Slicky Boys

"It's great to have these two mavericks back. . . . Mr. Limn writes with gruff respect for the culture of Seoul and with wonderful bleak humor, edged in pain, about G.I. life in that exotic city."-The New York Times Book Review

"Combining the grim routine of a modern police procedural with the cliffhanging action of a thrilling movie serial, Slicky Boys is full of sharp observations and unexpected poignancy."-The Wall Street Journal

"There's atmosphere to spare here and enough suspense to please. A colorful thriller."-Publishers Weekly

"An irresistible tale!"-Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Two of the more memorable sleuths in the modern mystery canon."-The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"The writing is plain and sinewy, the characterizations are quietly brilliant and the moral vision is as cold as a Seoul bar girl's gaze."-The Oregonian

In this sequel to New York Times Notable Book Jade Lady Burning, a pair of American military cops come up against major gang culture in South Korea's back alleys.

George Sueo and his partner Ernie Bascom thought they'd seen it all, but nothing could prepare them for the Slicky Boys. They're everywhere. They can kill a man in a thousand ways you don't even want to know about. And you'll never even see them coming. They steal, they kill, they slip away. George and Ernie are about to discover that even the U.S. Military is no match for evil and that human sympathy can sometimes lead to a lonely grave.

Martin Limn retired from U.S. military service after 20 years in the U.S. Army, including ten years in Korea. He and his wife live in Seattle. He is the author of Jade Lady Burning and Buddha's Money, which will be published in the Soho Crime series next year.

This thriller by a retired army officer has many things going for it: two very well-drawn central characters who are U.S. military police based in Seoul; a large cast of colorful secondary characters; some lively and inventive plot twists; and a setting--South Korea in 1975, 20 years after the Korean War--quickly brought to vivid life. George Sueno, the brains of the two-man Army CID team, grew up in foster homes in East Los Angeles, learned Korean quickly, and isn't nearly as baffled by the complexity of Korean customs as most of his fellow soldiers. His partner, Ernie Bascom, found a home in the Army better than the one he'd left in Detroit to go to Vietnam; he's a blaze of mad action and sexual energy. They make an excellent team, bringing back memories of Chester Himes's Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson--two cops who also bent the rules to get results.