The “Dear Leader’s” death has made North Korea more interesting than ever, and literature is no exception. One of the books on my nightstand that I can’t wait to read is the well-reviewed novel The Orphan-Master’s Son by Adam Johnson. All the same I can’t imagine that it can possibly be as good as the mysteries of James Church (pseudonym), a former U.S. intelligence officer with decades of experience on the Korean peninsula. Church’s novels, also set in North Korea, are tense and gripping in the style of John Le Carré. His most recent (fourth) book, The Man with the Baltic Stare, follows unforgettable main character Inspector O through the byzantine world of politics in Pyongyang—and explores North Korea’s delicate relationships with South Korea and China.