A great story revolving around the trial of one character.
The plot is fast paced and easy to read, leading you down one blind alley after another in a multitude of twists. Although I was certain I knew which character was guilty there was always a sliver of doubt, just enough to keep things interesting. Without revealing too much, I was surprised and strangely satisfied by the moral dilemmas the variious characters faced and pleased with the way these played out for the main characters.
Each of the characters possessed their own unique set of issues, all leading nicely to their own particular role in the plot.
A very different kind of mystery/thriller, being outside what I usually expect from a book of this kind added immensely to my enjoyment.
A good, well written book with plenty to consider throughout, heading towards an ending which left me quite thoughtful and extremely satisfied.

Pure oxygen can help cure. So Pak, his wife Young and daughter Mary open the Miracle Submarine facility in Miracle Creek. Theyare not prepared for the tragedy that will befall them a year later. Something that was built to help autistic children will end up killing two. Setting in motion the death of another. Two more people will be sent to prison. So many lives lost or changed forever. All it took was a lit cigarette and pure oxygen. Out of tragedy some good can come. The remaining survivors make sure that the dead are remembered. That people are helped where needed. And that justice will prevail.
An interesting read. Great characters. Intriguing detail. Excellent!!

A debut novel from Angie Kim and I will be looking out for future novels.
This is an interesting courtroom drama that uncovers lots of secrets and really keeps you turning the pages wanting to know what happens next.
The book covers relationships, disability, death and much more.
A page turner and very different from other courtroom dramas I’ve read before

A very impressive debut- well written, with interesting characters and realistic dialogue. I became engrossed in the story and invested in the characters from the very beginning right to the end. An intelligent and believable mystery about families, relationships, love, friendship and much more that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone. Angie Kim is definitely an author to watch.
Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers Hodder & Stoughton for he ARC.

The Korean owned Miracle Submarine is a hyperbaric chamber used to treat a myriad of issues including autism, cerebral palsy and impotence. When a fire results in the death of two and the life-changing injuries of two more, it sparks a legal case built on lies, omissions and deceit that will keep you on your toes from the first page until the last.

This is a truly stunning debut from Angie Kim and so much more than a courtroom based drama. Miracle Creek deals artfully with the topics of immigration, disability, family and what we are willing to do to protect those we love in a narrative that is just utterly compelling. A huge 5 ⭐️ from me and a perfect, page turning but thoughtful summer read. I’ve already got one fellow holidaymaker to buy it and you should definitely join her!

A huge thank you to hodderbooks for my Netgalley copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

In Miracle Creek a Korean couple run Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment, something which has been used to treat some conditions successfully but is also used to treat ASD although there is no clinical evidence to support its use with people with autism. The book opens with a mother of an autistic child on trial for his murder and that of another woman. She is accused of setting a fire under an oxygen tube with the result of the chamber blowing up, killing two people and injuring several others. As the trial goes on, more evidence comes to light suggesting that she is in fact innocent.

I didn't really warm to this book. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with evidence pointing to first one person and them being explained away in the next chapter. It was a strangely unemotional book given the subject matter and I didn't warm to any of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Angie Kim's literary courtroom drama is a phenomenal debut about the demands and challenges of being a parent of a child on the autistic spectrum or is disabled, about marriage, about being Korean and the transitional pains of being an immigrant in the US, about family, and about how far you will go to protect your child. In the small town of Miracle Creek in Virginia, Pak and Young Yoo run an experimental treatment, the Miracle Submarine, a pressurised oxygen chamber where patients take 'dives', in the desperate hopes of alleviating autism, disability and infertily issues. In 2016, the Miracle Submarine explodes, killing Elizabeth Young's son, Henry and a mother, Kitt, and which resulted in the Yoo's daughter, Mary, spending months in a coma and leaving Pak paralysed. It is now 2017, and the trial of Elizabeth opens, charged with the murders, being prosecuted by Abe Patterly, and reviled by an entire town. As the trial progresses, secrets, lies, tensions and rivalries are exposed as the reader learns of the litany of actions, small and others more significant, all of which play their role in the subsequent horrors of the tragedy.

