Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

by Andr Lewis Carter

Overview

In the early 1970s, César Alvarez enlists in the navy to escape a life of crime; while the decision saves him from the streets, it also lands him amid volatile racial tensions at a crucial moment in US history.

"Skillfully blending his fictional hero’s coming-of-age story with a real-life racial confrontation aboard ship, Carter’s tale is a winning combination of military procedural, suspense, and Black history." —Booklist, Starred Review

"Taking its title from a nautical term for a conundrum, the novel is a coming-of-age and redemption story about two young Black men going through boot camp, training school and their first assignments in an early 1970s Navy struggling with racism and sexism." —The Oregonian

The Vietnam War is raging, the US Navy has only recently begun the process of integration, and the country is reeling from racial turmoil and unrest. So why does César, a street-tough kid of Afro-Cuban descent, enlist in the navy? He is on the run from a life of crime and from Mr. Mike, a charismatic, sociopathic gangster who was once a mentor but has now turned on him.

Escaping into a navy wrestling with its history of racism and sexism, César soon sees the absurdity of certain prejudices that seem as old as the US Armed Forces. When he is deployed aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, racial tensions are high and are moving quickly toward violence. Through it all, César’s ever-growing sense of honor and self-worth force him to make moral decisions he never knew he was capable of. It’s a fortitude he will desperately need.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617758775
Publisher:	Akashic Books, Ltd.
Publication date:	01/04/2022
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

André Lewis Carter is a retired navy veteran who writes fiction, essays, and plays in the urban sprawl of Portland, Oregon. Carter's one-act play, Reaction, was staged at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska. He holds an MA in fiction writing and an MFA in creative writing from Wilkes University, where he was a Beverly Blakeslee Hiscox Scholar. He is married to a very patient woman who occasionally tells dirty jokes. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is his debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

11/08/2021

Carter’s salty debut follows a U.S. Navy recruit who confronts racial division on his search for deliverance. In 1971, Cesar Alvarez, a 19-year-old Afro-Cuban growing up in Orlando, runs afoul of his boss, a vicious drug runner known as Mr. Mike, and decides his only ticket out is to join the Navy. In basic training, Cesar experiences prejudice within the ranks, and after he’s stationed in San Diego for signalman training, he begins a relationship with a female sailor, biracial Aida Hachi. Upon graduation, Cesar flies to Manila to await the arrival of the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk on its way home from Vietnam. On board, Cesar notes that racial tensions are high, exacerbated by the fact that the carrier has received orders to return to Vietnam. To make matters worse, the long arm of Mr. Mike reaches out to take revenge on Cesar. A Navy veteran, the author displays intimate knowledge of the various signaling modes Cesar picks up, such as Morse code and flag semaphore. There’s some contrived plotting involving Mr. Mike, but Cesar makes for a durable hero. Overall, this is one of the most empathetic depictions of navy lifers since The Last Detail. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"The first virtue of Carter’s book is its authentic, granular depictions of life aboard an American aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War—the best I’ve ever encountered. But the novel’s other virtues—vividly depicted characters; an unsparing examination of racial discrimination and conflict aboard ship and at the San Diego Navy base; and a simmering story line that explodes on the high seas—makes this engrossing debut novel a must-read for Navy vets, as well as all who appreciate a fast-paced tale of a young man trying to find love, forge a new identity, and come to grips with his criminal past while serving his country."

J. Michael Lennon (LCDR

"André Lewis Carter weaves a riveting tale about a side of the US Navy we seldom see. Tone-perfect delivery and an inarguably authentic voice mark the debut of a powerful new talent."

David Poyer

"André Carter can tell a helluva story. With well-paced prose and silky-smooth voice and style, Carter also makes a case for the beauty and brilliance of human redemption in the face of irredeemable trauma. Full of complex characters to root for and believe in, and set against the backdrop of one young man's evolving understanding of American racism, this coming-of-age story manages to tell that truth without preaching. It acknowledges America's deep generational hurts, without turning from beauty and love. And what more could we ask from any writer chronicling a life, a place, a generation? This novel is worth everyone's time."
—Roger Bonair-Agard, author of Where Brooklyn At? Chapter

From the Publisher

2021-11-30
Which is more challenging, coming of age in the Navy or on the crime-ridden streets?

November 1971. Orlando teenager César Alvarez succumbs to the hard sell of a gritty petty officer named Segar and joins the Navy. The Afro-Cuban César is hopeful of making a new life off the streets, where he works for the villainous Mr. Mike, a coldblooded killer and drug dealer who regularly calls him the N-word. The Navy is a whole new eye-opening world for César, who nevertheless can’t shake the fear that Mr. Mike will exact revenge. A casual meeting with fellow recruit Aida paves the way for romance. While there are welcome opportunities for advancement, like extensive travel and signalman school, César also finds the everyday dangers of his neighborhood replaced by the subtler racism of the Navy. The measured plot takes the hero from Orlando to San Diego to Manila, where he’s stationed aboard the Kitty Hawk, as the specter of the Vietnam War lurks ominously in the background and Mr. Mike hatches an elaborate plan to destroy César. The strength of Carter’s lean, straightforward prose, which mirrors César’s earnest, ethical nature and urges readers to root for him, and the authority of detail in his debut override some triteness of incident and character.

A naval adventure thriller from recent history, told in a fresh, straightforward new voice.

Kirkus Reviews