#david never sees him again after the betrayal until he's a corpse. good

[one-boring-person]

Just A Babysitter.(Part Seven.)

The Lost Boys x reader

Warnings: major character death, blood imagery, alcohol use

Context: (Y/n) is left alone at the cave whilst the boys go to avenge Marko's death, but she has a horrible surprise coming her way.

A/N: I changed my mind about this being the last part as it is just too long to be left as it is, so there is another part which will most likely come out later today.

Part One , Part Two , Part Three , Part Four , Part Five , Part Six , Part Eight

Masterlist.

My joints have finally gone numb by the time the sun has set, the ache of sitting on the cold hard floor for hours on end eventually fading away as I continue to ignore it, my mind still preoccupied with more serious matters, like the dead vampire lying with his lifeless head in my lap. Dried blood crusts my clothes and skin, the sensation uncomfortable but also unnoticed as I smooth my fingers over the mess of blonde curls atop Marko's limp head, my eyes never leaving his glassy, blank ones, my tears having dried some time ago, one hand holding onto the patched jacket he's always worn, the fabric stained and grimy now from the crimson liquid gathering around the hole in his chest. At some point, I'd taken the stake out of his chest, the crude piece of wood sliding out of the cold flesh with ease, another rush of blood accompanying it as I threw the makeshift weapon across the room, barely registering as it clatters to the ground a little way away. Since then, I've barely moved, my back muscles cramping from the crooked position I've settled into, the pain seeping away as time goes on, the chill of the cave stiffening my joints considerably.

It takes a hand placed on my shoulder to finally shake me from my trance, the appendage belonging to a concerned and grief stricken Dwayne, the tall vampire giving me a reassuring look as he crouches to my level, moving to pull my body into his, wrapping his arms around my rigid form briefly before he joins David and Paul, flying from the dark cave with incredible speed, all three of them riled up and ready to do anything to avenge their fallen friend. If I could, I'd join them.

After they've left, I stay where I am, my energy dwindling as I fight to stay awake, having done so all day, my body finally forcing itself to rest. Grudgingly, I decide to give in to the urge, knowing there's nothing I can do but wait for them to return, laying myself down beside the body of my friend,  ignoring the icy chill that seeps into me from the hard ground beneath me, the rock not making a particularly comfortable surface to sleep on. Resting my head on my hands, I tuck my knees into my chest and curl up into myself as best as I can, closing my eyes with the intention of falling asleep.

Nightmares plague my fitful sleep, visions of the rest of the boys, as well as Marko, all bloodied and wounded harassing my subconscious as it tries to rest, my eyes unable to open and tear themselves away from the horrifying scenes in my head as I writhe about. In each dream, I try to help them, to save them from the same fate that Marko has received, but each time I am unsuccessful, my mind conjuring up vivid images of David, Dwayne and Paul as they gasp for life, blood spilling from their lips, eyes flashing as they slowly fade into a deathly blankness, skin paling from the lack of life coursing underneath it. Fear soaks into my conscience, rooting itself into my very being as it tries to grasp the idea of living without the family who has cared for me for so long, protecting me when my biological family could (would) not, providing me with the best life I could ever have hoped for. Somehow, tears manage to force themselves out of my eyes, wetting my cheeks once more, though I don't realise this until I come to again a long while later.

My eyes crack open, eyelashes sticking together from the salty tears that have dampened my skin, a deep chill settling into my muscles from the air around me, reawakening the pain in my joints from before. I move to get up, stretching out my limbs and back as I go, wincing as I hear several audible cracks as my bones realign themselves, my movements stiff and slightly uncoordinated from the lack of change in my position, a pounding headache starting to set in from how dehydrated I've become. In my head, I know I should get up and get something to drink, or to eat, or I'll really suffer later, my body already protesting against my abstinence. Groaning, I force myself to my feet, giving Marko one last look as I go, still trying to come to terms with the fact that he's gone and won't wake up in a minute to take me for a ride on his motorcycle, or have a race to the Chinese takeaway shop, where we'd undoubtedly steal the food we've been given.

Another wave of grief washes over me, but I choke it down before I fall back to my knees, instead going to the entrance of the room, aiming to get to my room where I know there is food and drink, something I've made sure to keep in the cave just in case. It takes me longer than normal to emerge back into the darkened expanse of the sunken hotel, no light coming in from the outside, proving to me that it is still night, even if it is early in the morning, the icy air surrounding me feeling unwelcoming for the first time in four years, making me shiver uncomfortably as I duck into my own room, my clothes too thin to be a suitable covering. As I enter, I make the decision to change my clothes completely, needing to part with the bloodied shirt and jeans I was wearing the night before.

Changing into another band shirt and dark grey jeans, I pull on my leather jacket before grabbing the bottle of water and tin of cookies from under my bed, taking the remaining whiskey from five nights ago as well after a second, craving the strong burning alcohol to reawaken my numbed mind. Sitting on the bed, I open the water and take a deep drink from it, relishing the sensation of the liquid flowing down my dry, raw throat, my body relieved to finally receive hydration. I follow this with a good few cookies, not really enjoying them too much but needing the food desperately, as well as a swig of whiskey to wash it down, wincing as the fiery drink burns the insides of my throat, feeling warmer a minute or so after it's settled into my stomach. I repeat these motions a few times before I become aware of something: voices floating in from the front of the cave, and not friendly ones, either.

A low growl leaves my lips as I make out Michael's voice amongst them, anger and fury igniting inside me alongside the confusion; what the hell is he doing back here, alive? Putting aside the alcohol, water and cookies, I edge closer to the doorway, staying out of sight as much as possible, straining to hear what is being said, yet more confusion rising in me as I hear sounds that I'd associate with dragging heavy objects across the floor.

"...should we leave them here? In the middle? Or should we move them back into one of the inside rooms?" Michael asks his companion, or companions, voice breaking off every few seconds from the strain of carrying a heavy weight.

"Let's just leave them here. They won't mind." A gruff voice I recognise from the day before answers, an agreement rising from another who sounds very similar. The two kids with stakes.

"What about (Y/n)? What should we do about her?" This time it's Star's voice, the sound cutting deeper than the others, a stronger sense of betrayal flaring up in me as I try to keep myself quiet, not quite believing what I'm hearing.

"I hadn't thought about that. Should we find her?" Michael muses, the sound of something dropping echoing around the room, three others joining the first.

The others are silent, the two kids obviously having no idea who I am, Star seemingly considering what to say.

"No, I don't think that'll be entirely safe. She has a tendency to react rashly to things like this. I'm surprised she didn't do anything earlier." The girl responds, voice decisive, "I really do feel bad for her, though."

"You do? Why?" One of the kids asks sounding disgusted by the idea.

"Because they were her only family, and she was close with all of them. She'll really suffer."

What does she mean, they were my only family? They are my only family. A small voice in my head starts to tell me something, but I refuse to listen to it, unwilling to even consider what she is implying.

"I know, I feel bad, too. Maybe we can come again tomorrow night and speak to her? She could come live with us." Michael suggests, drawing a silent scoff from me at his stupidity. What makes him think I'd live with someone like him?

"I really don't think she'd accept the offer, but we can only try." Star responds, sounding unsure of herself, her voice getting quieter as they seem to leave the room, eventually cutting out completely when they get far away enough. I wait another five minutes before venturing out again, finding the braziers lit, the flickering flames throwing shadows and light everywhere. What I see in the centre of the room, beside the fountain, makes me stop, my heart nearly seizing as I catch sight of them. I can barely move, my eyes remaining fixed on the object of my horror, disbelief initially filling me until grief replaces it, my mind drowning in it once more as I finally find the ability to move, my legs taking me over to them. Lying on the floor are four bodies.

One is horribly familiar, two barely recognisable, the fourth unfamiliar to me.

A strangled sob leaves my lips as I collapse to the floor beside David's corpse, the blonde vampire's features pale and drawn in their deathly state, his muscles limp and lifeless under my hands as I grasp at his chest, unwilling to believe that what I'm seeing is real.

"No, no, no! This can't be happening, please tell me this isn't real! No, please, wake up, David, please, wake up! You can't be dead! You can't all be dead! No, no, no!" I all but scream out, tears exploding out onto my cheeks as I frantically look for signs of life, taking in the two other bodies to his right. One is nothing but a skeleton, and the other is a mangled mess of blood and torn flesh, but they are still known to me: the skeleton is still wearing the bracelet I gave him the night before, and the leather jacket under all the gore is unmistakable. Paul and Dwayne, both dead.

"Please wake up, David! Tell me this is fake, that this isn't happening! I can't be alone, not again! Please, don't leave me alone!" I cry out to them, eyesight blurry from the tears pouring out of them, my body heaving as sobs rip themselves from me, my head falling to David's chest, ignoring the dried blood coating his shirt, as well as the rigidity that his death has brought to him. Grief and despair once again assault my mind, tearing me from the numbed state I was in before, my throat quickly becoming raw as I continue to plead with no one in particular, wishing the vampires would just sit up as they were before and reassure me. As it is, I'm left with the dead members of my family with no one to comfort me, my body nearly wrung dry from all the tears I've cried in the past twelve hours, my only companions the corpses lying around me.

I remain there for what feels like hours, but what is in fact only one, until I notice something: the first rays of sunlight coming in from the entrance. Slowly but surely, they edge closer to the corpese on the floor, the unfamiliar one remaining in shadow as it is protected by the water fountain. As the first ray reaches the skeletal remains of Paul, the discouloured bones immediately catch fire, orange flames engulfing the body of my friend in seconds, my eyes fixed on them with horror, until I jump into action, wrapping my arms around David's torso as I start to drag him towards the shadows, my body weak from the lack of movement it has done, guilt and anguish racing through me as I watch the rays catch Dwayne's mangled remains, too, greedy flames instantly bursting into life as they do so, the sunlight only continuing on in its destructive path, creeping ever closer to David's feet. My muscles scream at me as I fight to pull the heavy body out of harms way, my strength nearly failing me multiple times, my feet slipping on the floor slightly.

Thankfully, I manage to drag David into the darkness of my room in time, the corpse remaining untouched by the sun even as the other two are consumed by the fires it has produced. I can only watch as they burn, tears streaming down my face at the sight, the overwhelming grief pushing me to my knees as I finally give up, a strangled, agonized scream ripping from my throat as I curl up into a ball, consumed by sorrow and despair, the loneliness I haven't felt in years crashing over me once again, reminding me of the night they found me, my body beaten and broken by the side of the road, my parents having finally kicked me out, a thirteen year old with no where to go. They'd taken me in, caring for me as much as they can, giving me a better life than I could ever have hoped for, replacing the hole in my heart where a family should've been. Old wounds have been reopened, bleeding grief back into my system as they once had when they were new, the pain just as crippling as before, if not, more so.

Eventually, I feel black spots start to appear at the edges of my vision, slowly advancing until I can't see any more, my body relaxing into unconsciousness, the emotions finally becoming too much for my mind to handle. Almost in relief, I allow myself to give in to the urge, falling deeply into a state of unconsciousness as I collapse beside the corpse of David, the truly dead leader of a murdered coven of vampires.

[duhragonball]

JJBA Vento Aureo Reread Ch. 553-567

Previously, Bruno’s team was headed for Rome to meet with a mysterious ally who claimed he could do some trick with a Stand Arrow to make one of them strong enough to defeat the Boss.   But when they got off their boat, they found the whole area was ravaged by a plague of flesh-eating mold. 

