Feckless journalist Hadley Arnold suspects he has an intriguing story on his hands when he finds Pakistani politician Marina Makhdoom in a sleazy Hong Kong bar. Then he loses her. Shrubs News Agency sends Hadley to Pakistan, where he becomes embroiled in the tendrils of surreal, deviant politics and at the whim of Makhdoom's vicious husband. An intriguing story spirals into something much more surreal and threatening.

Nick Macfie has outdone himself in this wry yet raucous sequel to Hadley in Kiss Me, Hadley. In the same vein as author Tom Sharpe, Macfie reaches into the darkest recesses of the displaced Englishman’s mind to weave a plot consisting of preposterous circumstances and humorous dialogue executed with laser-like precision. To read of Hadley’s seedy adventures is to experience the bawdiest corners of Hong Kong with both derision and delight. In Kiss Me, Hadley, an English girl with a Chinese father gets caught up in an illegal floating casino. A benevolent gangster kills a dodgy dealer with a bow and arrow. It’s Christmas in Hong Kong and journalist Hadley Arnold, king of the cynical hacks, is in trouble again.

British journalist Hadley Arnold—who is based in Hong Kong—is employed by a mysterious American “casting agent” to help destroy the reputation of an actor tipped to become the next James Bond. With only his questionable ethics and even worse instincts to guide him, Arnold’s quest takes him from sleazy bars in Hong Kong to deadly beaches in Sri Lanka. Filled with biting wit and an oddball sense of humor, this novel is a cleverly crafted dark comedy.