K-Town Confidential - Book Review

K-Town Confidential by authors Brad Chisholm and Claire Kim is a story about a young lawyer Holly Park who becomes entrenched in a high stakes murder case as the criminal defense lawyer for the accused, teenager Naomi Linser.  The authors of K-Town Confidential have spun a riveting story supported by "real life" legal realities.  Attorney Holly Park doesn’t just have to fight the court system but also do battle with her conscience and her integrity. The story takes place in Los Angles’ Koreatown, and its portrayal of K-town feels so authentic that you can almost smell the pungent odor of kimchi as you turn the pages.

Authors Brad Chisholm and Claire Kim weave multiple stories into their novel, a jealous and bitter ex-wife who wants revenge on her former spouse, a search for a missing woman, the life of the boss of K-Town,  and of course the titillating murder. For readers who want romance, you won’t be let down; Chisholm and Kim write in a budding problematic love between a pastor’s daughter turned lawyer and a powerful man, the Dumok, who lives beyond the law in K-Town.

The story traces Holly Park’s life from her first job as a twenty-six-year-old lawyer in a large prestigious law firm and then to her own struggling law practice housed in a dingy rented space on the poor side of town. At first, her cases are mundane then suddenly Park becomes involved in the “Virgin Whore” trial,  a case far more complicated and dangerous than she could ever have imagined.

Holly Park demonstrates that she is the kind of lawyer who will push the system to its limits but does so with an unerring determination to discover the truth of the case regardless of personal consequences. The characters are complex, difficult, messy and heroic. Holly Park, and her associates fervently build their case in the seedy underworld of Los Angeles K-Town. In fact, if K-Town was made into a movie, it would emanate that same vibe and cynicism that was virtually palpable in films like Taxi Driver or Chinatown. K-Town Confidential has that element that is centered around crime and featuring characters that are rendered powerless by situations that are rarely resolvable with a happy ending. The LA/K-Town setting is dark and mean and speaks to the difficult struggle of Korean immigrants assimilating to American culture.

One of the great strengths of K-Town Confidential is how easy it is to read with Chisholm and Kim painting such factual and mesmerizing picture of life in LA’s Korean enclave.   If you are a fan of crime stories and legal dramas that have a noir flavor, you won’t be disappointed with K-Town Confidential.