Set in present day Southeast Asia and based on true events, this heartbreaking saga follows Gary Pender, a 40-something Canadian cynic, as he falls into the clutches of a manipulative bargirl and a meth addiction, all the while his family scours the underbelly of Phnom Penh on a desperate search to find him. What the Pender's are confronted by when they reach Gary is a loved one who's been transformed into a mad, depraved junkie that's lost everything. They feed him and offer to take him home, but in return Gary is conniving and seethes with rage when they refuse to give him cash to buy more meth. Completely detached from reason, on the verge of either death or insanity, Gary fights every effort his family makes to get through to him. Will he be able to see beyond his demons and embrace his family's helpful hand, or is it already too late? Percolating beneath the portrayal of Gary's downfall is the subplot of Charlie, a 21-year-old slang-slinging Brit who impregnates and then marries Oanh, a young Vietnamese girl who is controlled by her scheming, gambling-addict mother. This storyline brings the book full circle to a shocking twist in the end.