VOL.77/2024.12

#Mystery Thriller Crime

KPIPA introduces K-Books for global publishing markets through K-Book Platform

2021.04.05

 

The Ice Forest

1. Publication Details

Title | The Ice Forest
Author | Ha Ji-eun 
Publisher | Goldenbough
Publication Date | 2020-03-20
ISBN | 9791158886356
No. of pages | 556
Dimensions | 128* 188

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Nam Michelle; Kim Dajeong 
Email | michellenam@minumsa.com; dajeong@minumsa.com
Phone | +82-70-4261-9547

 

3. Book Intro

"I knew by intuition.
This person, this person's music will be forever."
A masterpiece that has returned, the complete edition of 『The Ice Forest』

A masterpiece of fantasy novels that grabs readers with fluent sentences and a fascinating atmosphere. It is a monumental piece written by the author Ha Ji-eun. “The Ice Forest”, a mysterious fantasy based on classical music which is a rare writing subject in Korea is Ha Ji-eun's debut novel as an author. She, who has numerous fans for her beautiful writing style, is the lead of the second generation of fantasy literature, succeeded after 『Dragon Raja』 by Lee Young-do and Children of Runes” by Jeon Min-hee. The book has been out of print for a long time, and there have been constant inquiries from readers who wished the book to be reprinted. The book received constant attention from the readers, the used books were even traded 4 to 5 times the list price. The book's audiobook was made as a drama CD with professional voice actors participating in it. The book will be made as a webtoon (webanimation). The “The Ice Forest” audio drama, produced in high quality has been loved by many people. However it could not be purchased for a certain period as the book was out of print. Fans who have been trying to get an audiobook, by purchasing it second-hand are now spreading the delightful news that the audio CD will be opened to the public. It has also ranked the top notch in the Naver Best Audioclip Award as soon as the audiobook was released.

Ethan, city of music with a mysterious legend surrounding the ice forest.
Two musical prodigies who both have a strong desire for art, and a story of murder!

In the city where everyone loves music, violinist Anatoze Bayel, holds the title of the greatest Maestro three times in a row. Goyo de Morpe is a pianist who strives to be Bayel's one and only sincere audience. One day, a story of a terrible murder in the Ice Forest is heard to those who had both the desire and obsession towards music crossed in themselves. There was always Anatoze Bayel at the beginning and the end of this unprecedented murder, that happened in peaceful Ethan…. Ha Ji-eun, the author's esthetic stroke will unfold a spectacular world of melody for you!

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=3812

 

 

SWEET HOME

1. Publication Details

Title | SWEET HOME
Author | Kim Carnby
Publisher | Wisdomhouse Mediagroup Inc.
Publication Date | 2020-02-28
ISBN | 9791190630269
No. of pages | 1864
Dimensions | 148 * 210

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | NAVER WEBTOON Ltd.
Email | dl_webtoonpub@webtoonscorp.com
Phone | +82-31-784-1193

 

3. Book Intro

Sweet Home tells a story about a fierce struggle between survivors in an enclosed space and bizarre monsters that have changed to reflect their inner desires. Cha Hyeon-su, a reclusive loner who plans to commit suicide, is suddenly faced with a situation in which humans turn into monsters. The eerie monsters, slave to their simple cravings, attack Hyeon-su. His life is saved, however, thanks to the help of survivors from the apartment complex Green Home. Will Hyeon-su and the others from Green Home be able to survive the monsters?

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=4855

 

 

The Abandoned

1. Publication Details

Title | The Abandoned
Author | Pyeon Ji-ahn
Publisher | GOZKNOCK ENT
Publication Date | 2021-02-17
ISBN | 9791163161462
No. of pages | 420
Dimensions | 145 * 210

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Rita Bae
Email | gozknockent@naver.com
Phone | +82-6269-8166

 