Kim excels in characterisation, for example with the Yoo family, in providing the details of everyday life of being a Korean immigrant, the sacrifices, the cultural differences, the poverty, the difficulties of trying to fit in, the pain, working long hours, the racism, the bullying, and the cracks that appear between a parent and their beloved child. As most parents will attest, it is not easy bringing up children, it can often result in wanting to tear your hair out, and saying things in the heat of the moment that they do not mean. It is common for parents in a group to engage in competitive exchanges of how their child is doing so much better, actions that often breed resentment, envy and jealousy amongst other parents. We are given painful insights into how this dismal practice is replicated, along with making judgements, amongst parents of children with special needs, parents often pushed to the edge with the greater drain of energy and frustrations, whose entire life and every minute of the day is predicated on meeting the needs and challenges of their child. It is barely surprising that providing such care takes its toll on their mental health and their very human responses to the situation they find themselves in.

There is a dark and oppressive feel to the narrative, the unfolding of the lives of the Yoo family and those who used their 'medical' facility, including a doctor experiencing fertility issues and marital problems, the guilt, repercussions of the explosion, physical and emotional, the struggle to come to terms with what happened. Then there is the guilt of the parent, magnified out of all proportions when it comes to having a autistic or disabled child, with outsiders feeling free to express their opinions, or going even further as with the protesters at the site. The highlight of Kim's superb novel for me is the way in which she delineates how the actions of a diverse range of characters and serendipity all play their part in what happens. A wonderfully thought provoking read with a bleak and unsettling narrative, that drives inexorably to the point where all is revealed. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

This is an extraordinary book. The focus is on the possible or hopeful treatments for children with life changing conditions. The important factor is the parents desperation which leads them into these non evidence based treatments. It also looks at immigration, the need to move to a country where there seems to be more hope and opportunity but the reality is not what was expected.
Thai is a very sad story involving a catastrophic accident and the search for the truth and the guilty party through a complex court case. The ending seems to me to be appropriate and inevitable but there is enormous sadness at how circumstances occurred to reach the end point.
I found it compelling as I read through the unravelling of the facts to reach the final conclusion. There is a big "what if" element to this story as the characters look back at events.
Thoroughly recommended.

Miracle Creek is a deeply moving story that shows, true to form, how so few lives can intertwine in such complex ways with both good and bad consequences.
This is a heart-wrenching story of one Korean immigrant family who wants so deeply to provide a better future for their daughter; the two parents choose very different paths of humanity and accountability to achieve the American Dream.
Mix this in with the loving and dedicated parents of autistic children, sprinkled with hard facts and excellent research, the end result is a devastating yet compassionate look at what could happen when these multi-faceted paths hit head-on. What a breath-taking and emotional book, written in gentle yet bold and realistic prose. Angie Kim, I salute you.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for making it available.)

I enjoyed reading this this book and found the story engaging for the first two thirds but by the end it began to feel a little drawn out, however I did like the writing style and on the whole found it an engaging novel.

This is such a complex, heartbreaking story. The whodunit is almost an afterthought.

I don’t always feel moved by stories with multiple POVs but I don’t think there was a single character that I didn’t feel for. Even those we only spent a little with are developed so well that they tug at the heartstrings. Especially the women; the men are a little harder to root for.

There is not a happy story, but it is a good one.

How to describe this book and its effect on me? A courtroom drama, a study of mother love and the demands and sacrifices of bringing up a child with severe autism, a cleverly plotted who-dunnit that twists and turns and defies your every preconception - you think you know and recognise the character and their motivation, but then a switch of pov and you realise you were oh so wrong. Beautiful, descriptive prose that elevates the storyline and complete control over a complex multi-layered plot, delineates the storytelling.
Even the currently obligatory use of the f-word is so perceptively justified:

"there was something so satisfying about saying it, the aggressive percussiveness of the f and k sounds spitting from her mouth"

A challenging, thought-provoking read, highly recommended.

