- Overview
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A woman who remembers everything that happened in the past and a man who can look into the future, work over a 10-year period, to create a grand puzzle.
- Book Intro
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This is the story of a mysterious, wild hunt for a serial killer who died 10 years ago. If all the pieces of the puzzle are put together, then the grand puzzle that took 10 years to complete will be finished!
In the middle of Washington D.C., Nathaniel Millstein, the head of a global grains conglomerate, is assassinated. As the victim had his hand in the entire global cereals industry, the suspect pool would likely include one fifth of the entire global population. And yet, the actual suspect is revealed to be a man who died 10 years ago. His name is Shin Gaya, who shot himself as his lover Alice looked on. This man, who took his own life 10 years ago, is accused as the suspect in this assassination. Meanwhile, another gruesome murder takes place which also involves the dead Shin Gaya.
The 14th Dalai Lama, Simon Ken, an FBI agent with the New York office, and Alice’s daughter Michelle, who suffers from excessive memory disorder, each receive a letter that is dated 10 years back to the day. The letters have been written by the same person, the Korean man Shin Gaya who died 10 years ago.
Simon’s wife Monica lost her life during the 9/11 terrorist attack while waiting to meet with a man she was having an affair with. For the last 10 years, Simon had been angry at and feeling betrayed by his cheating wife, while also grieving her loss. Then one day, he receives the letter, dated 10 years to the day, the same day his wife Monica died.
Simon pays a visit to Alice, curious about this letter that seems like a prank. He learns that Shin Gaya’s letter was like a prophetic statement, and he works to uncover the truth behind the mystery. He works desperately to save the person who is said to be the next victim according to Shin’s prophecy, but as the investigation unfolds, he finds himself in an inexplicable situation. As he gets closer to the truth, he stumbles upon a shocking new revelation with enough power to fundamentally uproot his life.
- About the Author
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Jang Yongmin
Jang graduated from the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University and attended the Korea Film Academy. Hoping to become a film director, he wrote a screenplay that later became The Mystery of the Cube which went on to win the grand prize at the 1996 Korea Film Promotion Corporation’s screenplay contest. The story later was adapted into a movie and a novel. Since then, he went on to publish such tightly knit, extensively researched fiction as Fate Calculation Clock and The God’s Calendar, while also carving out a bigger role for himself through entertaining, intellectually stimulating, and heartwarming writing. After a brief pause, he published The Ultimate Child in 2013 to phenomenal response from the world of Korean genre fiction and marking his second phase as an author. The Ultimate Child won the grand prize at the 2011 KOCCA Korea Story Contest and was praised as the year’s best Korean mystery by readers. With the 2014 publication of The Puppet, The Immortal Doll, he solidified his status as an author who is hotly sought after both at home and abroad.
- Award
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2011 KOCCA Korea Story Contest Grand Prize