3. Book Intro

Please be my guardian for 2.8 million won a month
Yeogyeong, who is released on parole, is offered the role of a substitute mother and guardian by an impertinent nine-year-old Hae-na who is suffering from juvenile diabetes. She does not understand why but Hae-na must leave South Korea before winter is over. Although they develop a warm rapport, they do not probe into each other’s life but carry out each other’s role faithfully.
Repeated ten-minute silent harassing phone calls and death of the mother
Yeo-gyeong keeps getting calls from a person with a blocked caller ID and who remains silent for ten minutes then hangs up. Then one day, she gets a message that has to do with her mother’s death. She probes into the identity of the anonymous caller and finds out she and Hae-na are linked somehow. What could be the connection between nine-year-old Hae-na who address her as mom, auntie, and elder sister and Yeo-gyeong’s mother who abandoned her and was discovered dead from drug addiction nine years later in a luxury hotel?
Desire turns him from a guardian to surveillant
Meanwhile, Chang-su, the probation officer, finds out about Yu-gyeong’s job as a substitute mother for Hae-na and while keeping an eye on both of them, he finds out Haena lives alone in a big mansion in the outskirts of Seoul and that there is a big bag filled with cash inside the house.
Severely strapped for money, Chang-su hesitates at first but decides to visit the house where Hae-na lives alone.
The child does not want to belong to anyone so she will not be deserted
The infant Hae-na was delivered to the orphanage alongside take-out Chinese food. She underwent the terrible experience of being abandoned by her adoptive parents twice. And the third time, her happiness lasted only briefly when her parents departed from her despite her frantic struggle to win their love. Desperate not to be deserted, Hae-na conceals the deaths of her adoptive parents, and a secret hidden away in the mansion but the spring is already about to come. Aided by Yeo-gyeong, Hae-na wants to leave South Korea as soon as possible….

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=4932

 

 

The Man I Killed Returned

1. Publication Details

Title | The Man I Killed Returned
Author | Hwang Seyoun
Publisher | KYOBO BOOK Centre
Publication Date | 2019-07-25
ISBN | 9791159099694
No. of pages | 384
Dimensions | 145 * 210

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Kim Heayoung
Email | cenote@kyobobook.co.kr
Phone | +82-2-3156-3824

 

3. Book Intro

This book was, for the first time in history, unanimously selected by the judges at the 2018 Kyobo Book Center Story Competition to win the grand prize. Based on both its popularity and quality, this book’s copyright was sold for a film even prior to its publication, and it was also named in a recommendation list by the Korea Mystery Writers’ Association immediately after its release. As such, this book is expected to satisfy readers who have waited for genre fiction in the Korean style.

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=4186

 

 

Burning Heart

1. Publication Details

Title | Burning Heart
Author | Lee Duon
Publisher | EunHaeng NaMu Publishing Co., Ltd.
Publication Date | 2020-07-02
ISBN | 9791190492836
No. of pages | 420
Dimensions | 140 * 210

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Kim Seohae
Email | seohaekim@ehbook.co.kr
Phone | +82-2-6487-3055

 

3. Book Intro

The town located at the intersection of route 2 and 17 is a small rural one next to a dry and dusty plain, and it used to serve as a rest stop for truck or trailer drivers. However with the new highway, drivers no longer feel the need to stop there and the town loses their main source of income. People try hard to bring in infrastructure to make money and even try to sell their dry plains and sunset as a tourism item but fail.
Then all of a sudden things take a turn. Six murdered bodies are discovered in the dry plains. Victims are all young people from the town who were thought to have left for a new life in the city. It is revealed that they have been burned and buried in the vast plain. The case is labeled a serial murder and countless people come visit the town as it slowly rises to fame in the media. Investigations continue but the murderer is far from being caught. Soon enough, a film about the killer is made and a film set gets constructed in the town. The number of outsiders going in and out let the townspeople realize that serial murders make for good money. When the film becomes a box office hit, more people come to visit the town. The annual town festival is transformed into a psychotic affair where details of murders are put on display.
But now, the number of tourists are down. An old murder case is not much of a money maker any more. With the murderer still at large, the tourism still goes on but is expected to fade away soon. The people of the town decide to redesign the festival after this year, when all of a sudden a new murder case springs up for the first time in 9 years. Thanks to the killing, the festival comes to life again and tourists are brought back into town. There is an odd welcoming mood to this kind of change. Benna, a witness to one of the murders 9 years ago but was later dismissed as crazy. But when she happens to hear the dying message of her good friend Nazo, who has become a murder victim, she decides she will catch the murderer no matter what….

