Screams & Whispers: A Cape Islands Novel

Peffer's frenetic sixth Cape Islands novel (after 2010's Listen to the Dead) reunites Michael Decastro, a former public defender, and Tuki Aparecio, the half Vietnamese, half African-American diva who has twice broken Michael's heart. When he learns that Tuki is again in trouble in Vietnam, he can't resist resuming his role as her knight as he did in 2009's Bangkok Dragons, Cape Cod Tears. Michael recruits his father, Caesar, a military cop in Saigon during the Vietnam War, to assist. Once again, Wen-Ling, the Dragon Lady, is in pursuit of Tuki and the fabulous sacred ruby, the Heart of Warriors, in Tuki's possession. The Decastros team with some unlikely allies to track the vicious Wen-Ling and the kidnapped Tuki, while the body count rises. Powerful, ambivalent images of the long-ago Vietnam War provide an effective backdrop for this unusual love story infused with the blues. (July)