PETER MAY: OVER 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD‘A TRUE PLEASURE TO READ’ GUARDIAN‘A TERRIFIC WRITER’ MARK BILLINGHAM‘A WRITER I’D FOLLOW TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH’ NEW YORK TIMESThe Noble Path is Peter May’s explosive standalone thriller set in Cambodia and Thailand amid the bloody reign of the Khmer RougeTHE EVIL WRATHCambodia, 1978. Amid the Khmer Rouge’s crazed genocide, soldier-of-fortune Jack Elliott … WRATH
Cambodia, 1978. Amid the Khmer Rouge’s crazed genocide, soldier-of-fortune Jack Elliott is given the impossible task of rescuing a family from the regime.
THE PAINFUL TRUTH
Eighteen-year-old orphan and budding journalist Lisa Robinson has received the impossible news that her father is, in fact, alive. His name – Jack Elliott.
THE NOBLE PATH
As Jack tracks the hostages and Lisa traces her heritage, each is intent on reuniting a family. Yet to succeed, so must run a dangerous gauntlet of bullets and betrayal.
LOVED THE NOBLE PATH? Read Peter May’s prescient standalone thriller, THE MAN WITH NO FACE
LOVE PETER MAY? Order his new thriller, A SILENT DEATH
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An interesting stand-alone read based primarily in Cambodia.
Not my favourite May book by a long way and not a read for the faint-hearted. The horrors and harsh realities of life under the Khmer Rouge in the 197os are fully described. Along with the violence and betrayal, there is also kindness and hope for the future.
I have been a Peter May fan since his Lewis Island trilogy. He never disappoints. While this novel is set in Southeast Asia instead of the Scottish islands May once again comes through.
“The Noble Path” by Peter May is the reissue of a novel written nearly thirty years ago, and it is just as compelling today as it was then. The primary setting is war torn Cambodia, 1978, under the Khmer Rouge. The three main story lines are complex and tragic with compelling and interesting characters. A woman searches for the absent father, long thought to be dead. A family is abandoned in the midst of war and chaos; years later the father who escaped seeks to be reunited with them. A mercenary conducts the search, a black ops specialist, a gun for hire, paid assassin; he does it for the money. He is the fixer who weaves in and out of the other stories.
The characters tell the same stories but from different perspectives. This provides an overall look at the action, and allows readers to observe how characters deal with the multitude of complex situations in which they find themselves. Raw emotions run just under the surface, resentment, bitterness, revenge, vindication, compassion, resolve to survive, understanding, and forgiveness.
May’s writing has exceptional depth and detail. This story is current, and compelling, and the descriptive language is without equal. The food, the geography, and the people make the story come alive for readers.
“The Noble Path” is about people, their hopes, dreams, disappointments, and tragedies. I was given a review copy by Peter May, Quercus Books, and Riverrun Books. It is thought provoking, tragically realistic, and violent. It is not for sensitive readers, but it does make readers think about life, death and war. Many talk about the innocent victims of war, but perhaps the real victims are the ones who survive it.
4 Stars
In 1975, a mother and her two children flees a city in Cambodia. Their husband and father has taken the one of the last US helicopters to flee the country. Jack Elliott is now looking for this missing family in a country torn by the Khmer Rouge.
Eighteen-year old Lisa Robinson has just buried her thirty-seven year old mother who died of breast cancer. Her mind returns to an old box in the attic of her mother’s home. She got into serious trouble for looking in the old box of papers and photographs when she was a child. She retrieves it now.
Meanwhile Jack has gone to Thailand, the starting point for his and two comrades’ journey into Kampuchea (Cambodia).
Following a disastrous encounter with her “boyfriend,” Lisa gets it into her head that she will find her father. She has been informed by an old friend of Jack’s that he has gone to Thailand. She heads to Thailand.
This is a reprint of one of Mr. May’s first novels. I found it to be very good, although perhaps not as good as his later works, such as “The Lewis Trilogy.” ( I gave those five stars.) But as an early work, it was very well written and plotted. I truly enjoyed (? hmm) reading about Kampuchea under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Perhaps enjoyed is the wrong word, more like I was totally fascinated. I saw the movie “The Killing Fields” when it first came out in the theaters and again later, many times. It is a real eye-opener and so very sad. As a lover of history and a teenager during the VietNam police action (cough…), I was thrilled to be chosen by the publisher and NetGalley to read this early Peter May work.
Mr. May’s description of the poverty and hopelessness of the local citizenry in Kampuchea was spot on. He painted colorful and very observant pictures of the people and countryside. He described the cruelty of the guards and the corruption of the whole ruling class/politicians very well.
I thought that the Lisa character was a little young and naive to be set free on her own in Thailand, especially given the recent ending of the VietNam War.
I want to thank NetGalley and Quercus (US)/riverrun for forwarding to me a copy of this very interesting book for me to read, enjoy and review.