WHERE BUTTERFLIES GATHER

Frisino’s 1940s historical novel follows the final years of World War II and beyond.

The author follows up Storms From a Clear Sky (2020) with the third book in the Orchids trilogy, which opens in July 1943. The war is raging, and the conflict has changed the trajectory of many American lives. Jack Huntington is an FBI agent with one bad eye, injured during a fencing match with his college roommate, Akio Sumiyoshi. Akio now serves as a lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He’s smart and ruthless. Jack considers Akio his “lifetime enemy” and would love to see him dead. The feeling is mutual, but along with Jack, Akio also wants to off Jack’s wife, Billi. Previously in the series, Billi was involved in spying on Akio while he made plans in San Francisco, information that she passed on to Jack. Along with the saga of Akio, Jack, and Billi, the novel follows other characters as the war eventually ends and both sides “come to terms with their new future.” Keeping track of everyone isn’t easy. Secondary players include Eddy, a pilot who was stationed in Oahu when the war broke out, and Dahlia, who enters events as a nurse in the Army in 1943. But the large cast allows Frisino to tackle aspects of WWII that readers might not expect. From espionage that took place within the U.S. to details of life in Japanese relocation camps (e.g., “the Japanese had created fourteen baseball fields, and their teams were allowed to travel for sports events”) to the hellish reality of being captured in the Pacific to a deadly event known as Exercise Tiger, there’s a plethora of real, inviting history to discover.

An extensive, compelling adventure through many facets of WWII.