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=4300

 

 

The Purloined Book

1. Publication Details

Title | The Purloined Book
Author | You Sundong
Publisher | Book in Hand Publishing Company
Publication Date | 2018-01-21
ISBN | 9791186572238
No. of pages | 328
Dimensions | 142 * 196

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Park Kwangun
Email | bookinhand@hanmail.net
Phone | +82-2-325-2375

 

3. Book Intro

This book was chosen as the winner at the 3rd Korea Story Competition.
It is the original novel of The Purloined Book, which received favorable reviews as a play and webtoon.
Screenwriter Suh Dongyoon was once successful, with every one of his works becoming a hit, and was busy saying no to new projects. He has now become an insignificant writer and is in a slump. A scenario that he wrote together with his disciples, Jiyang and Yeongrak, is rejected by a production company. Suh also loses his college scenario instructor job, which was his main job, to a colleague screenwriter, taking away any sense of leisure he had in life. This is when he reads a scenario by Kim Yeongheo, who was his disciple, and is considerably shocked. Suh Dongyoon feels a sense of defeat and jealousy towards Kim Yeongheo's talent, and tries to persuade Kim to join his team of writers. Kim Yeongheo refuses. Kim Yeongheo is found dead the next morning and Suh Dongyoon, who was the prime suspect, clears himself of suspicion. Afterwards, Suh Dongyoon meets Kim Yeongheo's wife, Jang Boyoon, and finds himself wanting to be with her, in addition to the sense of jealousy towards Kim Yeongheo's talent. He tries to steal Kim's works and take away Kim's wife. He then tries to steal Kim Yeongheo's entire life….
The Purloined Book is the first novel by director You Sundong, who is a feature-length film director, drama director, and scenario writer. This book won an award at the Korea Story Competition hosted by the Korea Creative Content Agency, and was made into a play and webtoon of the same name. The play premiered in 2014 and received favorable reviews from many from the audience. It is put on every year and has established itself as the nation's leading thriller play. The Purloined Book, which is being published as a novel, has added aspects that were not included in the play and webtoon, and is presented to readers as the original novel.

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=4626

 

 

Goo-dal

1. Publication Details

Title | Goo-dal
Author | Choi younghee
Publisher | Munhakdongne Publishing Group
Publication Date | 2017-09-18
ISBN |  9788954647144
No. of pages | 264
Dimensions | 140 * 205

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Lee Bokhee
Email | bokeelee@munhak.com
Phone | +82-2-3144-3237

 

3. Book Intro

I will hear you, I will save you.
In the map of sounds of this alley without an access road.

It is the new YA novel of the author Choi Yeonghee, who has continued her creative activities crossing the borders between novels and the short stories, reality and fantasy, and stories for children and YA books ever since her debut in 2013. An enigmatic event approaches in front of the children who appease their anxiety hearing each other’s sounds on the slope blocked by the sign ‘No Access Road’ and are growing as they endure their share of time. MS Mystery Association, the experiment on a human body, the intravenous drip, virus, intruder, and parasite. The well-constructed sentences of Choi give depth to the characters that are alive as if they are breathing right in front of you and the space inside of which they are living, leading the readers to what the event is really about.

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=351

 

 

Relentless Vengeance

1. Publication Details

Title | Relentless Vengeance
Author | Kang Taejin
Publisher | YOUNG COM Co.,Ltd
Publication Date | 2020-11-26
ISBN | 9791190153553
No. of pages | 304
Dimensions | 145 * 200

 

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Kang Taejin
Email | toon@iyoungcom.com
Phone | +82-2-6741-1756

 

3. Book Intro

Maeng Do-hun, who loses everything following a failed business and real estate fraud, earns a meager income working part-time job at a convenience store. One day, he is informed of his grandmother's deteriorating dementia and returns to his hometown. After placing her in a nursing home, Maeng discovers a mysterious underground room at her house. There, he finds the body of his father, who suddenly went missing 30 years ago.

