Molka: an abbreviation of molrae-kamera, a “sneaky camera” hidden to capture covert images and videos for voyeurs.
In an unassuming Seoul workplace, IT technician Junyoung’s network reaches throughout the entire building. He sees every entrance. Every lobby. Every bathroom. The women in this building may be cold and dismissive, but he can always pull up his favorite images of them and remember who holds the real power. Until one, Dahye, sets herself apart from the rest.
Dahye, ever the romantic, yearns to be cherished after years of living in the shadow of her perfect older sister, who tragically drowned years ago. Only her boyfriend seems to appreciate Dahye. He’s rich, handsome, and generous—and she’d do anything to hold on to the happiness he brings her.
But when a hidden camera scandal rocks the city’s elites, Dahye’s dreams of a fairy-tale romance twist into a grotesque nightmare. Her boyfriend abandons her. Her parents reject her. Her grip on reality begins to shatter as visions of her dead sister suddenly appear. And as Junyoung’s interest in Dahye turns to obsession, and the truths of their troubled lives are revealed, Dahye must go to extreme lengths to bring the truth to light . . .
Molka by Monika Kim has a little bit of everything for horror fans: creepy voyeurs, a vengeful ghost, and a woman out for revenge. It’s a dual-POV story written in third person, and it’s executed exceptionally well. Normally when I read a dual-POV novel, it’s in first person with each chapter titled by character name, so I worried I’d get lost without that structure. Instead, the story was easy to follow, and Kim keeps the suspense so tight that I couldn’t put it down.
Our two leads are Dahye and Junyoung. Dahye is a woman in love with the heir to a Korean media empire, but when the two are caught on a hidden camera, her life begins to spiral. She catches the attention of Junyoung, the nerdy IT guy at her office, not realizing he’s harboring a dark secret of his own: he’s the one who planted hidden cameras in the women’s restroom.
You’ll think you know where this story is headed. You don’t. Kim keeps you guessing until the very end, and the paths of these two characters collide in a climax that had me on the edge of my seat. As a fan of The Eyes Are the Best Part, I knew I’d like this book — I didn’t realize just how much I’d love it.