AustLit

'My father's last words to me? 'You're out of control, Jan, heading towards a red light.'

'What happens when you're in the all the wrong places, with all the wrong people, making all the wrong choices? It may look like that from the outside. But these are the real questions: who and what is right, and who gets to decide?

'The mid-70s. Needing to escape the ghosts of her tortured past, Jan turns to dancing in the seedy underbelly of Australia's notorious Kings Cross in order to fund her way out. Spirited, brave, and very, very broken, she travels throughout Sumatra, Indonesia and Nepal, her strength returning day by day. Fast forward a year or so to Delhi and Jan is desperate for money, selling her blood just to get by. Reconnecting with a former associate, she is propositioned with a tempting offer and faces what turns out to be a life altering decision. But returning home is not an option, so the dice is rolled but little did Jan know, these dice were loaded.

'Transporting contraband through the shifting sands of Pakistan and northern India's deserts; to the lush rainforests of Madagascar and the devastated, poverty-stricken cities in Bangladesh, Jan becomes a key player in some major, age-old political conflicts raging through these blood-soaked lands.

'Determined to take control and find her independence, Jan finds love; not once, but twice - at the same time - and the battle for her heart and life begins. Things seemingly take an upward turn for Jan: holidays on houseboats in Kashmir, opulent dinners and penthouse suites in five star hotels, designer clothes and so much cash! But these men, whilst offering her the world, are placing Jan in very real danger; and when all goes to hell, as it inevitably does, she is alone again and learns the hard way that no one is coming to save her.'