The orphan master's son - Adam Johnson

Citizens of our beloved Democratic Republic of North Korea! Imagine the life of an orphan boy plucked from nowhere to be trained as a tunnel assassin, a kidnapper, a spy.

He has no father but the State, no sweetheart but Sun Moon, the greatest opera star who ever lived, whose face is tattooed on his chest.

Imagine he lives in our very own country, a model of exemplary Communism. A nation that is the envy of the world, especially the Americans. Where the only stories people need to hear are those blasting out of loudspeakers to the glory of our dear Leader, Kim Jong il.

Dry your eyes now, comrades! Prepare to hear the Greatest North Korean Love Story Ever Told.

THE ORPHAN MASTER'S SON is an iconoclastic work of fiction, part thriller, part coming-of-age story, part love story. Dark, playful and genre-defying, its searing depiction of one man's epic journey through the surrealist brutality of North Korea shines a fierce light on the essence of the human condition.