The Orphan Master’s Son

An epic novel and a thrilling literary discovery, The Orphan Master’s Son follows a young man’s journey through the icy waters, dark tunnels, and eerie spy chambers of North Korea.

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother—a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang—and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows, a work camp for orphans. The boy is given his first taste of power, deciding which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and begins a path from which there is no return.

Considering himself “a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world,” Jun Do becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his Korean overlords to stay alive. Driven to the limit of endurance, he dares to rival Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save Sun Moon, a legendary actress “so pure, she didn’t know what starving people looked like.”

Part thriller, part story of innocence lost, part story of romantic love, The Orphan Master’s Son is also a portrait of a hidden world: a North Korea rife with hunger, corruption, and cruelty but also camaraderie, beauty, and love. A literary achievement, this novel establishes Adam Johnson as one of today’s greatest writers.