The Good Son

A Novel

By: You-Jeong Jeong

Narrated by: Johnathan McClain, Elizabeth Liang

“Ingeniously twisted.”—Entertainment Weekly, “Must List”

“Will leave even the most seasoned crime fiction readers guessing.”—CrimeReads

"[Jeong] maintains suspense about her inhuman-seeming protagonist's fate until the bitter end.”—The Wall Street Journal

Finalist for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’s “Summer Reads” Book Club

The Talented Mr. Ripley meets The Bad Seed in this breathless, chilling psychological thriller by the #1 bestselling novelist known as “Korea's Stephen King”

Who can you trust if you can't trust yourself?

Early one morning, twenty-six-year-old Yu-jin wakes up to a strange metallic smell, and a phone call from his brother asking if everything's all right at home–he missed a call from their mother in the middle of the night. Yu-jin soon discovers her murdered body, lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs of their stylish Seoul duplex. He can't remember much about the night before; having suffered from seizures for most of his life, Yu-jin often has trouble with his memory. All he has is a faint impression of his mother calling his name. But was she calling for help? Or begging for her life?

Thus begins Yu-jin's frantic three-day search to uncover what happened that night, and to finally learn the truth about himself and his family. A shocking and addictive psychological thriller, The Good Son explores the mysteries of mind and memory, and the twisted relationship between a mother and son, with incredible urgency.

Named a Must-Read Book of the Summer by Elle, Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, Bustle, CrimeReads, Lit Hub, The Millions, Electric Literature, and Brit + Co

©2018 You-Jeong Jeong (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“At long last, South Korea’s preeminent author of psychological thrillers has arrived Stateside. The Good Son . . . [is] a perfect introduction: an ingeniously twisted mother-son saga that keeps your heart pumping—and then breaks it.”—Entertainment Weekly

“A chilling portrait of a psychopath, and a beautifully evocative tale of wealth and isolation in modern South Korean life. You-Jeong Jeong has been called the Stephen King of South Korea, although I’d prefer to compare her to Lionel Shriver, Dorothy B. Hughes, or Patricia Highsmith.”—Molly Odintz, Lit Hub

“Absorbing . . . An unlikely thriller that we continue to read—thanks to Ms. Jeong's controlled prose...with a sickened sort of fascination. It's a testament to the author's skill and seriousness of purpose that she maintains suspense about her inhuman-seeming protagonist's fate until the bitter end.”—The Wall Street Journal

Performance perfection

Absolutely phenomenal story. Full of twists with information and background tantalizingly withheld. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect accompaniment to the novel than the haunting performance given by McClain. Fantastic.

Best Performance hands down!

I loved this psychological joy ride! It took me deep into the thoughts of a serial killer. The performance from Johnathan McClain took me even deeper. His sarcastic tones and sudden bursts made the killer come alive for me. Made him much more real and sinister. I hated hitting pause on this book. Two morbid thumbs up!

Such a good story.

This book really took me on a journey. It was written as if it was meant to be a movie and I really enjoyed that. It was, also, interesting to see inside the mind of the narrator as he has such a particular personality. Not much more I can say about that without giving too much away. Really well done. The ending did give me mixed emotions though. It ended so bad that it left me torn.

Good story

This was a good “read.” I like how the story unfolded and ended. Solid 4 stars.

Wow.

Incredibly well crafted and engaging. A fascinating character study that will keep me thinking for days.

Had me totally fooled

After listening to about 30 I was ready to give up as it hadn’t captured my attention. But then it did and I was riveted. The reader seemed to become the voice of evil. Nice job. I found him and the story truly disturbing.

One of the best books I have ever read.

Keeps you enthralled. You don’t know whether to hate or love the main character. Beautifully narrated.

What a Surprise

You-Jeong Jeong better be writing another book! I never knew what was happening. Nothing is as it seems. Set in China really puts the reader off level. It was certainly worth my time and money. I rarely leave the TV off to listen to a book. So good!

Psychological dark thriller

I enjoyed this read. Excellent writing. Good narration. Thought I had it figured out but I didn’t….

Suspenseful

This story kept my attention, however the story kept taking detours that created anxiousness on my part.