Cambodia Noir: A Novel

About this book

A Booklist Best Crime Fiction Debut of 2016 A high-octane thriller with a heart-stopping conclusion about a mysterious American woman who disappears into the Cambodian underworld and the photojournalist who tracks her through the clues left in her diary. Phnom Penh Cambodia: The end of the line. Lawless drug-soaked forgottenits where bad journalists go to die. For once-great war photographer Will Keller thats kind of a mission statement: he spends his days floating from one score to the next taking any job that pays; his nights are a haze of sex drugs booze and brawling. But Wills spiral toward oblivion is interrupted by Kara Saito a beautiful young woman who shows up and begs Will to help find her sister June who disappeared during a stint as an intern at the local paper. Theres a world of bad things June could have gotten mixed up in. The Phnom Penh underworld is in an uproar after a huge drug bust; a local reporter has been murdered in a political hit; and the government and opposition are locked in a standoff that could throw the country into chaos at any moment. Wills best clue is Junes diary: an unsettling collection of experiences memories and dreams reflecting a young woman at once repelled and fascinated by the chaos of Cambodia. As Will digs deeper into Junes past he uncovers one disturbing fact after another about the missing girl and her bloody family history. In the end the most dangerous thing in Cambodia may be June herself. Propulsive electric and filled with unforgettable characters Cambodia Noir marks the arrival of a fresh new talent. Nick Seeley is an ambitious wildly imaginative author and his enthralling debut explores what happens when we venture into dark placeswhen we get in over our headsand when we get lost.