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Don't Ask, Don't Tell
How far is too far for justice?
In California, Officer Josie Waller and Detective Emmanuel Cerrillo suspect two bizarre suicides are actually murders. The victims—a teetotaling Baptist preacher who died of a heroin overdose and an ultra-conservative school board member who injected herself with cobra venom—are apparently connected only by their vitriolic homophobia. The suspicious officers launch an unofficial investigation and find more than expected.
Across the country, Robert Davenport, a gay English professor at an Ivy League university, is recruited by a clandestine organization “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In theory, the group wants Davenport to write a publishable manifesto. But he soon begins to wonder whether there’s more to his mission than meets the eye. Just how far will he be asked to go? And will the officers find him before it’s too late?
In California, Officer Josie Waller and Detective Emmanuel Cerrillo suspect two bizarre suicides are actually murders. The victims—a teetotaling Baptist preacher who died of a heroin overdose and an ultra-conservative school board member who injected herself with cobra venom—are apparently connected only by their vitriolic homophobia. The suspicious officers launch an unofficial investigation and find more than expected.
Across the country, Robert Davenport, a gay English professor at an Ivy League university, is recruited by a clandestine organization “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In theory, the group wants Davenport to write a publishable manifesto. But he soon begins to wonder whether there’s more to his mission than meets the eye. Just how far will he be asked to go? And will the officers find him before it’s too late?
343 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2020
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June 1, 2020
What if victims of prejudice and discrimination—sometimes violent, sometimes insidious, always maddening—took up arms and fought back? What if they were backed by a well-funded organization? That’s what happens in this all too believable thriller. Set in the near past, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell covers about 18 months in the lives of a wide variety of characters (cops, academics, scientists, activists) as a secret organization recruits LGBT activists who want to fight for justice … including murder of homophobes with platforms and ambition for power.
Robert Davenport, a closeted Ivy League English professor, has been waiting too long for tenure when he spies an ad for an LGBT organization interested in justice activists. Vetted and recruited by Tanish Padgett, who is settling scores for childhood trauma, he finds himself in deep with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, an organization ready to go public with violence on homophobes. Meanwhile, on the other coast, Detective Manny Cerrillo and Officer Josie Waller are putting the pieces together on a couple of suspicious suicides that are linked to DADT. As they race to identify the mysterious Gulf Stream who seems to be pulling the strings, DADT is preparing for a big “Pearl Harbor” event. Even with the feds involved, will they be able to prevent catastrophe?
This book is tense and exciting, as a thriller must be, but what makes it is the characters. They are all complex, interesting, and exasperatingly human. Friendship is as big a theme as murder. Partnership is the saving graces for so many of these people. Even the bad guys are at least understandable, even sympathetic. Though he’s all in with the terrorists, Davenport seems like he should be the hero, especially in a late twist. Cerrillo and Waller make a great team, though they are thrown together almost by chance. The ending presents a societal mess not unlike our present day, with things left open for at least a sequel, if not a series. The cops and Padgett all have unfinished business.
I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher.
Robert Davenport, a closeted Ivy League English professor, has been waiting too long for tenure when he spies an ad for an LGBT organization interested in justice activists. Vetted and recruited by Tanish Padgett, who is settling scores for childhood trauma, he finds himself in deep with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, an organization ready to go public with violence on homophobes. Meanwhile, on the other coast, Detective Manny Cerrillo and Officer Josie Waller are putting the pieces together on a couple of suspicious suicides that are linked to DADT. As they race to identify the mysterious Gulf Stream who seems to be pulling the strings, DADT is preparing for a big “Pearl Harbor” event. Even with the feds involved, will they be able to prevent catastrophe?
This book is tense and exciting, as a thriller must be, but what makes it is the characters. They are all complex, interesting, and exasperatingly human. Friendship is as big a theme as murder. Partnership is the saving graces for so many of these people. Even the bad guys are at least understandable, even sympathetic. Though he’s all in with the terrorists, Davenport seems like he should be the hero, especially in a late twist. Cerrillo and Waller make a great team, though they are thrown together almost by chance. The ending presents a societal mess not unlike our present day, with things left open for at least a sequel, if not a series. The cops and Padgett all have unfinished business.
I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher.
Displaying 1 of 1 review