The Good Son is a thriller, family novel written by Jeong You Jeong. The novel is the writer's first novel to be translated in English but she is one of the best selling authors in the thriller/crime genre in South Korea. International acclaim came to Jeong after The Good Son sold well in places like Germany and the United Kingdom. To date her works have been translated into seven languages.
A man wakes up covered in blood that apparent belongs to his mother. He has no memories of killing her. He's always been a good son to his mother, doing everything she's asked. Now he must piece together what lead to his mother's murder. Even uncovering dark secrets from the past…..
The Good Son starts in an exciting mystery that keeps you flipping the pages. You're as lost as the main character who is placed in a God awful situation. Jeong paints the setting throw words that make readers see every event happen right before your eyes. It's like you can reach out and touch the mother's bloody body as you read the artsy descriptive details used on the pages. The inside of the main character's head seems innocent enough at first. His terror makes you feel for him as a victim. Then the plots starts to wonders across the past and family history. I had tried to guess what had happened because the easy answer is always the easiest to believe. Direction of the plot explores past events a lot. It gets a little tiring when you start to think that some of the memories have nothing to do with the central conflict. These sections of the novel are there to instead give you a bit of background on the main character and his family. Readers learn about the emotional basis of the family. Some of the things that go on are strange to the borderline of being abnormal. One might say that's one of the charms of the character's relationships in The Good Son. With that being said, a district slice of Korean life shines in the setting of the plot. Most of the story takes place in the household but many of the backtracking takes readers from a street pancake stands to the islands of the South Korean peninsula. people interested in South Korean life will see the scene details as a treat. The novel doesn't have chapters and replace them with spitting the book up into sections. It's not a big book so it doesn't really matter much. I enjoyed the Good Son the most when the plot progress toward the action after all the backtracking was done. Derailing the main story so much tired me out. Not that there isn't good reason for these fragmented memories, I just was ready to move after I got the answers I needed. Getting to the conclusion is far worth the wait…. I'm not one to spoil…. Just know that The Good Son goes out boldly.
The main character had thoughts like a maze. What was really funny is that the answer was in front of us all - including the main character. We all wanted there to be a more positive outcome. All the tracks lead down a very dark hole that's a bit too personal. Being inside that kind of mind can be kinda of uncomfortable. I was here for it too! Maybe a live action film needs to be made...
I recommend The Good Son for readers who like psychological thrillers. It's not the best novel in the world. Some parts could have been improved while other parts shine. I'll leave you to form your own opinion.
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