The Dark of the Island

This well-wrought suspense novel from Gerard (Hatteras Light) entwines the tale of five residents of North Carolina’s Hatteras Island coming to manhood in the early days of WWII with that of PR man Nick Wolf, whose company is drilling for oil off the Outer Banks in 1991. Nick’s grandfather, also Nicholas Wolf, died off the coast of Hatteras Island in 1942, apparently while serving in the U.S. Merchant Marine. But a postwar report suggests that he died aboard a U-boat off Hatteras and belonged to a German infantry regiment. On Hatteras, Nick meets Julia Royal, a granddaughter of Liam Royal, one of five young men who all knew one another. Brief but effective accounts of their wartime fates alternate with Nick’s travails on the island. Meanwhile, Julia’s hot and cold behavior baffles Nick. A mysterious letter holds a key that will unlock a secret that affects just about everybody in this engrossing story. (Mar.)