First published 2019
Captain is a half-French, half-Vietnamese double agent working within the South Vietnamese army as Saigon collapses in April 1975. While helping his general compile evacuation lists for the final flights to America, he secretly reports to his Viet Cong handler. Born to a French father who abandoned him and a poor Vietnamese mother, Captain studied at an American university before returning to Vietnam to serve the Communist cause. He follows the general and other refugees to Los Angeles, where he continues his covert mission of watching and reporting on the exile community. Torn between his Western education and Communist loyalties, between his mixed heritage and chosen allegiances, Captain navigates the dangerous space between two worlds. His story weaves together espionage, political extremism, and personal relationships against the backdrop of the Vietnam War's aftermath and its lasting impact on both Vietnamese and American cultures.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, espionage, political-thriller
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Saigon, Los Angeles
Period: 1975
512 pages · Paperback · Corsair
Content warnings: war