Pursuit by James Stanley.

I’d say the most interesting part about the novel is that it involves a man that becomes a spy for an authoritarian state. It’s a thriller, and involves a lot of action. It’s all about positioning, and pivoting; how the character manages to cope with changing circumstances and scenarios that no human being-in an authoritarian state or not-knows how to deal with.

It’s about authoritarianism and North Korea in particular. Charles Bates, the protagonist, is on the run. And he may not make it. Both the Free State and the Great State hold a number of tricky traps for insurgents, spies, and also runaways. The herculean size of the government may use even the average homeless man to be on the watch for Bates.

In fact, for a man who dislikes the military, he’s actually quite knowledgeable and street savvy. Fascinatingly so, the world seems to have turned on its head-resulting in severely strained relationships between the Free and Great State.

It’s a speculative fiction, urban-fantasy/dystopia novel. Fascinating in content and intriguing in detail, it describes a lot of parallels you can find in North Korea today. Charles Bates, the protagonist, is a uniquely self-reliant character that pursues life in a different country. Though as plucky as he is, he fails to recognize the intensity of the State Department’s pursuit, and the sheer magnitude of the Great State government.

Well, it’s timely and relevant to today’s geopolitical issues-North Korea’s leader may be “a little rocket man” to Donald Trump, but upon further evaluations, one may see that tensions have risen to unprecedented levels. Whether he lobs a nuclear weapon or simply makes idle threats via twitter, the leader of North Korea is more than a threat. He’s established a position in the international arena that threatens both the US and its allies (Japan, South Korea, and China to a lesser extent).

My family for educating me, friends for the political conversations, and Kris for putting it on her blog! The link to it online is: