RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewThere are no scenes of torture, no violence and few sweeping proclamations about genocide. Izgil writes with calculated restraint. As his title suggests, the terror is in the anticipation ... This is in effect a psychological thriller, although the narrative unfolds like a classic horror movie as relative normalcy dissolves into a nightmare ... Izgil is a soft-spoken poet, not an orator or activist; that’s perhaps one reason his understated account is so effective.
Elizabeth Williamson
RaveThe Washington Post... a meticulously reported book about a decade-old tragedy that is more relevant than ever. Williamson does not dwell on the mental illness of the gunman who committed the unspeakable violence. Nor does the book tackle the weightier questions about gun policy ... Williamson’s topic is the assault on truth ... Williamson has produced heartbreaking portraits of the parents, people who suffered the greatest loss imaginable, that of a child, only to be victimized again by years of abuse ... Despite the recent courtroom victories of Sandy Hook’s parents, it is hard to read this book without being utterly terrified — in many ways, it’s the scariest I’ve ever read. The book speaks to the persistence of delusion and the elusiveness of truth. It doesn’t bode well for the future.
Yang Jisheng trans. by Stacy Mosher and Guo Jian
PositiveThe Atlantic... unsparing ... Yang still dwells very much amid the trees, but he now brings vividness and immediacy to an account that concurs with the prevailing Western view of the forest ... Yang, who retired from Xinhua in 2001, didn’t obtain as much archival material for this book, but he benefited from the recent work of other undaunted chroniclers, whom he credits for many chilling new details about how the violence in Beijing spread to the countryside.
Krys Lee
PositiveThe GuardianLee knows North Korea and gets almost [everything] right, down to exacting details ... Lee has worked with North Korean refugees and she knows intimately their terror when trying to survive in a world where it is impossible to distinguish between friend and foe; where betrayal is a fact of life and people manipulate each other with currencies of sex and religion.
