Enslaved by the Khmer Rouge, Nhean Thavy survives starvation and forced labor until she joins the army disguised as a boy. But her battalion is wiped out by the Vietnamese and she escapes through a minefield to a refugee camp in Thailand. There she enacts a horrifying black magic ritual to create a "koan kroak"--the Talisman Child--to help her get to America. Koan guides and protects her, but he is jealous, and Thavy is driven to commit a love-crime for which she knows she cannot be forgiven, in this world or the next. Part I of The Golden Child Trilogy. Look for Part II, The Forest of Regrets.