Thomas Sanchez's American Tropic introduces readers to Truth Dog, an "eco-shock-jock" who broadcasts off Key West from his trawler, Noah's Lark, inviting callers to rail against those who would destroy the environment. One day, a raft loaded with dead Haitians bumps into his boat. A single teenage boy has survived. Inspector Luz, a lesbian Cuban-American cop, is called in to investigate; Noah keeps the boy hidden.
Luz is also investigating the deaths of two other men, their naked bodies mutilated and marked with a big X. One was tied to a buoy at sea, the other hung in a decrepit bat house. Both were involved in a big development project that would damage Key West's fragile ecosystem; their third partner is still alive. Luz discovers the deaths could be the work of a serial killer who is drawing upon Haitian vodou and its destructive Bizango secret society.
Sanchez's droll and suspenseful tale is populated with a colorful cast of characters: Pat, a shrimper who enjoys illegally hunting the area's big turtles; Hogfish, a vet suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and his painter father, Laveck, who lives in a huge rundown mansion; Zoe, Noah's ex (whom he still loves); and Pat, Luz's partner, and their two girls, one of whom is suffering from cancer. Sanchez does a terrific job of interweaving their stories and more in this thoughtful and illuminating environmental call to action. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher