Between This World and the Next

A British war photographer travels to Cambodia seeking to escape a personal tragedy, only to become entangled in the region’s criminal underworld, in Herat’s ambitious debut. Joseph “Fearless” Nightingale, who is reeling from the death of his pregnant wife, heads out drinking with his longtime friend and travel companion, Alyosha, shortly after they arrive in Cambodia. Their night takes a perilous turn when Fearless is drugged by strangers, then left for dead. Song, an 18-year-old Cambodian woman enslaved at the apartment complex where Fearless is staying, discovers his limp body and nurses him back to health. Sensing that Fearless might help her and her twin sister, Sovanna, who is enslaved in a nearby villa, Song sneaks out of the complex and leaves behind a videotape for him, which offers evidence of a sex trafficking ring involving several international power brokers, including Alyosha. As Fearless figures out what to do next, Song frees Sovanna by setting her villa ablaze, triggering a violent retaliation that touches each of the novel’s main characters. Herat impresses on his first time out, with well-shaded characters and gripping suspense, though things start to feel overstuffed by the final act. Still, this is worth seeking out. (June)