The Noble Path

A father and his teenage daughter fight for survival in war-torn Cambodia. Will they be able to find their way back to each other?

It’s 1978 and a communist regime is in power in Cambodia. Jack Elliot makes his living as a mercenary, and human life—including his own—holds little value for him. When a wealthy Cambodian refugee, Áng Júon, asks him to rescue his family from the Khmer Rouge, Elliot knows that neither he nor they might survive the mission. Meanwhile, Elliot's teenage daughter, Lisa, has just buried her mother and is left all alone. She has always believed her father to be dead and is surprised to learn he is still alive. In an attempt to get to know her long-lost parent, she travels to distant Bangkok, where she is taken captive. The stories of the father and daughter—separated by hundreds of miles—intertwine. Elliot and Lisa embark on a brutal journey through the dangerous jungle on a path to self-discovery.

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The idea for the book Noble Path first came to me in the mid-eighties. I wanted to explore the idea that innocence, under certain circumstances, can be more destructive than evil—simply because it doesn't know what it's doing. The story itself is a departure from my usual crime/thriller genre, although it could probably be loosely described as a thriller. However, I see it more as a very human adventure set against the brutal backdrop of Southeast Asia in the seventies.
— Peter May (from the book's preface)

Peter May does not look away from cruelty. He portrays the ruthless consequences of political greed and armed conflict authentically and without embellishment.
— Publishers Weekly

The novel Noble Path is further proof of May's exceptional style and his ability to weave cultural and political history with compelling plots and interesting characters.
— The Booktrail

Noble Path is a stunning, shocking, and almost unbelievable story.
— New York Journal of Books