By Vick Mickunas

The Inspector O series of novels by James Church are as mysterious as the man who writes them. These books straddle that murky parallel between crime fiction and espionage novels. His latest, “The Gentleman from Japan,” submerges readers in intrigues that are almost indecipherable in their opaqueness.

“James Church” is the pen name and pseudonym for a long-time intelligence officer who has spent many years operating in the vicinity of North Korea. Inspector O, his fictional sleuth, is a retired North Korean police inspector. In this sixth book in the series, Inspector O is living quietly with his nephew in a city in China along the border with North Korea.

O’s nephew, Major Bing, occupies a post with the Chinese Ministry of State Security. Bing is the son of O’s brother, who made an appearance in the first novel. O didn’t get along too well with his late brother, a man who had seemed slavishly loyal to the North Korean regime. Read more

Source: Springfield News-Sun