Between the devil and the deep blue sea : a novel
(Book)

"A Kaylie Jones Book"--Cover

Early 1970s. 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. César Alvarez, a street-tough kid of Afro-Cuban descent, enlists in the navy to escape a life of crime-- and Mr. Mike, a sociopathic gangster who was once a mentor but has now turned on him. Deployed aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, he finds 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 is a fortitude he will desperately need. - adapted from back cover