Depression is a chronic disease in all our post-modern societies, including Korea, where it has long been denied and attributed to a weakness of character, a lack of willpower. It is this taboo that the author tackles here by means of a noir novel.
The body of a hiker is found in the forest and a policeman begins his investigation. A man murders a neighbor for no reason when he meets him on the stairs of their building. Working on this second murder on behalf of his uncle, a young law student discovers that the murderer belonged to a group of people denouncing certain treatments for depression. Several members of this group committed suicide or other crimes very soon after they themselves stopped treatment.
Gradually, the two investigations came together as the bloodshed continued among members of this advocacy group.
The “Black Dog” referred to in this title takes its name from Churchill, who named his depression after him