Wandering Souls

Caputo, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of the classic Vietnam War memoir A Rumor of War, offers a resonant story collection in which characters seek connection and atonement under extreme circumstances. The cinematic title entry concerns a Vietnam veteran who returns to Hanoi decades later to search for two injured black ops soldiers his troop was forced to abandon. Hoping to find closure for himself and a sister of one of the soldiers, he instead uncovers unsavory details about their mission. “A Near-Death Experience,” set during a Kenyan safari, features a middle-aged wildlife photographer whose increasingly dangerous attempts to impress an attractive younger graduate student nearly cost him his life. Caputo riffs on Raiders of the Lost Ark with “The Deliverer,” a morality tale about phony archaeologist Covington, “one of those dudes who loots tombs and ruins,” and his shifty associate Jed Tyner, who worms his way onto a Bermuda-bound boat captained by a scrupulous Navy veteran on the eve of a hurricane. With “The Traveler,” Caputo paints a mesmerizing portrait of an aging American couple’s ill-fated voyage up the Mekong River. Throughout, he capably infuses the stories’ lushly drawn locations with themes of loss, desire, and death. The author’s fans will be thrilled to find that his powers remain undiminished. (Jan.)