Isle of Kapre: A Novel

After serving in Iraq and failing to reintegrate into American society afterward, Pete Richards expatriates to the Philippine Islands. As he struggles with unraveling his emotions from the war, he also struggles with integrating into Eastern culture, where what you see is not always what you get, and where warm and friendly smiles from strangers are generally indicative of completely opposite intentions. By the time Richards starts making sense of his new surroundings, he’s broke, and he takes to mercenary work for income, helping the Philippine Army track down members of the various terrorist groups that plague the islands. During this time he meets Rose, a beautiful Filipina who comes to him for help, claiming that her younger sister has been kidnapped by the terrorist network Abu Sayyaf. Hesitantly, he agrees to help when she offers him a sum that he cannot refuse for his services. Richards soon finds himself on a mysterious island with Rose, the Isle of Kapre, where his views on what is real and what isn’t take another turn as they encounter mythical creatures and beasts straight out of Philippine superstitions and urban legends in their attempt to find Rose’s sister. Matters become worse when Richards finds out that Rose is not exactly what she’s claimed to be and when he learns the truth about her sister, who has been taken by a force much darker and more powerful than a rag tag group of hooligans. “Isle of Kapre” is a dark fantasy tale about acceptance, and it is an introduction to the West of Philippine legend, folklore and paranormal, known collectively in the Philippines as Aswang.

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