To the surprise of no one, this is yet another enemy Stand.  The Boss is getting desperate, because he’s running out of guys to send after Bruno’s group, and he doesn’t know just what it is they’re looking for in Rome.  So he’s brought out two of his absolute worst henchmen ever, Cioccolata and Secco.   Cioccolata used to be a doctor who vivisected his patients for funsies, and his Stand, Green Day spreads a deadly mold contagion.   It’s not all that different from the death virus of Fugo’s Purple Haze, actually.   The main difference is that this mold takes longer to kill you, but it can spread across a much wider range.   The rule to it is that if you move below whatever level you started at, the mold begins to multiply and kill you.  By the time Bruno’s team figures this out, Narancia and Trish are wounded, and have to sit out the rest of this Stand Battle in the turtle.

Before they drop out of the story completely, Narancia seems to imply that Trish is sweet on Bruno, so I guess this is as good a time as any to discuss Trish ships.  To be sure, there’s a significant age gap between Trish an some of these guys, but I’m just dealing in hypotheticals here.

Starting out, Trish seemed to have more chemistry with Fugo than anyone else.   She spoke to him first, asking him to take off his shirt, and then later he fell into her cleavage on the way to the Naples train station.   Then he pretty much stopped doing anything and left the story entirely. 

Abbacchio and Trish barely interacted at all, although he seemed impressed with her willingness to help them take down the Boss, and I think he dug her Stand one she manifested it.  She was tore up over his death, but so was everybody.

Bruno... well, Narancia spells it out, although it’s anyone’s guess if he’s actually onto something.   I suppose we could read this to mean that he’s kind of jealous, but again, anyone’s guess.  

I’m flashing forward a little, but Mista was the last person Trish interacted with before the end of Part 5, and they swapped bodies, so that seems like it might lead to something, but maybe not.    By the end of Part 5, Trish and Mista are celebrating together mostly by default.   There aren’t a whole lot of other characters left standing. 

Giorno seems like an obvious pick since he’s the main character, and they do have a lot of things in common.   They’re the same age, they both have supervillain fathers who abandoned their mothers, and they’re both kind of hard to read.   I suppose there’s two ways to read their relationship in Part 5.   You can either take their eventual romance as a given, which is why it never sees much explict development, or you can assume that Araki is purposely inverting the trope.  The hero not only doesn’t get the girl, he doesn’t even appear to be trying to get the girl. 

I think that ambiguity is intentional, unless Araki honestly couldn’t decide what he wanted to do with Trish.   There’s romantic potential in her interactions with most of the other main characters, but it’s indefinite enough to make you wonder.  I should probably revisit this topic when I get to the end.  

Cioccolata’s partner is Secco, one of his former patients who apparently became his disciple in madness.   Secco’s Stand, Oasis, allows him to move through the ground as if it were liquid, and he can also liquefy the ground to make things sink into it.   In other words, he compliments Cioccolata’s mold perfectly, since their opponents can’t attack Secco without sinking to his level and succumbing to the mold.   I’m not sure how Secco himself avoids infection, unless Cioccolata’s Stand can grant immunity to certain people. 

Fortunately for the team, Bruno proves to be impervious to the mold, so he can beat Secco down long enough for them to get in a car and head for Rome.  On the way, Giorno finally confronts Bruno about why he’s been so strange ever since he fought the Boss in Venice.  The answer’s pretty simple: Bruno died in Venice, and he’s been dead ever since.  

If I understand this right, Giorno used Gold Experience to put Bruno back together after the Boss killed him, but all he did was reanimate Bruno’s body.   The story indicates that Bruno’s soul is still inhabiting his corpse, so it’s really Bruno, and not some new life force created by Gold Experience.   

What I don’t get is why Bruno’s body still works despite having no pulse.   Gold Experience turns inanimate objects into living things, so if Giorno did unwittingly reanimate a corpse, shouldn’t it be a perfect replica of a live person?

