Deadly Escape to Freedom - Maxine Hart Adventures, #2

In January author Maxine Hart receives a call asking her to meet with Seth Goldstein, a Hollywood Producer in Los Angeles. Seth thinks that because Maxine is a famous author, she can get into North Korea being allowed to interview President Kim. While keeping Kim occupied, CIA Agent Riley, traveling as her research assistant, is tasked to help the sisters escape prison and flee to South Korea. It's deceit and deception to the rescue.

Seth's had always thought his father died fighting in Korea. Having lost his American wife before the war ended, and not knowing he had a son, the American Vet married a girl from North Korea and chose to stay there with her after the war ended. He later fathered two daughters who were only 2 and 3 years old when both their parents were killed. The girls were brought up in a Korean group home until they were 12 years old and then put to work in North Korean government owned stores.

At the young age of 16, they learned their father was an American and they try to cross into South Korea to discover more. They were caught trying to cross the border and were immediately sent to Chungsan Concentration Camp to live out the rest of their lives. It was 20 years later before Seth even learned of their existence and that they were still alive. He asks Maxine and her CIA friend Riley to help get his sisters out of prison and away from North Korea.
With a little help, and a lot of luck, they are able to organize an escape which required a long multi-day hike against 9-degree temperatures and Siberian winds and cold. After a long agonizing journey through thick forests and icy mountains, they defy the odds and escape to South Korea and then finally into America.