Kirjahaku

Who will triumph? Who will perish? Will the guardian slopes of Seoul's Mount Namsan protect one over the other? Hues of Seoul: Mystery and Suspense in Today's Korea is a series of evocative short stories linked together by a continuing tale of a life and death battle of wits between a malcontent, hermit-like native of central Seoul and an accidental visitor lured into a terror-laced den of no return on the deceptively tranquil slopes of Mount Namsan at the heart of the Korean peninsula. Like some horrific alley cat toying with its helpless prey, the denizen of old Korea lives to tease, destroy, and devour, while lamenting the demise of the old ways. Like a Korea-based Tales of the Arabian Nights, the trapped visitor, using his gift of gab, strives to delay the hermit's murderous intent by weaving tales of those very fading traditions and dying myths that the hermit longs for. The visitor reveals to his deadly host war's tragic remnants feeding on the fringes of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ); hikes an eerie trail on Mount Bukhansan with a young K-pop star searching for redemption; dines in old Hongdae with an unlikely pair confronting stark reminders of a bygone era; watches Incheon's fading fishing culture besieged by dark forces collecting souls like unpaid taxes; haunts timeworn Insa-dong alleys to witness an artist's spirited rebirth; shadows a confused young man pursuing a troubled lover by the Han River's dark waters; fights ancient evil with a Korean-American cleric in the Korean diaspora enclave of New York City's vanishing Koreatown; and, finally, eavesdrops on a mournful tale of tragic loss on Jeju Island's misty, rocky shores. Join the two chance foes as the demented hermit's menacing threats drive the visitor to spin timeless tales of the Korean peninsula. Who will triumph? Who will perish? Will the guardian slopes of Seoul's Mount Namsan protect one over the other? Read on....

Madylan of Manhattan, Amazing Adventures, is a collection of short stories that capture the joy, vitality, and mystery of a range of escapades, as experienced by young Madylan, resident of Manhattan, New York City. The tales take place in and around New York City, Virginia, Kennebunkport, Maine, and South Korea.Join young Madylan in these fanciful tales as she ponders what might dwell in a parallel underground New York, embarks on wild adventures as a self-proclaimed 'evil' princess during a Manhattan day outing, relates the scary tale of banned pizza in New York, follows the zany antics of a lost toy helped by a chatty Easter Bunny scout in Virginia, visits with summer residents of coastal Maine caught up in an ageless conflict between merfolk and pirates, and falls in with a dreamscape mystery of a daring young traveler coping with all manner of cryptic characters, good, bad, and indifferent, in the far away land of historic Korea.Madylan of Manhattan, Amazing Adventures, is a set of rollicking tales for all ages.