City of Ash and Red

For fans of J. G. Ballard and early Ian McEwan, a tense psychological thriller and Kafkaesque parable by the author of The Hole—called "an airtight masterpiece" by the Korean Economic Daily. Distinguished for his talents as a rat killer, the nameless protagonist of Hye-young Pyun's Ashes and Red is sent by the extermination company he works for on an extended assignment to the headquarters in C, a country descending into chaos and paranoia, swept by a contagious disease and with garbage collecting on the streets. No sooner does he disembark than he is whisked away by quarantine officials and detained overnight. Isolated and forgotten, he realizes that he is stranded with no means of contacting the outside world. Still worse, when he finally manages to reach an old friend he is told that his ex-wife's body was found in his apartment and he is the prime suspect. Barely managing to escape arrest, he must struggle among the rat-infested, garbage-filled...