The Hole

"A Korean take on Misery," --Time magazine, "Top 10 Thrillers to Read This Summer" "Hye-young Pyun's The Hole is a masterwork of suspense, and a profound meditation on grief, solitude, and secrecy. At once unsettling and richly moving, The Hole is vital novel, a gift from a wildly inventive writer." --Laura van den Berg, author of Find Me "Like Hitchcock or Abe, Pyun peers head on into the unnerving depths of human grief with the most methodical of eye, logically narrating our descent into such a clear, uncanny terror we hope to remind ourselves its only just a book, one wound from end to end with an exquisite magic that refuses to let go." --Blake Butler, author of 300,000,000

"While reading The Hole, you'll find yourself suddenly doubting everything. Pyun is asking us a tough and terrifying question that none can dodge: Is your life safe?" --Kyung-sook Shin, New York Times bestselling author of Please Look After Mom

"By the time Hye-young Pyun's taut psychological thriller The Hole has tightened its grip on the unsuspecting mind, it's too late to escape. The shadows lurking in the novel become manifest, and dark poetic justice reigns. . . . The Hole is an unshakable novel about the unfathomable depths of human need." --Shelf Awareness

"Winner of many of Korea's top literary prizes and accolades, Pyun proves to be an effectively chilling storyteller whose expert narrative manipulations should earn new followers." --Booklist

"An absorbing look at the struggle to find meaning in life's little passages, arguments, and disagreements."--SF Book Review

"[Be] wary; you'll be thinking and dreaming this novel long after you've put it down." --Words Without Borders July 2017 Watchlist

"A claustrophobic, riveting story calculated to get under your skin."--Korean Literature Now

"Fissures in life offer a glimpse of the truth that starts not from others but from us and that we are all oblivious to." --Maeil Business News Korea

"The Hole is rooted in character but has the suspense of a thriller. . . For readers who are unafraid of knowing that our life and our loved ones are strangers to us." --Krys Lee, World Literature Today

"Reminiscent of Stephen King's Misery, Hye-young Pyun's The Hole shows off her unique style of steadily rising terror with this dark tale of a man utterly cut off from his life." --Munhwa Ilbo (Korea)

"[A] disconcerting and often sinister story." --Korea Herald