There’s something dark happening along the edge of the forest and across the minefields of Battambang. Young women, solo mothers, are disappearing and being discovered brutally murdered. Tess Hardy, demining expert, has arrived from the United Kingdom to uncover the truth – but if she is not careful it just may cost Tess her life. Welcome to the world of the White Crocodile, K.T. Medina’s debut novel.
A psychological thriller with deep undercurrents, Medina sets her story across eight action-packed days in Battambang. Her plot, however, is woven with events that occur simultaneously in current day Manchester and in England 23 years ago. It’s a complex montage and you wonder at times how she is going to make all the threads fit as the story hurtles towards its conclusion. That they do, and in a compelling fashion, is one of the exciting features of White Crocodile. The dialogue is tight and believable, even when between Khmer and “barang,” and Medina handles the use of Khmer language well (used sparingly, granted). She also brings her past as a psychologist and weapons expert to the fore, blending both in a way that seems authentic and comprehensible for the reader.
Of course, Cambodia has always been a place of shadows and ghosts, dark realms on the edge of town and forest, where the supernatural lie in wait for the unwary or non-believing. Medina is, therefore, on good ground using this to drive her story. But it also proves to be an area of missed opportunity for the author. She never, for example, draws out the role that the crocodile occupies in Khmer legend, despite the centrality of the animal in her story. It is a shame, for the crocodiles’ reputation in Cambodian folklore as untrustworthy and deceitful would have fitted superbly with the climax and revelations at the end of her novel. But for all of this Medina does a good job, with some noteworthy exceptions, of catching Cambodia and the character of its land and people (the reference to a baboon on page 200 represents the first documentation of this creature in the Southeast Asian wild).
There is, however, one nagging concern with White Crocodile: the overwhelming darkness of the tale. One aspect of this is how difficult it is to bond with any of the story’s key characters, even Tess Hardy, all of who seem to bare traits that make sympathy hard to foster or maintain. This markedly reduces the emotional threads connecting the reader to the story. As a result, at the end of a climatic finish the truth is revealed, but it’s difficult to rally compassion for the people who remain or those who have perished. Compare this to the way Philip Coggan develops and uses such bonds to underscore his Phnom Penh-based thriller, Shining Objects of Desire, and you will appreciate the difference: a plot that leaves a positive glow despite the dirt that has preceeded it.
Despite this reservation, White Crocodile remains a taut nail-biting tale in a convincing Cambodian setting that will keep you turning the page. Moreover, as Medina’s first novel you feel that her next one will be even better. Just be sure to read White Crocodile with a torch – it’s pretty dark in there.
Four white crocodiles out of five.
1. Why did you choose to set White Crocodile in Cambodia?
White Crocodile is very personal to me and, however many thrillers I go on to write, it will always be my favourite. I had the idea for the novel while I was responsible for land-based weapons for Jane’s Information Group, a global publisher of defence intelligence information. As part of that role, I spent a month working alongside professional mine clearers in Battambang Province, Cambodia. I was privileged to be able to get to know both Western and Khmer clearers and to spend time talking with Khmers who had lost limbs to landmines. I was also able to visit many of the locations that appear in White Crocodile.
2. What challenges did you find in choosing Cambodia as your setting?
Cambodia is a stunning, diverse and incredibly interesting country, but it also has a tragic history and many existing problems, and is an unbeatable setting for a dark and disturbing thriller. I loved writing about Cambodia and, for me, the main challenge was making sure that my writing was authentic in terms of communicating both the beauty and ugliness of the country and the hardships that many people face. I also had to make sure that I got the voices of the individual Khmer characters right, which I have hopefully achieved.
3. The novel weaves together some complex threads. Did you always know where the story was going or did it change as the novel evolved?
I had a very clear idea of the key threads of the story and outlined a detailed plot before I wrote a word. I tend to make my story mistakes in the plotting phase, so that when I actually start writing I know exactly where I’m going!
4. You attended a creative writing school in Bath (UK). How do you think this helped you with your development as an author?
Unlike many novelists who have journalistic backgrounds, I have no formal background in writing and, while I had a great idea and plot, I thought that I would benefit from some training in the technique of creative writing. I wrote the first draft of White Crocodile while at Bath Spa and it was wonderful to have the advice and support of so many great writers amongst the faculty.
5. Is there an actor out there that you could see playing msin character Tess Hardy’s role if there was a film made? How about some of the other characters?
Many people who have read White Crocodile say that it is very cinematic, so I hope that it will be made into a film one day. I think that Jennifer Lawrence of The Hunger Games fame would make a great Tess Hardy, as she is strong, clever and independent, yet also vulnerable.
6. Are you working on a new novel? Can you tell us anything about the setting or plot?
I have just finished my second thriller, which is provisionally titled The Shadowman and is due to be published in January 2016. The Shadowman is set in England but as with White Crocodile it features a strong female protagonist with a military background.
7. Can you offer any words of advice for any budding authors out there?
Three pieces of advice: Firstly, read what you write. Or, to put it another way, write what you, yourself, enjoy reading. You need to love a genre to write in it, because writing a whole novel is hard work. Secondly, set yourself a minimum word count and write every day. I write a minimum 1,000 words a day and won’t get up from my desk until I have done those 1,000 words. Some days every word is a struggle and other days they flow easily, but having a goal focuses the mind. Thirdly, persist. Every successful novelist has had many rejections, so believe in yourself and don’t give up.
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Title: White Crocodile
Author: K.T. Medina
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Price: $19.50, at Monument Books