Post Cold War Political Thriller Features Korea

The year was 1993. The Cold War had recently ground to a halt, and international relations were in a state of flux. Burke Hill, the disgraced former FBI agent who redeemed himself  in Beware the Jabberwock, had become director of clandestine activities for a global public relations firm headquartered in Washington that was actually a CIA spinoff. About the time a devastating explosion in Pyongyang's Presidential Palace killed the North Korean dictator and his heir apparent, Burke gets a tip about a highly secret plot for South Korea to develop nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, in Seoul, an independent-minded homicide detective suspects civilian leaders who espouse closer relations with the U.S. are being systematically eliminated. He is consistently thwarted by the prosecutor who handles his cases.

The Poksu Conspiracy cover features the Great South Gate in downtown Seoul, South Korea's National Treasure No. 1. Beneath it are the hangul characters for poksu, which means "vengeance." Later in the story, it involves two Chinese characters for "pok"and "su,"but you'll have to read the book to learn about that.

The Prologue introduces a third character who is central to the plot but remains in the background through most of the story. Born in 1919 a few months after the March First Movement's abortive effort to achieve Korean independence from Japan, he grows up with a burning desire to wreak vengeance on the Japanese for the execution of the father he never knew. When Burke Hill and Capt. Yun Yu-sop of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Bureau finally get together, they discover they are after the same man, whose current identity is unknown.

Although The Poksu Conspiracy is called a political thriller, it could be identified as part spy story, part Korean police procedural. It runs a little over 154,000 words and has a sizable cast of  characters. Since many of them have strange-sounding Oriental names, I will include a Who's Who in the front of the book to help readers keep up with, what else, who is whom in the story.

Poksu will be available as an ebook for the Kindle by the end of October. I need some advance reviews, so if anyone would like to do a review Amazon, I can send you  a PDF of the book. Just email me here.

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Lost in Translation

By Mark W. Danielson

(To the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies . . .)

Come and listen to a story ‘bout a man named Jed. A tired airline pilot who had nothing in his head. Then one day he went looking for some food, ended up with a bus driver who was in a foul mood.

Well out came a bus, so he climbed right on. But the five o’clock bus, had yet to come along. Ended up with a tour, of the Narita airport. Thankfully he remembered, to bring his passport.

The guard waves them on, and they pull in Terminal One. Once a few get off, then the bus is on the run. Terminal Two is next, so we stop, the rest get out. All I can do is wait, would do no good to pout.

The driver checks his mirror, and sees I’m still riding his bus. He casts an angry look, and he makes a little fuss. I say “No Get Off”, so he’s leaving me alone. He’s probably thinking, that this Yankee Dog is stoned.

After fifteen minutes, we’re finally under way. My co-pilot probably figures, that I just don’t want to play. We were supposed to meet at five, to ride the Downtown bus. Who knew I’d get on, the 4:50 Airport bus?

Not me. That’s for sure . . . Next time I’ll know the airport bus leaves late.

So, the bus swings by, Terminal One once more. No one to pick up, so my driver pedals the floor. Terminal Two produces, the very same result. I can hardly wait, to hear my co-pilot’s insult.

We arrive at the hotel, just in time to wave good bye. To the 5:40 Narita bus, that is now passing us by. The next downtown bus isn’t until 6:10, damn! I’m really hungry now, better take off like a ram.

So I head into town, on the route I’ve done before. Trekking through rice fields on roads, before it starts to pour. The sun has now set, it gets dark before too long. But my pace is fast, so I’m nearly into town.

I arrive in Narita minutes, before the next hotel bus leaves. Too much time to kill, after the McDonalds I have to eat. So I wait for the bus, and who should come along? Thankfully not my co-pilot, but someone I’d like to gong.

We get on the bus, and finally make it back. Only wasted four hours for my simple Big Mac. So the next time I’m there, I’ll check the time for sure. Buses may leave late, so confusion can be near.

Never trust a driver who will not give you a clue, but the bottom line is, it’s always up to you. Just so you know, this isn’t really about Jed. Just a tired airline pilot who had nothing in his head.

Fun times, international travel. Jet lag. Language problems. Y’all fly safe now, ya here?

(If you'd like to read more about some of my international travels, check out the travel section on my web page @ markwdanielson.com)

24/7

By Mark W. Danielson

It’s hard to believe, but at least two generations have no idea what a rotary phone is. It was a simple communicating device. Just ten digits on a round dial. Stick your finger into the numbered slot, spin it until it stopped, and it dialed as it unwound. The 1946 Bell Telephone ad pictured above reads, “Some day, Bell Laboratories will make it possible for you to dial across the United States as simply and promptly as you dial a neighbor now.” Imagine that. But as late as 1971, I shared a phone line in Greeley, Colorado. They called it a “party line”, though I never heard one when I picked up the line. If a neighbor was talking on the line, I hung up and waited until they were finished. If something was pressing, I could ask that they end their call so I could use the phone, but nothing short of an emergency was so important it couldn’t wait.

