A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

Born in 1947 in Kawasaki, Japan, Masaji Ishikawa moved with his parents and three sisters to North Korea in 1960 at the age of thirteen, where he lived until his escape in 1996. He currently resides in Japan.

Mr. Ishikawa engagingly told his story.  I kept wanting his circumstances to improve as the book went on even though I knew they would not.  The life that he and his family had to live in the DPRK and the way that was fooled by numerous governments at the time to move to the DPRK is disgusting.  The cruel way that his family was treated in the DPRK is disgusting.  What is even more horrific to me is that Mr. Ishikawa's story is not unique.