The more important point to this moment is that Bruno’s only sticking out the rest of this mission by sheer force of will.   He’ll succumb to true death sooner or later, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.  Now that Giorno knows this, he’s taking one step closer to actually leading the team, and not just the subtle soft leadership he’s been demonstrating until now.  

On the flipside, the Boss has essentially rejected any pretense of leadership when he brought Cioccolata and Secco into this matter.   By his own admission, he finds them reprehensible, because they kill for sheer pleasure, rather than to achieve any practical goal.  But the Boss kept them around anyway just in case he needed their brand of mayhem, and now’s the time.   Since he doesn’t know why Giorno and Bruno are going to Rome he’s basically given Cioccolata free reign to destroy the entire city with his mold plague. 

This is important, because, as Bruno points out, the Boss has Passione members and business interests in Rome.   Setting aside the huge civilian death toll, this course of action will hurt the Boss as well.   It might even cripple Passione as an organization for all we know.   Think about it: this whole conflict has removed a lot of Stand Users from the gang, either by death or betrayal.  The Execution Team is dead, Polpo’s dead, Carne, Squalo, and Tiziano are all dead.   Any Passione operatives in Rome are likely to die as well.   Presumably, the Boss would have to kill Cioccolata and Secco to end their rampage.    All to protect the Boss’s identity.   Yeah, he might be able to rebuild from all this, but what’s the point?

Symbolically, this is the moment when Giorno dethrones the Boss, not because he’s beaten the Boss, or because his dream has prevailed, but because he’s the only one alive who can take charge of this chaos and set things right.  

But he won’t do it alone...

Cioccolata’s big counterattack involves using a helicopter to spread his mold, but Giorno combines his powers with Mista’s to turn bullets into trees, which grow into a building and catch the chopper.   Meanwhile, Bruno takes on Secco by himself, since he’s the only one who can fight him without worrying about the mold.    Mista figures he’s got Cioccolata dead to rights, since all he has to do is fire into the helicopter and let Sex Pistols kick the bullets around until they hit him.    But when he tries this, the Sex Pistols get ambushed somehow.  With Mista taken down, Giorno has to board the helicopter to figure this out for himself.

Turns out Cioccolata can disassemble his own boddy and use his Stand to keep the pieces alive.  Also, Green Day can make the pieces move independently of each other and... yeah, this is pretty fucked up right here.  The advantage to all of this is that Cioccolata could hide in places a whole human being couldn’t, allowing him to set this trap.  Fortunately for Giorno, one of Mista’s Sex Pistols still works, and it kicks a bullet through his hand, which Gold Experience turns into a branch, which he uses to keep from falling from the helicopter, only Cioccolata uses his mold to kill the branch, but aha, that just turns it back into a bullet, which Giorno kicks into the chopper blades, causing it to richochet perfectly into Cioccolata’s head, cancelling his Stand.   Or something.

Giorno thinks Cioccolata is just playing possum though, I guess because he survived taking himself apart a few minutes ago.  After all, if Cioccolata can just jump out of the chopper, he can turn his Stand back on and start using his mold again.  

Sure enough, Cioccolata was laying another trap, except Giorno had already set one of his own, as he turned that bullet he had already turned into a branch into a beetle egg.

Giorno was just talking to him to buy time for the beetle to tear through Cioccolata’s head.    How is David Productons going too animate any of this?   Will they just cover Cioccolata’s entire body with a black blot, like they did whenever Jotaro was smoking?   Anyway, Giorno punches Cioccolata for like seven pages and then tosses him into a nearby garbage truck. 

Meanwhile, Bruno’s been fighting Secco, but unfortunately, Cioccolata called Secco right before he died and told him that he overheard one of the Sex Pistols blabbing about the Coliseum.   So now Bruno not only has to beat Secco, but he has to stop him from going to the Coliseum and killing his contact. 

Perhaps appropriately, this is when we find out that Bruno’s contact is Jean Pierre Polnareff from Part 3, and he’s clearly in no condition to defend himself against someone like Secco, so it really is up to Bruno to save him.  So Bruno bursts a tire right in Secco’s face, bursting his eardrums.   At first, Secco doesn’t see this as a problem, but when he tries to find Bruno...

