Review: Nightmare Range by Martin Limón

A Mysterious Review of Nightmare Range by Martin Limón. A George Sueño and Ernie Bascom Short Story Collection.

Review summary: Each of the 18 short stories in this volume is centered on a mystery to be solved, all involving one or more service personnel stationed along the DMZ in Korea in the mid-1970s. Highly recommended for fans of the series, this collection also provides new readers a comprehensive introduction to these uniquely drawn characters. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Nightmare Range
Martin Limón
A George Sueño and Ernie Bascom Short Story Collection
Soho Crime (September 2013)

Publisher synopsis: Twenty years ago, Martin Limón published his first mystery story featuring Sergeant George Sueño, a young Mexican American army detective stationed on the US 8th Army base in South Korea in the early 1970s, the heart of the Cold War. George and his investigating partner, the rowdy and short-fused Sergeant Ernie Bascom, are assigned cases in which the 8th Army has come into conflict with local Korean law enforcement — often incidents in which American soldiers, who are not known for being on their best behavior in their Asian host country, have committed a crime. George Sueño's job is partially to solve crimes, but mostly to cover top brass's backside and make sure the US Army doesn't look bad. Thoughtful, observant George, who is conversant in Korean, constantly faces difficult choices about whether to follow his orders or his conscience.

Nine critically acclaimed novels later, Soho Crime is releasing a collection of Martin Limón's award-winning short stories featuring Sergeants Sueño and Bascom. The stories within have been published over the last twenty years in a variety of magazines, mostly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, but have never before been available in book form.