human one, for those dispatched by the killers, by night. He creates ritual around what can best be described as horror in his role as the last person in the murder chain.

While it might seem impossible to love a book this dark, I did, indeed, love it. The translation demonstrates how skilled the author is, and the characters and their development are testament to the author’.s gift as well.

Highly recommended.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher as an ARC.

Lyrical, but that may be the contribution of the translator, this unusual quirky thriller from Korea defies description. I've tagged it as both dystopian and noir, so it is a highly original mashup of the two. Thirty-two year old Renseng is an assassin, discovered in a garbage pail and raised by the shadowy figure who discovered him. He starts questioning the powers that drive his assignments, and that is what propels the plot. Interestingly, some of the other reviews identified the location as North Korea, when the book's description clearly states Seoul. Then again, maybe North Korea could be described as a dystopian version of its southern neighbor.

Translated by Sora Kim-Russell, The Plotters is the American debut of Korean author Un-Su Kim.

The Plotters is a strange book that mixes noir with absurdist situations. Reseng, an antihero, is an an assassin raised in the library of Old Raccoon, the librarian. The reader is introduced to contractors, plotters, fixers, assassins guilds, assassins--and targets.

Assassins maintain a distance from their work that lets them discuss the deaths of their targets and the deaths of their fellow assassins with detachment and acceptance. This emotional detachment is necessary for an assassin, but Resang has, in the back of his mind, an awareness of the situation and actually chooses this distance to continue with his "profession." After all, he was raised for it.

Several events over the years, however, have begun to weaken the disassociation. Two particular deaths (murders) of assassins he has respected have gradually interfered with his typical "just a job" attitude. A chance to have another life with a young woman he met at 22, a chance he threw away, also begins to figure into his questioning of his role--questions he has resisted most of his life. He revisits these events in his mind.

Two recent jobs bring doubts to the forefront, and although he has always known that he will probably be a target himself, acknowledging this fact in relation to his recent experiences results in a change of goal. This is not to say that he feels remorse, exactly, but the sea change that has been building over several years takes a more dramatic turn when his friend is murdered and he gets involved with three curious women, one of whom is a plotter that had a bomb placed in his toilet.

Filled with offbeat and provocative characters, The Plotters' smooth translation is geared to making the novel flow easily for Western readers. I hope Un-Su Kim will have another English translation soon.

Read in November; blog review scheduled for Jan. 8, 2019.

NetGalley/Doubleday Books
Thriller?/Satire. Jan. 29, 2019. Print length: 304 pages.

Very uniquely written book but totally captivating in following the character Reseng. I will look forward to reading other novels by this author.