But technology changed everything in just a few decades. Music went from LP albums to 8-Track players to Cassette players to CDs to iPods and iPads that sync with our car’s radio. Telephones went from hardwire pulse-dial to digital-dial to portable phones to pagers to car phones to cell phones to smart phones that let you talk while surfing the Internet. Will this rush in technology ever end? With ongoing research on digital information implants and pilotless aircraft, it’s quite possible there is a Terminator in our future.

Technology has also changed how we obtain news. For centuries, newspapers were the sole source of information. Back then, newspaper accounts were highly respected because they were heavily scrutinized by editors who demanded accuracy. Once news became instantaneous with the Internet and 24/7 news channels, quality reporting diminished. Newscasters soon found that retractions were easier than accurate reporting. Blame it on their producers who are so eager to find the next greatest story, ongoing stories such as the Gulf oil spill recovery, Japan’s March 11, 2011, nuclear power plant disaster, or the recent weather related destruction in the Southern United States are soon forgotten.

While on-line banking and e-trading revolutionized the speed of commerce, our electronic leashes now hold us captive. Like Pavlov’s dog, we salivate whenever the phone rings, and regardless of who is currently on the line, we ask that person to pause while we take the next call or answer a text. Somewhere along the line, we surrendered our freedom to employers who expect instant responses. Sadly, the tools intended to simplify our lives complicated them.

Authors are among the fortunate few who can use technology to create worlds without it. In the fictional world, no one rushes to answer phones or risks colliding with other cars while texting or talking on the phone. If someone is talking on the line, our characters on the other end will hear a busy signal. There is no option to press 1 for English or to leave a message. Yet in the real world, these authors can use instant information sources such as the Internet and satellite imagery to create accurate stories and scenes. Some authors like Michael Crichton and Dean Koontz illustrated life with and without technology in their respective novels, Timeline and Lightning. Both books became instant successes.

We can’t stop technology, but we can choose how we use it in our daily lives. At the same time, authors can choose how their characters will use this technology to their advantage. If you are writing a period novel, it is essential that you keep the technology period-correct. For example, a character in the 1980s wouldn’t know what a laptop or cell phone is. To them, Gateway is an entry point, and Dell is a valley. In the 80’s, phone booths had rotary-dial phones, and Collect Calls were an accepted form of communicating. Perhaps it’s time we re-wind the clocks and slowed our pace. At the rate we’re going, technology may be the death of us all.

Japanese Manners

By Mark W. Danielson


Manners seem to be a thing of the past. It would appear that the crazier our world gets, the less we “mind our manners.” Thankfully, there is a place where politeness is still emphasized, and that’s in the Land of the Rising Sun. Yes, Japan has been passing on its good manners from generation to generation, and while a few bad apples may slip through the cracks, as a whole, you won’t find a more courteous group of people.

Everything about the Japanese is tidy and polite. Their taxi drivers, who polish their cars when they’re not in service, dress in suits, wear white gloves, place white protectors on their seats, greet you, and politely deliver you to your hotel. Your hotel staff politely greets you in colorful, polite uniforms, provide a polite check-in, and en route to your room, frequently receive a polite greeting from one of the housekeeping staff. When entering a Japanese restaurant, you are treated as a guest by a polite waiter who serves you your polite meal. School kids dressed in nicely pressed uniforms smile and carry on polite conversations as they walk the streets. Police officers politely wave at traffic to ensure order. Traffic blends without blaring horns because their drivers are polite. In fact, they are so polite, they stop for pedestrians. Even Japan’s rice fields create a sense of order. So while other countries may also be polite, Japan sets the bar when it comes to manners.

Why is that? Because in this island country, nearly every resident is Japanese, and it’s much easier to be polite when you don’t have contrasting cultures and ethnic groups. But Japan’s politeness also stems from their national pride, and while they got a bit carried away with it sixty seven years ago, they managed to rebuild their country, turning it into a global economic power, and still dominate the world with new inventions. That’s the kind of national pride I’m referring to. Needless to say, Japan has come a long way since exporting cheap plastic products.

My point is that we can all learn something from the Japanese. We can take ourselves a little less seriously. We can replace the garbage our television stations are broadcasting with silly Japanese-style game shows where laughing at ourselves is entertaining. We can be grateful for what we have rather than always expecting more. We can give more love to our family and friends. And finally, we can smile and laugh a lot more. After all, smiles are acceptably contagious.