“Tee-hee!    Did someone call for an ambulence?  :3c ”

Oasis is pretty friggin’ unbeatable, but it’s only any good if Secco can navigate while he’s swimming through the ground, and he can only do that by echolocation.   With his hearing damaged, he can’t find his way, and that leaves him exposed above ground. 

Desperate, Secco grabs a hostage, who ironically turns out to be Doppio, the Boss’s other personality.   Bruno defeats Secco easily, though, and I guess he ends up in the same garbage truck as Cioccolata.   This leaves Bruno and Doppio alone together.

Only Bruno has no idea who he’s talking to, and he tells Doppio exactly where he’s going.  Whoops.

[andrearivera13-blog]

Ten Interesting Fiction Novels

1) The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother—a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang—and an influential father who runs a work camp for orphans. Superiors in the North Korean state soon recognize the boy’s loyalty and keen instincts. Considering himself “a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world,” Jun Do rises in the ranks. He becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his overlords in order to stay alive. Driven to the absolute limit of what any human being could endure, he boldly takes on the treacherous role of rival to Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save the woman he loves, Sun Moon, a legendary actress “so pure, she didn’t know what starving people looked like.” (Amazon.com)

2) When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park 

Sun-hee and her older brother, Tae-yul, live in Korea with their parents. Because Korea is under Japanese occupation, the children study Japanese and speak it at school. Their own language, their flag, the folktales Uncle tells them—even their names—are all part of the Korean culture that is now forbidden. When World War II comes to Korea, Sun-hee is surprised that the Japanese expect their Korean subjects to fight on their side. But the greatest shock of all comes when Tae-yul enlists in the Japanese army in an attempt to protect Uncle, who is suspected of aiding the Korean resistance. Sun-hee stays behind, entrusted with the life-and-death secrets of a family at war. (Amazon.com)

3) Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea by Sungju Lee, Susan Elizabeth McClelland

Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who is forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. Sungju richly re-creates his scabrous story, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his gang, his “brothers”; to be hungry and to fear arrest, imprisonment, and even execution. This riveting memoir allows young readers to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist. (Amazon.com)

4) Without You, There is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim

Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who is forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. Sungju richly re-creates his scabrous story, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his gang, his “brothers”; to be hungry and to fear arrest, imprisonment, and even execution. This riveting memoir allows young readers to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist. (Amazon.com)

5) Under the Same Sky: From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America by Joseph Kim

A searing story of starvation and survival in North Korea, followed by a dramatic escape, rescue by activists and Christian missionaries, and success in the United States thanks to newfound faith and courage Inside the hidden and mysterious world of North Korea, Joseph Kim lived a young boy’s normal life until he was five. Then disaster struck: the first wave of the Great Famine, a long, terrible ordeal that killed millions, including his father, and sent others, like his mother and only sister, on desperate escape routes into China. (Amazon.com)

6) Hello, I Love You: A Novel by Katie M. Stout 

Grace Wilde is running—from the multi-million dollar mansion her record producer father bought, the famous older brother who's topped the country music charts five years in a row, and the mother who blames her for her brother's breakdown. Grace escapes to the farthest place from home she can think of, a boarding school in Korea, hoping for a fresh start. She wants nothing to do with music, but when her roommate Sophie's twin brother Jason turns out to be the newest Korean pop music superstar, Grace is thrust back into the world of fame. She can't stand Jason, whose celebrity status is only outmatched by his oversized ego, but they form a tenuous alliance for the sake of her friendship with Sophie. As the months go by and Grace adjusts to her new life in Korea, even she can't deny the sparks flying between her and the KPOP idol. Soon, Grace realizes that her feelings for Jason threaten her promise to herself that she'll leave behind the music industry that destroyed her family. But can Grace ignore her attraction to Jason and her undeniable pull of the music she was born to write? Sweet, fun, and romantic, Katie M. Stout's Hello, I Love You explores what it means to experience first love and discover who you really are in the process. (Amazon.com)