4.0 out of 5 starsGreat debut!
June 11, 2019
Format: Kindle Edition
I found this to be a most interesting novel. A thrilling drama with elements of psychological thriller, family relationships, courtroom drama and mystery. I highly recommend this book! I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion

Miracle Creek is a compelling thriller, a sort of oblique legal thriller in that we learn the facts from the witnesses and the defendant, not the lawyers. We never see the viewpoint of the prosecutor or the defense attorney. Elizabeth is on trial for murder, killing her developmentally disabled son and the mother of another boy receiving the controversial hyperbaric treatment at Miracle Submarine. Miracle Submarine is owned by Pak and Young, Korean immigrants who live on-site with their daughter Mary. Matt is the main witness at the trial. He is a doctor himself and was taking the treatment for infertility. There were protesters on site and Elizabeth argues that one of them set the fire that caused the explosion of the hyperbaric tank. However, her own careless words about wishing her son were dead are haunting her as are her many forays into questionable medical therapies such as chelation and bleach to treat Henry’s autism.

There are subplots that suggest it may have been someone else. A call, for example, to the insurance company about arson coverage. A possible affair or sexual assault between Mary and Matt. Matt’s wife Janine showing up at the site that day and not telling anybody. If it’s not Elizabeth, who could it be? This is all well done.


Miracle Creek is an interesting story and asks important questions. I understand the desire of parents with autistic children to seek all sorts of treatments to see what may work. I can understand <a href="https://asatonline.org/for-parents/becoming-a-savvy-consumer/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy/">hyperbaric treatment,</a> especially as it’s not painful or debilitating like some of the other alternative therapies like <a href="https://asatonline.org/research-treatment/resources/topical-articles/chelation-treatment-for-children-with-autism/">chelation</a> or <a href="https://asatonline.org/for-parents/learn-more-about-specific-treatments/bleach-therapy/">MMS/bleach therapy. </a>Of course, there can be side effects, but Pak was operating his chamber correctly and <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/complications-of-hyperbaric-oxygen-treatment">within safe guidelines.</a> The anti-HBOT protesters were the folks who discourage people from seeking a cure or treatment because they think children should be accepted just as they are.

I think it’s possible to love children as they are while wishing they could be closer to neurotypical. Not just because caring for a developmentally disabled child is incredibly difficult, but also because their children are likely to be happier if they can communicate and connect with other people.

But then the defense lawyer throws in arguments about <a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/thimerosal-and-vaccines#bib">Thimerosal and vaccines</a> and suddenly I am disgusted. I don’t want anti-vaccine conspiracies in my books, no matter how interesting they may be otherwise. There once was a fraudulent doctor who faked a research study that was published and is now withdrawn. Said doctor has lost his medical license but that kind of conspiracist lie lives forever on the internet and grifters and cons have made fortunes pushing the anti-vaccine lie and children are dying thanks to them.

Kim could write Nobel-worth literature, but if she spreads anti-vaccine conspiracies, she is abetting <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-return-of-whooping-cough">the evolution of viruses</a> so vaccines lose their efficacy and helping bring about a world pandemic. There’s a measles outbreak in <a href="https://multco.us/measles2019">my community</a> thanks to these anti-vaxxer grifters. That’s inexcusable. I cannot recommend a book that advances anti-vaccine lies.

I received an e-galley of Miracle Creek from the publisher through NetGalley

The book begins with an explosion in a hyperbaric chamber, a so called"Miracle Submarine". It was used in the hope that it would cure a multitude of ailments. A mother of one of the patients and a young boy with Autism were killed in the explosion. Many more were left with life changing injuries. Pak Yoo and his family had emigrated from Korea to Miracle Creek, Virginia. Pak owned the hyperbaric chamber that exploded. What then follows is a courtroom thriller and mystery.

