Unspoken Bonds

Peter Crane is deaf, fifteen, and just got released from juvie three years early. No warning. No explanation. No home.

All he has to his name is a trash bag of dirty clothes, ninety-six bucks, and a voucher for the EconoLodge—courtesy of a worn-out cop in green sunglasses who seems a little too kind to trust. After years of silence, trauma, and betrayal, Pete knows better than to believe in help that comes with no strings attached.

But when a criminal investigation finally opens against the powerful man who destroyed his life, Pete is offered something he never a chance to speak up—and to strike back.

To do it, he’ll have to partner with Officer Kermit Greene, an unlikely ally in a city full of shadows. With nothing but raw grit, a battered ASL dictionary, and Kung Fu training passed down from his late father, Pete must navigate a world that’s never listened to him, while uncovering the truth one dangerous step at a time.

He’s not alone, though. In a greasy auto shop, he meets Corinna Spinelli—an apprentice mechanic with oil on her cheek and an honest heart—who sees him for exactly who he is. For the first time, Pete starts to believe he might deserve more than survival.

Darkly funny, emotionally raw, and fiercely human, Unspoken Bonds is the story of a deaf teen’s fight for dignity, a cop with his own ghosts, and the unlikely family built in the ruins of silence.