The Noble Path by May, Peter

The Noble Path is a stand-alone novel by award-winning Scottish journalist, screenwriter and author, Peter May. First published in 1992, this edition has been recently edited (removing much of the gratuitous sex, the author notes in his forward) and reissued.

It's late 1978 and mercenary, Jack Elliot has agreed to extract a wealthy Cambodian refugee's family from Khmer Rouge-held Democratic Kampuchea. But there are a few complications that may affect his chances of success. While his wife, Serey and his daughter Ny are forced to till the fields, and are subject to the whims of their guards, Ang Yuon's twelve-year-old son, Hau has become part of the Khmer Rouge militia. Jack Elliot is forced to rely on Thai suppliers for the weapons he will need to complete his mission.

He calls on a reliable mate from his Vietnam days, but Mick Slattery hasn't yet revealed that cancer will be cutting short his life. Mick has recruited American ex-soldier Billy McCue, whose motivation is monetary: enough to take his Thai wife and young son back home is what will keep him focussed on this job. The only possible border crossing point is thick with Khmer Rouge units and all this against a background of unconfirmed mass genocide.

Eighteen-year-old Lisa Robinson has just buried her mother when she uncovers information about the father she believed long dead. A tenacious journalism student, Lisa learns her father, John Alexander Elliot, is in Thailand, and she's determined to track him down. And Jack does not realise that on his last mission, taking out an IRA bomber (or two), he was identified and has a price on his head.

Will everyone come out of this unscathed? In this adventure romp, May easily evokes his setting: the heat and humidity of Thailand and Cambodia are palpable. There's plenty of action, and there's a high body count, but the characters are initially not well developed, only gaining some depth in the final chapters. This fairly early May novel shows promise but lacks that special quality that is characteristic of his later work.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Quercus riverrun books