Oh wow! I really do not know where to start reviewing this book. I had to double check a couple of times that this was a debut novel as its so well written. There are no loose ends to the story as they are all woven together seamlessly. There are plenty of twists in this evenly paced read. I found myself second guessing this story, but I had to stop it as I was getting nowhere. There is a fabulous set of characters all with a story to tell. There has been no stone left unturned stage author did a great job not only in writing this book but she must have put the hours in researching as well. I highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hodder &Stoughton and the author Angie Kim for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Yoo family originated in Seoul. Yoo Young and her daughter Meh-hee came on ahead of the father of the family, Yoo Pak, as a couple in Baltimore offered to provide accommodation for Young and Meh-hee in exchange for assistance in their grocery store. What Young had not appreciated was that she was to work from 6 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week. For years she hardly saw her daughter except when the Kangs brought Meh-hee to see her at the store. Meh-hee became Mary and struggled at school: her fellow pupils were no exceptions to the rule that children can be cruel and Mary was an easy target.

Eventually they were joined by Pak, a traditional Korean man who expected absolute obedience from his wife and daughter. Neither had wanted to leave Seoul, but he had made his decision and that was that. Now he made another. They were to leave Baltimore and move to Miracle Creek where he planned to set up a business which provided hyperbaric oxygenation, or HBOT, to people who thought that they would benefit from receiving 100% oxygen at three times normal pressure. It provided a service (or pandered, depending on your point of view) to those desperate to find a solution to their problems. Amongst these were mothers of children with autism and a doctor with fertility problems.

On a day in late August 2008 Pak asked his wife to lie for him. It wasn't a big lie, just being at the controls for him whilst he checked that some protesters weren't doing any damage, but to say that he was actually there. It wasn't a big lie, was it? Pak didn't even really think of it as a lie, just a sensible thing to do, but it came at the end of a disruptive day and that was when the fire started. Would it have had a better outcome if Pak had been at the controls? He persuaded Young that it wouldn't: two people would still be dead.

In the event is wasn't Pak who was arrested but the mother of one of the victims. There was a lot of circumstantial evidence against Elizabeth: she'd not been in the chamber when the fire started but she'd deliberately placed her son in what was the worst position should a fire start. She'd (unwisely) admitted that there were occasions when she wished Henry dead. But did Elizabeth start the fire?

This could have been a courtroom thriller like so many that we've seen recently, but it's a great deal more than that. There's a sensitive exploration of what it's like to bring up a special needs child, the unrelenting day-in, day-out of it all, the constant need to be finding something else which could be the answer, the therapies which just might work the miracle. You might begin by wondering why a mother would put this strain on her child, why she's quite so driven but you'll finish by wondering if you could cope in that situation and thanking whatever god you worship if you haven't had to.

There is, too, a great deal of insight into what it's like to leave your homeland and come to another country, particularly if you don't understand the language. Even some of the sounds used in English don't exist in Korean. The other problem which the Yoo family faced was the blatant, unapologetic sexism in Korean culture which travelled well as it moved halfway round the world. Back in Seoul this might have been acceptable: in 21st century USA, Pak is going to find himself challenged.

It's a good plot too: discovering who the arsonist really is was a real puzzle and I swung this way and that. Was it really Elizabeth? What was the doctor doing, meeting teenager Mary Yoo secretly in the woods? Would the protesters actually go to such lengths to make their point about such treatments for autistic children? What effect did the insurance policy which would pay out $1.3m have on Pak's thinking?

I read the book over a couple of days, with real pleasure. Angie Kim is a debut author but she delivers great characters, a good plot and something for you to think about long after you've turned the final page. I look forward to what she writes next and I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I was really intrigued by the blurb of this book and there were so many rave reviews. I was thrilled to be approved for this one.

I will be honest in saying that I did not love this book. It was a good book. It kept me entertained and I learnt a great deal about Autism and the struggles that parents with Autistic children face.

It is definitely a book worth reading.

