For those who are unable to travel the world, there is no better substitute than escaping into a good book. Stories set in exotic, foreign locations have the ability to transport readers to unfamiliar places and quickly make them feel right at home.

Those seeking to know what is was like to be in Korea during the Nixon era need look no further than the Sueno and Bascom mysteries by Martin Limón. His latest effort, THE IRON SICKLE, is the ninth installment of the series. Each of these novels reflects the experience Limón himself had during 20 years of military service that included 10 years on duty in Korea.

"THE IRON SICKLE is a solid novel written by an author who is clearly comfortable with the source material. Readers will feel as if they are right there alongside Sueño and Bascom exploring the foreign Korean landscape."

THE IRON SICKLE is a brutal and challenging novel that opens with the apparently senseless murder of a U.S. Army Claims Officer stationed in Korea. The killer was allegedly a Korean citizen, and the murder weapon was a large iron sickle. As both the local and military police squads jump into action, the first question is why this murder occurred. Secondly, how did the killer get through a highly militarized and supposedly secure area to commit the crime?

CID agents George Sueño and Ernie Bascom are put on the case. They quickly learn that following standard procedure will not get them anywhere with this investigation. To be successful, they must go off the grid and pursue their own leads. What is most frustrating when reading this book is seeing the resistance and roadblocks Sueño and Bascom meet at every turn of their investigation.

The Republic of Korea at this time was a police state. As a result, the Korean National Police (KNP) were able to do whatever they wanted to do and were not terribly forthcoming to outsiders. More importantly, the murder of a U.S. citizen and serviceman by a Korean national could threaten the relationship between these two countries if not handled diplomatically.

Sueño and Bascom continue to traverse the Korean backstreets and countryside, and uncover several leads that take them nowhere until they find out about the existence of a secret file. It turns out this file could implicate their own 8th Army in suppressing claims made by Koreans against them and never acting on any of them. A picture starts to appear that shows why the man with the iron sickle may have been motivated to do what he did. When a few more murders happen, it becomes apparent that the killer is more than making a point and is seeking revenge for a serious past injustice. Can Sueño and Bascom uncover that injustice without getting themselves court-martialed if it means preventing more deaths?

THE IRON SICKLE is a solid novel written by an author who is clearly comfortable with the source material. Readers will feel as if they are right there alongside Sueño and Bascom exploring the foreign Korean landscape. I can't think of two better tour guides for this assignment.