When describing his latest novel Screams and Whispers, Randall Peffer, Instructor in English, talks of balmy Southeast Asian nations and a complex romance—in short, “This is Madam Butterfly set in contemporary Vietnam”
Screams and Whispers was released on July 26, 20ll, and is the sixth installment in Peffer’s Cape Island Series.
A romantic suspense novel, Screams and Whispers, differs slightly from Peffer’s other mystery books. Peffer said, “There is graphic, sadistic violence in it, which stands in counterpoint to this really tender love story.”
It tells the story of Peffer’s protagonist, Michael Decastro, a public defender based in Cape Cod and his latest client, Tuki Apercio. Tuki is a half-African American, half-Vietnamese orphan who becomes a drag queen in Thailand and later immigrates to Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Peffer considers Tuki, the other main character, to be his most special character.
“I dreamed Tuki. I lived in Southeast Asia for a year in the mid 80’s. I was doing work for the Smithsonian and the New York Times, and I saw a lot of these Thai drag queens and a lot of these Vietnamese orphans living in Thailand. And then [about] seven years ago I had a dream about [Tuki],” he said.
Peffer explained his research process while writing the novel. “The funny thing is I didn’t know anything about drag, so I had to do a lot of this research because I had scenes with her performing. For research, my wife and I went to the Miss Gay Massachusetts beauty contest, and there were a thousand drag queens there.”
Peffer said that he did not direct Screams and Whispers for one type of audience but may have subconsciously written the book for the baby-boomer generation.
“The Vietnam War was a seminal event for the baby boomer generation. I think many Americans my age are haunted by the Vietnam War,” said Peffer.
Peffer also believes that negative feelings about the Vietnam War extend to baby-boomers’ children. “Even though Tuki is a drag queen and Michael is a homophobic, Portuguese fishermen and lawyer, they both share this glamorous nightmare,” said Peffer.
Peffer said that he views the characters in his books as his imaginary playmates. Sometimes his characters appear in other books that have no direct connection to each other. Peffer is currently writing a new book in which a Latina detective, Yemanja Colon, and Michael Decastro, a protagonist in Screams and Whispers, meet.
Like all books in Peffer’s Cape Island Series, the characters hold a connection to the islands around Cape Cod.
“The book starts on the Cape and ends on the Cape but 90 percent of the book takes place in contemporary Vietnam because Tuki has gone back to look for her birth mother, but she also finds misery and mayhem [there]. And Michael, like a good knight, goes to rescue her but he finds misery and mayhem too,” said Peffer.
Peffer has strong ties to the Cape Cod area because he is also a professional mariner who has a 100-ton boating license. Peffer ran a research boat out of the Cape for 14 years and spent another ten summers working and living on the Cape. His summer house is just off the Cape on Buzzards Bay.
“I think [Cape Cod] is one of those lands end kind of places like Key West, and of course, the ultimate “lands end” is Provincetown. I think “lands end” kind of places draw a fresh mix of idiosyncratic character, lots of people who aren’t like mainstream. Think of the possibilities of a little town where fifth generation Portuguese fishermen and drag queens and mafiosos have to live side by side. [There are] lots of possibilities for fiction,” said Peffer.
Peffer has a contract with his publisher for another two books. Peffer said that it usually takes him nine months to complete a novel. Currently, Peffer is working on his new mystery with the Latina cop, Yemajna Colon, and Michael, called Fantom Hearts. He has also written a love story called Forever Barcelona.
Peffer said of his love story, “I haven’t even given it to a publisher yet. [It is] set in Spain and Cuba against the backdrop of bull fighting.”
Before he entered the fiction genre, Peffer wrote travel articles for major newspapers and wrote over 60 articles for Sailing Magazine.
