Kent R Parsons

Shipley's Key Kent R Parsons

The night before he is killed in a Viet Cong rocket attack, Private Shipley asks Tulley Hoffmann to take an important key to Shipley's sister in case Shipley is killed. Tulley grudgingly agrees to do so, but when Shipley is actually killed the very next day, Tulley realizes he doesn't remember the sister's name and has no easy way of finding it out. Tulley Hoffmann is a draft-dodging Mormon missionary who takes an unauthorized trip to wartime Vietnam and finds himself in deep trouble when his mission companion is seriously wounded. In the course of his travels Tulley escapes from a military hospital, seeks the aid of a Taoist Black Magic sorceress, befriends a prostitute, and witnesses a late-night murder in Taiwan. Upon his return home, Tulley takes a detour through Idaho in an effort to find Shipley's sister.