The Band A Novel

A psychologist with a savior complex offers shelter to a recently cancelled K-pop idol in this “first great K-pop literary phenomenon” (Debutiful) that is perfect for fans of Mouth to Mouth and Black Buck.

Sang Duri is the eldest member and “visual” of a Korean boy band at the apex of global superstardom. But when his latest solo single accidentally leads to controversy, he’s abruptly canceled.

To spare the band from fallout with obsessive fans and overbearing management, Duri disappears from the public eye by hiding out in the McMansion of a Chinese American woman he meets in a Los Angeles H-Mart. But his rescuer is both unhappily married and a psychologist with a savior complex, a combination that makes their potential union seductive and incredibly problematic.

Meanwhile, in Seoul, the band’s music producer, Pinocchio, remembers his first brainchild: a girl group that tragically disbanded under mysterious circumstances.

The past and the present combine to ignite a spiral of violent interactions that might change the fates of both the band members and the music industry.

In its “gripping exploration of the complexities that accompany fame” (Booklist), The Band considers the many ways in which love and celebrity can devolve into something far more sinister.

Christine Ma-Kellams is a Harvard-trained cultural psychologist, Pushcart-nominated fiction writer, and first-generation American. Her work and writing have appeared in HuffPost, Chicago Tribune, Catapult, Salon, The Wall Street Journal, the Rumpus, and many more publications. The Band is her first novel. You can find her in person at one of California’s coastal cities or online at ChristineMa-Kellams.com.