Slicky Boys

This is an excellent sequel and follow-up to Jade Lady Burning, Mr. Limon's first novel, and I was thrilled to get to ride again with two of my favorite rogues, military investigators George Sueno and Ernie Bascom. I love these two characters and I love Mr. Limon's novels! This sequel has even more action than the original and is a fun and exciting romp through the seedy world that springs up around military bases in Asia, indeed military bases since time immemorial everywhere. Having been stationed in Asia in the Eighties myself as a Naval officer and having spent time in Korea, I can attest to the absolute and amazing authenticity of Mr. Limon's writing. I am in awe of how well he has captured and portrayed that unique world with it's complicated bubble economy of vice, innocence, predation, humor, money, face, need and desire. In this outing our protagonists Ernie and George are set up by a prostitute and the result is a murdered British soldier; Ernie and George have to work with the local Black Marketeers, the Slicky Boys, to unravel the crime. For those of you who have served overseas, grab this book immediately, for you will absolutely love it. It lovingly and accurately paints with words a world that most us would have terrible trouble untangling, let alone articulating, in our own minds. For those of you who haven't been able to serve or travel overseas, this is an excellent book with, without a doubt, the best depictation of the Korean/American military economy ever written. It's simply an amazing portait and haunting in it's evocative power. Yet it's also a lot of fun, a little more light-hearted than Limon's other novels, and I would unreservedly recommend it to anyone. But please remember the book deals with an extremely foreign culture and our culture's attempt to interact successfully with it; there is as much Korean social mores and value here as American. This is deliberate, and is meant to broaden horizons and appreciation of an extremely complex setting. I still find it mind-boggling that this author seems to have been so completely overlooked. I also, despite not often speaking about other's reviews, wonder why the publishing world's reviews are so tepid. I have had problems with the reviews from Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal; they do not do this writer justice and I am puzzled by this. The books are exceedingly well-crafted, the characters finely detailed, believable, and convincingly human, the atmosphere and setting as expertly drawn as any writer has accomplished. To put my concerns in context, I have read thousands of books and thousands of reviews, and I have never often though, "wow, that review is off the mark!" I can't help but think that perhaps the subject matter is offensive to some and that colors their perception of Mr. Limon's accomplishments as a writer. The book does cover the military, the personal excesses found within any military organization, prostitution, black marketeers and many other polit

In 1975, U.S. Army criminal investigation division agents Corporal George Sueno and Sergeant Ernie Bascom enjoy their duty assignment in Seoul, South Korean as they officially can make the rounds of the bars and whore joints catering to the Yanks. While doing their usual tour, a hooker Eun-hi informs "Geogie" that a virtuous woman wants to talk with him; if interested he is to go to the Kayagum Teahouse. Ernie persuades George to see what the woman wants. Miss Ku pays the duo to deliver a note to British soldier Cecil Whitcomb. Not long afterward, they learn that someone murdered Cecil at the rendezvous point provided in the note they personally hand carried to him. Miffed for being played the suckers, East LA George and Detroit Ernie bully their way into the investigation because they have a score to settle. They quickly realize they need special local help, but not from the MPs or the Korean police. Instead they make contact with the underworld mob chief The Herbalist So head of the SLICKY BOYS. Working in tandem they begin to find more than they expected as an American military deserter apparently is killing anyone who interferes with his lucrative selling of military secrets to the Communist North. This is an exhilarating Cold War military crime thriller that grips readers from the moment the dynamic twosome meet Eun-hi and see some easy money. The story line never lets up as the embarrassed George and humiliated Ernie make it their business to avenge the affront of being used. They make the tale as they provide readers with a fabulous joy ride through the underbelly of 1970s Seoul, catering to the young Americans. Harriet Klausner

This story truly took me by surprise. Most novels on Korea by Americans portray Koreans as cardboard characters with little insight into their lives. Slicky Boys breaks new ground on novels set in Korea. Limon obviously was a keen observer of the language, culture, and the tensions between the US Military and the host nation, cira 1974-1979, during his tours as a CID agent. He particularly excels at poking good natured fun at the Eighth Army's 40 year obsession with catching petty blackmarketers, which continues to this day. Slicky Boys is not only a joy to read, it also serves as a social history of a byegone era in Korean-American relations.

Having spent 4 tours in Korea, including one during the exact time Slicky Boys is to have occurred, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although he portrays CID agents in a much kinder light than I seem to remember them, the characters and the English-Korean interaction are extremely accurate. Can't wait for the next one. I felt like I was "back home".

Interesting characters. New geographical setting. Interesting plot. I couldn't put it down.