Cambodia Noir by Nick Seeley

Published by Scribner on March 16, 2016

Will Keller is a news photographer working in Cambodia. He would have a better market for his work if he went to Iraq, but he’s had enough of war.

When the police bust a drug house that appears to be operated by the military, Keller is there. he hears umors that the police discovered a huge stash of Burmese heroin, enough to make Keller’s veins twitch. The poor guy has been getting by on cocaine and meth and beer and pot.

The plot takes shape when a young Japanese woman hires Keller to find her sister. The missing sister was working for a reporter -- Keller’s friend, to the extent that he has any -- as an intern. She was apparently poking around a story involving heroin and corrupt customs agents. When another reporter is brutally killed, Keller wonders whether there’s a connection. When Keller learns that there is more to the young woman than first appearances revealed, he wonders what he’s gotten himself into. As does the reader.

Character development is at least average for a story of this nature. A couple of the secondary characters are sympathetic but, in true noir fashion, most are walking both sides of the line between good and evil, unless they are entirely on the dark side. Keller is a typical antihero, driven to risk his life by something he doesn’t quite understand. A sense of justice? Burning curiosity? A death wish? Probably all of those, but Nick Seeley leaves it to the reader to understand what motivates Keller, since Keller can’t figure it out for himself. His motivation for many things (including the years he has spent trying to escape from his thoughts) probably has something to do with a key event in his life, revealed in the last pages.

Noir plots are often convoluted but it is possible to follow this one without taking notes. Unlike some noir novels, the story is reasonably coherent and most of the loose ends are knotted off. The darkness of Cambodia, the tragic protagonist, and phrases like “inconspicuous as a gunshot wound on a wedding dress” give the book its noir appeal. There are moments of violence and torture and kinkiness but they are not exceptionally graphic. The story moves quickly without sacrificing atmospheric detail. Intensity and power build nicely as the plot nears its climax. The ending is reasonably strong if not entirely surprising. I recommend Cambodia Noir to noir fans for its solid prose, convincing atmosphere, and entertaining plot.

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