White Crocodile

By: K. T. Medina

Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells

Set in the shadowy Killing Fields of Cambodia, this gripping military thriller follows Tess Hardy as she works to unravel the mystery of how her husband, and many others, keep disappearing and turning up dead in the mine-laden backwaters of Southeast Asia.

Tess Hardy thought she had put Luke, her violent ex-husband, firmly in her past. Then he calls from Cambodia, where he is working as a mine-clearer, and there's something in his voice she hasn't heard before: Fear. Two weeks later, he's dead.

Against her better judgment, Tess is drawn to Cambodia and to the killing fields. Keeping her relationship to Luke a closely guarded secret, Tess joins his team of mine clearers, who are shaken to the core by Luke's sudden death. Even in their grief, the group remains a tightly knit and tightly wound community in which almost everyone has something to hide.

At the same time, the circle of death begins to expand. Teenage mothers are disappearing from villages around the minefields, while others are being found mutilated and murdered, their babies abandoned. Everywhere there are whispers about the White Crocodile, a mythical beast that brings death to all who meet it. Caught in a web of secrets and lies, Tess must unravel the truth, and quickly. The crocodile is watching, and Tess may be its next victim.

Combining the technical expertise of military suspense with a richly drawn sense of place, White Crocodile forges new ground in the thriller genre. Medina's internationally acclaimed debut announces the arrival of a prodigiously talented novelist whom readers will be discussing for years to come.

Critic reviews

"A dark tale of the way our past haunts us, and the revenge it can drive us to take. K.T. Medina knows her war torn landscape intimately, in all its complexity and desperation. Medina does for Cambodia what Timothy Hallinan does for Thailand, and I anticipate more from this intriguing new author."—Jenny Milchman, Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of Cover of Snow and Ruin Falls

"An exciting first novel, from a huge new talent."—Mo Hayder, Edgar Award-winning author of Gone and Wolf

"Operatic ... the most ambitious of canvases [with] the fraught psychological territory of Joseph Conrad's Africa in Heart of Darkness ... a vulnerable buttenacious heroine ... a strongly written thriller and a passionate meditation. There is yet another accomplished crime writer joining the sizeable throng of names to which attention must be paid."—Barry Forshaw, The Independent

"Impressive...powerful."—Marcel Berlins, The Times (UK)

"Powerful and unforgettable. The most compelling female protagonist I have come across in a long time. A page-turning, unsettling thriller from an exciting new novelist."—Salma Haidrani, Stylist

Original, Well Written Thriller

Mystery set among international aid workers in Cambodia. The author took a really fresh approach. I am looking forward to reading more from this writer.
Propulsive thriller that never gets boring. Highly recommended.