Genre: General Fiction/Murder-Mystery
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Pub. Date: April 16, 2019

The novel begins with a tossed cigarette causing a fatal explosion which kills two people in a possible permeated murder. Still, the story can read more sci-fi than murder- mystery. This is because mothers seeking a miracle cure for their autistic children go into a large chamber that looks like a submarine. The families take ‘dives’ where they are exposed to high levels of pressurized oxygen. However, it turns out that “hyperbaric oxygen therapy” (HBOT) is an actual treatment. (This reviewer needed to google to learn that fact). You can even buy a chamber on-line. Learning the truth took some of the fun out of the story. Turns out, the author is not mixing the genres. The book is a murder-mystery courtroom drama. Indeed, a very good one that will keep the reader guessing till the very end. The author has real-life experience as a former litigator which makes the court scenes believable.

A Korean couple and their teenage daughter own and run a small HBOT facility. A mother and a child, not her own, both die in the chamber due to the explosion. The mother of the deceased child was taking a break and she remained outside for that fatal session. She becomes the murder suspect on trial. But, the author keeps us guessing. Was it really this particular mom or the owners or even a protesting mom who does not believe in the therapy? All the twists make for an entertaining read. However, Kim shines when writing on the dynamics of all the families: The difficulty of the immigrant experience, the frustration of having an unhappy teen who wants to go back to Korea and yet she is more American in her speech and mannerisms than her parents will ever be. You will meet a couple in marital discords. A Caucasian American doctor married to a Korean woman participates in the dives because his wife says it will help them conceive. It turns out that HBOT can also help with low sperm count. He personally believes the treatments are nonsense but appeases his wife, putting himself in what he considers a humiliating position—Great tensions.

This is a legal thriller at its best. The story is so good because it combines a murder-mystery with family issues, the immigrant experience, and most strongly the heart-wrenching emotions of the parents who have daily superhuman caregiving demands. (Example?) There is also an emphasis on the social drama provoked by different parenting beliefs. The group of protesting moms feels those who put their kids in these chambers (which can on rare occasions, really be dangerous) do not accept their children as they are, and want to ‘fix’ them. They hold signs reading “I’m a child not a lab rat.” The author’s own son received HBOT treatments. Once again, Kim uses her personal experience to create authentic scenarios. This courtroom drama is so good it will pose threat to any other in the genre.

This is a character-driven story told from several POV. Everyone has a secret and is lying. Mostly with best intentions in mind but everything somehow comes together on one particular day when a terrible thing happens and left two people dead. What lead to this horrible event and the dreadful death of an eight year old boy with special needs and a mother of 5 is told in this intense book.

It begins with Young, a Korean woman who came to America with her daughter to aim for a better life for her child. She was sent by her husband who stayed behind for several years. Young hat to work hard within her first years and had hardly time for her daughter. Now the family is reunited and making a living in the States. They are running a facility for a special treatment with oxygen. There is a group of people who a doing this kind of treatment for several reasons. One of them is Elizabeth who has an autistic son, Henry, and is doing everything to make her son more “normal”. On this particular day everything started with a small lie. At the end two people are dead and Elizabeth is facing a trial for murdering her son.

The story is quite complex and reveals its secrets very slowly. Everybody is keeping something hidden. The book is at its best when it shows us the scenes in court. Then it really gets interesting and gripping. When it is close to its characters it is sometimes is a bit too slow and over-explaining. It is a tragic story and when it gets to its final revelations my heart really broke for poor little Henry. And also for Elizabeth. The book is a slow-burner but after a while it burned itself into my mind and the story will stay with me for a while. Its intensity compensates the sometimes lengthy over-explaining. It is a unique book and definitely worth reading.

We follow a large cast of characters that all have their reasons for being at Miracle Submarine. The character development slowly unfolds as we learn more about each person's reason. The explosions has uncovered so many things that were meant to stay hidden. I really had no idea who caused the explosion or why they did it. As soon as I thought I knew someone else's secret would be explained leaving another person looking suspicious.

I really enjoyed the writing style. Even though I am not a fan of a slow paced book like this the story was always progressing which kept me intrigued the entire time. I would not call this a thriller. This is more a heavy contemporary with a who done it foundation. For that reason I think there are a lot of people out there that will really enjoy this book.