7) The Boy Who Escaped Paradise by J. M. Lee

An astonishing story of the mysteries, truths, and deceptions that follow the odyssey of Ahn Gilmo, a young math savant, as he escapes from the most isolated country in the world and searches for the only family he has left An unidentified body is discovered in New York City, with numbers and symbols are written in blood near the corpse. Gilmo, a North Korean national who interprets the world through numbers, formulas, and mathematical theories, is arrested on the spot. Angela, a CIA operative, is assigned to gain his trust and access his unique thought-process. The enigmatic Gilmo used to have a quiet life back in Pyongyang. But when his father, a preeminent doctor is discovered to be a secret Christian, he is subsequently incarcerated along with Gilmo, in a political prison overseen by a harsh, cruel warden. There, Gilmo meets the spirited Yeong-ae, who becomes his only friend. When Yeong-ae manages to escape, Gilmo flees to track her down. He uses his peculiar gifts to navigate betrayal and the criminal underworld of east Asia—a world wholly alien to everything he's ever known. In The Boy Who Escaped Paradise, celebrated author J. M. Lee delves into a hidden world filled with vivid characters trapped by ideology, greed, and despair. Gilmo's saga forces the reader to question the line between good and evil, truth and falsehood, captivity and freedom. (Amazon.com) 

8) The Frozen Hours: A Novel of the Korean War by Jeff Shaara 

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The master of military historical fiction turns his discerning eye to the Korean War in this riveting new novel, which tells the dramatic story of the Americans and the Chinese who squared off in one of the deadliest campaigns in the annals of combat: the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as Frozen Chosin. June 1950. The North Korean army invades South Korea, intent on uniting the country under Communist rule. In response, the United States mobilizes a force to defend the overmatched South Korean troops, and together they drive the North Koreans back to their border with China. But several hundred thousand Chinese troops have entered Korea, laying massive traps for the Allies. (Amazon.com) 

9) North Korean Memoirs: The Life of an American Agent Who Defected to North Korea by Mark Treston 

Journey into the life of a renegade American who decided to defect to the most reclusive and oppressive nation in modern history: North Korea. An American idealist defects to North Korea in the 1970's only to discover the true horrors of this Stalinist state. What happens next would shock even those familiar with authoritarian regimes. The author, an American Foreign Service worker in china, meets a man by the name of "David". David entrusts the author with his diary and makes the author promise him that the diary will be shown to the world as "evidence of what North Korea is really like". Following this encounter, the author never sees David again. The author discovers that within the pages of this diary lies an incredible story of defection, survival, and an eventual escape by the man he knows only as "David". After staying up and reading the entire diary, the author is convinced that David's story must be told to the world. The diary details David's life from his fairly comfortable upbringings, through his rebellious youth, and into his extraordinary decision to defect to North Korea. At first, David enjoys an elevated status in North Korea as a "hero" and a "patriot" of the socialist cause. During two decades as an English professor at the most prestigious North Korean University, David experiences love, seduction, betrayal, and violence. (Amazon.com) 

10) My Last Empress by Da Chen

A sweeping story of passion and obsession, set against the upheavals of nineteenth-century imperial China, by the New York Times bestselling author Da ChenWhen Samuel Pickens’s great love tragically loses her life, Samuel travels the globe, Annabelle always on his mind. Eventually, he comes face-to-face with the mirror image of his obsession in the last place he would expect and must discover her secrets and decide how far he will go for a woman he loves. Da Chen immerses the reader in the world of the Chinese imperial palace, filled with ghosts and grief, where bewitching concubines, treacherous eunuchs, and fierce warlords battle for supremacy. Chen takes us deeply into an epic saga of nineteenth-century China, where one man searches for his destiny and a forbidden love. (Amazon.com)