After reading the summary for Screams and Whispers (July 2011), I was immediately intrigued and had high hopes for a thrilling tale filled with adventure. Peffer is a new author to me and I’m always up for experimenting with different authors. Upon requesting this novel for review, I was unaware that it was the sixth book in the Cape Island Mystery series and hoped that reading them out of order wouldn't leave gaps in the character history, etc.
In this book, Michael Decastro and his father, Caesar, travel to Saigon to help Tuki Aparecio, a long lost client. They find out that she is mixed-up with The Dragon Lady, a dark force in the underworld of Indochina. The Dragon Lady will go to great lengths to acquire a special, and very valuable, gem that Tuki has in her possession.
I was expecting a captivating read that would thrust me into the lives and hearts of the characters and Saigon, but found that I dreaded the idea of picking the book up once I set it down. The character known as The Dragon Lady was inconsistent, straddling the line between hero and villain. Apart from The Dragon Lady, the characters were well-developed and interesting. My favorite character was Tuki. I couldn’t help but cheer for her.
Overall, Screams and Whispers was interesting but isn’t a book I would highly recommend. Peffer obviously did a fair amount of research, which made the novel more enjoyable. However, character inconsistency is a big pet peeve I just can’t overlook. Being that Screams and Whispers is the sixth book in the Cape Island Mystery series, I feel compelled to look into the earlier installments to get a better grasp on his writing style.
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