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peterpanda's review
5.0
This was a first-read win
Beautifully written. A perfect thriller mixed with that mystery element. I was uncertain upon reading this novel at first if i'd like it at first. Novels that are set up mysteries tend to always have some same feeling about them which can be said with romance as well. However, this novel not only has that thriller story, or a story that has so many twist and turns, it has an eye opening feel about it as well. The story takes place in Cambodia following a woman by the name of Tess whose husband had been killed in Cambodia, her trips leads her to mine clearings and to the random killings of many women in Cambodia.
What really hit me the most in the book was how accurate some of these images being described could truly be happening in a place like Cambodia. The book was one that could be described as rather dark, disturbing, and depressing. It touched on a lot of cold topics such as children dying, mines blowing up, and the poverty of a place like Cambodia, and human trafficking. It's depressing to realize that items like this are truly happening in the world. The motivation, and the thoughts of the killer, the one behind what happened in Cambodia with all the killings reminded me of a Criminal Minds episode. It was difficult to watch scenes taking placing in the 1990's and I was taken off guard on who the young boy was, and then, the way this boy grew up it made sense. My heart ached for everyone that had been killed, but it ached for that young boy. The accuracy in something like this happening in the real world is so accurate and that's what made this story so believable.
I loved the character of Tess and Alex and their side story was an interesting little off track story that added to the novel. I will admit the start of the story I thought this novel would end up with four stars as I thought I was going to predict the ending. I will admit the other reason was it was rather slow, something kept dragging me back to the story, but at the same time it was easy to put down. Then, within the last thirty percent I couldn't put this book down. Part of what I predicted happen, but there were other moments that I went... 'that did not just happen!' This is what made it a five star read for me the twists and turns, and the fact I couldn't put it down until the ending.
I would recommend this story to anybody that loves a good thriller, or a good mystery story. However, do NOT pick up this story if you're searching for a 'happy' go 'lucky' story as I've mentioned it as some very sensitive and depressing moments throughout it. I am so delighted that I was one of the lucky ones to receive a copy of this incredible story.
5/5 for me.
Beautifully written. A perfect thriller mixed with that mystery element. I was uncertain upon reading this novel at first if i'd like it at first. Novels that are set up mysteries tend to always have some same feeling about them which can be said with romance as well. However, this novel not only has that thriller story, or a story that has so many twist and turns, it has an eye opening feel about it as well. The story takes place in Cambodia following a woman by the name of Tess whose husband had been killed in Cambodia, her trips leads her to mine clearings and to the random killings of many women in Cambodia.
What really hit me the most in the book was how accurate some of these images being described could truly be happening in a place like Cambodia. The book was one that could be described as rather dark, disturbing, and depressing. It touched on a lot of cold topics such as children dying, mines blowing up, and the poverty of a place like Cambodia, and human trafficking. It's depressing to realize that items like this are truly happening in the world. The motivation, and the thoughts of the killer, the one behind what happened in Cambodia with all the killings reminded me of a Criminal Minds episode. It was difficult to watch scenes taking placing in the 1990's and I was taken off guard on who the young boy was, and then, the way this boy grew up it made sense. My heart ached for everyone that had been killed, but it ached for that young boy. The accuracy in something like this happening in the real world is so accurate and that's what made this story so believable.
I loved the character of Tess and Alex and their side story was an interesting little off track story that added to the novel. I will admit the start of the story I thought this novel would end up with four stars as I thought I was going to predict the ending. I will admit the other reason was it was rather slow, something kept dragging me back to the story, but at the same time it was easy to put down. Then, within the last thirty percent I couldn't put this book down. Part of what I predicted happen, but there were other moments that I went... 'that did not just happen!' This is what made it a five star read for me the twists and turns, and the fact I couldn't put it down until the ending.
I would recommend this story to anybody that loves a good thriller, or a good mystery story. However, do NOT pick up this story if you're searching for a 'happy' go 'lucky' story as I've mentioned it as some very sensitive and depressing moments throughout it. I am so delighted that I was one of the lucky ones to receive a copy of this incredible story.
5/5 for me.
syafiqha's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“When this minefield found, White Crocodile here.” … “Seen here.”
Issues about wives being left by the husband and pregnant, abusive husbands. They had all been either missing or found dead. The author writes about those issues traumatically. At first, I just don't understand why the woman who gets killed beside the man who caused those women to suffer and the relationship of the minefield workers get killed. It is quite confusing about the plot but the characters play just fine.
The plot is slow and doesn’t give often clues about the white crocodile whether it is a myth come true or the person who is the killer behind the myth. I could level the mystery and the tension is half of the level/bar.
The situation in Cambodia is presented as raw and thriller. Contain 18+ things and F word. The author knows how to put the tension and serve a chill sensation. I adore it yet, another part is quite draggy.
‘… her father unaware that he had been driving a corpse for the last few kilometers of the journey to the hospital.’
