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

I’d forgotten that Peter May wrote this novel set in Cambodia so I was intrigued to read it. It’s been revised and rewritten since it was first published and is a step away from his Scottish novels, so it was interesting to discover.

It’s also very different from his other ones and has an older feel to it, but this is of course due to the twenty years difference in writing between them and the subject matter. Cambodia and the terrors of the Khmer Rouge are well-documented but I’ve never read about them in quite the same way before.

If you’ve ever wondered what life in Cambodia at that time must have been like, then this is the book for you. The author explains that he wasn’t allowed to enter the country to research it. However, he didn’t let that stop him. This author has ways of finding things out! The plot is strong to shine a light on the subject matter. Moreover, the time and place really make this a striking read in many ways.
It’s very graphic in places and the sense of violence and injustice are of course going to play a major part in this kind of novel. John Elliot as a former officer in the British army. Working now as an assassin for hire. He’s on his most dangerous case yet of helping someone to find someone. There’s lots of adventure and action scenes which were thrilling but for me the power of this book lies in the human angle, the human aspect of living in the times of such political turmoil. Times of danger, death and constant fear of the Khmer Rouge.

Reading about it in a history book is hard enough, but in a novel, it’s even more so. In the novel you get a real sense of the daily life in that country. You really get under the skin of what is going on and you get to know the people in the country. Peter May has a unique style and way of mixing cultural and political history with gripping plots and interesting characters and this book proves to be a timely reminder