Finding Moon (A Novel)

“One of Hillerman's most affecting, strongest, best-told tales.”—Booklist

Tony Hillerman leaves behind his beloved Navajo country in this poignant and unforgettable stand-alone novel set in the 1970s during the dramatic final days of the Vietnam War—a story of family lost and found and one man’s unexpected courage and inspired heroism.

Ricky Mathias, an American pilot, dies in the last days of the Vietnam War, leaving behind an infant daughter orphaned somewhere in southeast Asia. Her uncle Malcolm “Moon” Mathias must set aside his job as a newspaper editor and his nagging self doubt to find the little girl. The search will take him from the streets of Manila to a Filipino prison on Palawan Island and across the South China Sea to the killing fields of Pol Pot’s Cambodia and the glittering allure of Saigon before its desperate fall. In a chilling world of mystery and silence, disguise and deception, Moon will risk everything for the sake of one little girl—and discover he’s a better man than he ever dreamed he could be.

A story Tony Hillerman waited decades to tell, Finding Moon is a kaleidoscopic work of imagination—a latter-day adventure epic, a deftly orchestrated romance, an arresting portrait of a lush realm engulfed in turmoil, and a neatly turned tale of suspense. It is also a singular story of unexpected heroism: how an ordinary, uncertain man can face his fears to find his best self.