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, forgotten—it’s where bad journalists go to die. For once-great war photographer Will Keller, that’s 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 Will’s 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.
There’s 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. Will’s best clue is June’s 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 June’s 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 places…when we get in over our heads…and when we get lost.
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“International journalist Seeley’s debut novel puts the traditional noir story on ’roids…The fast-moving narrative is like riding through Phnom Penh’s streets on the back of a motorcycle…delivers an up-close, jarring look at a city rocked with unrest and an atmospheric take on that enduring noir protagonist, the dissolute foreign correspondent. A sinuous, shattering thriller.”
— Booklist (starred review)
“Cambodia Noir is not for the faint-hearted. Nick Seeley’s debut novel takes the reader into the Inner Circle of Hell: Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a city of drugs, death, and violence. Seeley’s characters are alive, until they’re not, and his plotting and pacing are as sharp and original as his writing.”
— Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling authorBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Nick Seeley is an international journalist who got his start in Phnom Penh. Since then, he has spent more than a decade reporting from the Middle East. His work has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy magazine, Middle East Report, and Travelers’ Tales, among other publications. He is also the author of the nonfiction Kindle single A Syrian Wedding, about life in a refugee camp in Jordan. Cambodia Noir is his first novel.
Kate Rudd, actress and Earphones Award–winning narrator, has appeared in several independent films and shorts, as well as in multiple episodes of the television show Perks. As an audiobook narrator she has been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration.