The Love Trap by Nicole French
Afterword
Out of every book I’ve written so far, this one easily required the most research, and as a result, had the most surprises. For example, when I was researching why John Carson and Jacob de Vries might have been in South Korea during the late eighties, I discovered the history of the Hwaseong murders, one of the most notorious unsolved cases in South Korea. I knew immediately I had to incorporate them into the book, but I did take some minor liberties in fictionalizing them. While I kept the basic facts in Detective Cho’s description, I did invent some of the victims’ key identity traits to fit Yu-na’s history.
I also spent a great deal of time researching self-harm, which is unfortunately a common symptom of PTSD. The US Department of Veterans Affair estimates that approximately 2-6% of the general involvement engages in self-harm, but that rates are as high as 13-15% in students, and also quite a bit higher with PTSD sufferers.
You can find more information on self-harm and PTSD here.