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Cursing and Murder
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, and Grief
another one of content warning but a minorreedy_is_reading's review
3.0
This one missed the mark with me. I love a crime and thriller at times and this one was set on Cambodian fields, with the main characters clearing land mines- something that interests me. The author definitely knows a lot about land mines but the story line was less convincing. I figured out the plot twist and there was a total lack of developed Khmer characters, who only appeared as "local colour" (phrase from the book, not me). This was particularly disappointing as The White Crocodile is meant to be a local mythical creature. Some interesting ideas and potential but fell flat.
raven88's review against another edition
5.0
Sometimes, when you read a surfeit of the same genre, books can be quickly put aside, as all to often they begin to repeat the same old tired motifs, and conceits, of crime writing. Sometimes, however, something fresh, new, original and exciting awaits you, and I’m delighted to say that White Crocodile is one such book. Using the backdrop of Battambang in Cambodia, Medina has not only succeeded in constructing a story that adheres to all the tenets of a gripping crime thriller, but also skilfully manipulates this chosen location to integrate the attendant issues of this country still recovering from the ravages of war…
Penned by debut author, K.T. Medina, this book completely defied my expectations in terms of content and the execution of the story. With an incredibly accomplished prose style, that carried the story along beautifully, I felt so closely involved and intimately acquainted with the characters throughout this powerful and moving tale. Tess Hardy is a troubled woman, not only differentiated by her gender in the masculine environment she works in as a mine clearance expert, but also having come out the other side of an abusive relationship- a relationship that is powerfully rendered within the book. As Tess reconciles herself to the breakdown of this relationship, a strange phone call from Luke (her husband), mine clearing in Cambodia, followed swiftly by his death, takes Tess to this strange and dangerous environment. As the link between Luke’s death and a series of young women’s murders in Battambang becomes more evident, Tess finds herself embroiled in not only the day-to-day dangers of her job, in a community steeped in folkloric suspicion, but dark secrets with their roots back in England. Despite the clear and concise drawing of the other characters in the book, it is Tess that is the central lynchpin of the whole story, and she exudes a fascinating combination of emotional strength and weakness throughout. Her utter professionalism as a mine clearer is never in question, holding her own among her male counterparts, but there is a delicious fragility to her at times, that positively impacts on the reader, as she delves deeper into the mystery of the murders, and how the perpetrator of these could be dwelling closer to home than she thinks. As we follow her progress from victim, to defender of these women singled out for death, and finds herself in danger, the reader is utterly immersed in her story, and the mental and emotional strength she attains along the way.
Although, my personal knowledge of Cambodia, has only been accrued through film representations and other fictional books, I felt that the setting, influenced by the author’s own personal experience of the region, was perfect in its rendition. The suffocating heat, the strange belief systems, the heartbreaking visualisations of mine victims, and the prejudices experienced by women within this community, came powerfully to the fore. I was genuinely moved by the plight of the local people, carving out some kind of existence, beleagured by poverty due to the unstable nature of their surrounding environment- an environment whose description Medina carefully balances between both the good and the bad aspects, that impact on the lives of its inhabitants.
I was genuinely impressed by the scope of this crime read, and in common with the best crime writing, I felt that White Crocodile went beyond such a simple label. Packed with colourful description, weighty issues, and an inherent sensitivity to the particular social and economic problems of this region of Cambodia, Medina has achieved something quite special, and more importantly, refreshingly different. A remarkable debut.
Penned by debut author, K.T. Medina, this book completely defied my expectations in terms of content and the execution of the story. With an incredibly accomplished prose style, that carried the story along beautifully, I felt so closely involved and intimately acquainted with the characters throughout this powerful and moving tale. Tess Hardy is a troubled woman, not only differentiated by her gender in the masculine environment she works in as a mine clearance expert, but also having come out the other side of an abusive relationship- a relationship that is powerfully rendered within the book. As Tess reconciles herself to the breakdown of this relationship, a strange phone call from Luke (her husband), mine clearing in Cambodia, followed swiftly by his death, takes Tess to this strange and dangerous environment. As the link between Luke’s death and a series of young women’s murders in Battambang becomes more evident, Tess finds herself embroiled in not only the day-to-day dangers of her job, in a community steeped in folkloric suspicion, but dark secrets with their roots back in England. Despite the clear and concise drawing of the other characters in the book, it is Tess that is the central lynchpin of the whole story, and she exudes a fascinating combination of emotional strength and weakness throughout. Her utter professionalism as a mine clearer is never in question, holding her own among her male counterparts, but there is a delicious fragility to her at times, that positively impacts on the reader, as she delves deeper into the mystery of the murders, and how the perpetrator of these could be dwelling closer to home than she thinks. As we follow her progress from victim, to defender of these women singled out for death, and finds herself in danger, the reader is utterly immersed in her story, and the mental and emotional strength she attains along the way.
Although, my personal knowledge of Cambodia, has only been accrued through film representations and other fictional books, I felt that the setting, influenced by the author’s own personal experience of the region, was perfect in its rendition. The suffocating heat, the strange belief systems, the heartbreaking visualisations of mine victims, and the prejudices experienced by women within this community, came powerfully to the fore. I was genuinely moved by the plight of the local people, carving out some kind of existence, beleagured by poverty due to the unstable nature of their surrounding environment- an environment whose description Medina carefully balances between both the good and the bad aspects, that impact on the lives of its inhabitants.
I was genuinely impressed by the scope of this crime read, and in common with the best crime writing, I felt that White Crocodile went beyond such a simple label. Packed with colourful description, weighty issues, and an inherent sensitivity to the particular social and economic problems of this region of Cambodia, Medina has achieved something quite special, and more importantly, refreshingly different. A remarkable debut.
ranaelizabeth's review against another edition
3.0
Oh, look, another murder mystery. This one set in Cambodia centering around a mine clearing NGO. Bonus points for that, I guess?
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