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=4837

 

 

How Similar

1. Publication Details

Title | How Similar
Author | Kim Boyeong
Publisher | arzak
Publication Date | 2020-10-31
ISBN | 9791165508845
No. of pages | 137 * 197

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Choi Jaechun
Email | decomma@gmail.com
Phone | +82-2-324-3945

 

3. Book Intro

“The goddess of novellas, who visited Earth to praise the universe.”

This is a collection of short stories and novellas written by Kim Boyeong, Korea's leading sci-fi writer, and the first to be published by Harper Collins, the largest publisher in the US. This is her first book in 10 years, since the release of An Evolutionary Myth! It is a collection of ten exquisite novellas and short stories, written by an unprolific writer over the past ten years. It includes How Similar, the winner in the novella/short story category of Korea's 5th SF Awards; and The Fastest Person on Earth, which won an award at the Korea's 2nd SF Awards! For those who have read many of her short-story collections, this may not seem new. But to readers who primarily go to bookstores to find books, this collection presents some of stories that are difficult to find, such as Mom with a Superpower; The Lady with a Red Bandana; When Nian Comes; Walk, Stand, Return; and The Same Weight. More importantly, the collection neatly brings together many precious short stories that have hitherto been scattered in many different places.

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=4939

 

 

The Day of Kidnapping

1. Publication Details

Title | The Day of Kidnapping
Author | Jeong Haeyeon
Publisher | Sigongsa Co., Ltd.
Publication Date | 2019-07-17
ISBN | 9788952736253
No. of pages | 420
Dimensions | 130 * 203

 

2. Copyright Contact

Name | Hyae-myung Lee
Email | hml@sigongsa.com
Phone | +82-2-2046-2854

 

3. Book Intro

“Let me introduce my kidnapper”
Myeongjun decides to kidnap someone in order to make money for his daughter’s surgery, but in the ensuing action causes a car acciden by mistake. His car knocks down a girl named Rohee, who was in fact his target of abduction. Rohee loses her memory as a result of the car accident, and believing Myeongjun is her father, keeps him on the trot. Impatient to return Rohee to her real family, Myeongjun rings up her parents, but they don’t pick up the phone. As a last resort, he goes to spy on Rohee’s house, and what should he see but the dead bodies of her parents being carried out of the house before his very eyes! To make matters worse, despite her memory loss, Rohee’s genius brain remains unscathed, and so she starts to suspect Myeongjun’s clumsy lies.
A delightful everyday mystery from Jeong Haeyeon, who is fast becoming a major thriller writer in Korea.
With five full-length thriller novels under her belt, Jeong Haeyeon has mostly depicted the inner malice and appalling duplicity of humanity. This is yet another masterpiece from the highly talented writer, which deals with the subject matter of abduction but retains humor from start to finish. The unlikely chemistry between the clumsy yet humane thirty-something Myeongjun and the teenage genius Rohee gives rise to many laughs. Yet at the same time, the novel never loses its identity as a thriller. As Detective Sang-yoon gets to the bottom of the case step by step, we become overcome with the chilling fear of human malice. Then there is the pleasure of an unexpected twist. When the truth is exposed in full, it becomes clear how the selfish human desire to get ahead can have terrible consequences.
At first, the relationship between Myeongjun and Rohee seems to be clearly defined as that between perpetrator and victim or adult and child. However, while Myeongjun is simple-minded and clumsy, Rohee is intelligent and quick-witted, and so the situation is soon reversed. Their relationship takes another turn when they pretend to be father and daughter. Rohee, who is not used to calling anyone Dad, finds it difficult to ignore Myeongjun’s blind affection for his daughter. The author satirizes Korean society, where many parents treat their kids as their possessions, and questions the real value of family through the uncanny bond between Myeongjun the kidnapper and Rohee the victim.

* https://k-book.or.kr/user/books/books_view?idx=2625

 

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