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MWSA Review
The Haunted Assassin by Allen Wittenborn provides an in-depth look at life in North Korea from the vantage point of a mid-level official’s daughter who was identified during her first year of life as a unique child. She was sent to special schools during the week at first, but was then required to spend more and more time away from her family. By age seven, she lived away from home full time, cutting ties to family and relatives. She was gifted in languages and trained in several martial arts with extensive training so that she was quite capable of killing with her hands. She learned to use firearms and drive cars and tanks. Most significantly, she was thoroughly indoctrinated to love only the Great Leader and his son, the Dear Leader. She followed orders without question.
The effect of that indoctrination is clearly shown throughout the story. As she begins to doubt some of the actions carried out by North Koreans, she is restrained by never having been allowed to make decisions. How can she possibly question decisions made by the Great Leader. She has been taught that procreation is only to create children for the state—there is no room for love. Of course, she meets someone for whom she develops feelings, but she could be executed for talking with a foreigner.
The foreigner is a middle man or broker for businesses in Asia. He believes that he can broker the export of magnesium from North Korea for smaller companies, but he unwisely agrees to try to provide intelligence to the CIA. In his attempts to meet people who can give him access to the right people in North Korea, he meets Yeong Hwa, who is the NK’s ambassador in Burma. Their relationship is entwined in Yeoung Hwa’s gradual emergence from her robot-like life.
As Yeoung Hwa experiences loss after loss, she begins to learn more about herself and who she could be. She does meet caring people along her journey, but ultimately, she is aware of North Korea’s view of anyone who tries to leave. Her strength shows through repeatedly in the story.
Review by Nancy Kauffman
Author's Synopsis
Kim Yeong Hwa has been raised since birth by the state apparatus, the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, to produce a human instrument, a supremo agent who willingly follows every command without question, a human robot. Her lifelong indoctrination is insidious and relentless, a constant psychological drumbeat even to the point that the Party and its leaders supplant her true biological family.
Kim reaches the pinnacle of success by bombing an airplane in flight killing all aboard, an event that has little impact on her moral fiber. But as she continues to obey orders, she faces a series of tragedies that threaten to shake her deepest convictions. Ingrained beliefs wear thin until a cathartic jolt reveals to her how she’s been molded and used. Her discovery compels her to face a dilemma she never expected to happen—to fight the grip on her mind and escape from who and what she is: a haunted assassin.
Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle
Review genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Pages/Word count: 402 / 114,075