Hull Creek
A Novel of the Maine Coast
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Troy Hull has troubles. After the death of his parents, he left college to take up his family's traditional lobster-fi shing life. Now, thanks to poor fi shing, a misguided second mortgage, and the changing nature of his hometown, Troy fi nds himself faced with the loss of that life. As a former highschool classmate turned banker tells him: This isn't a fi sherman's town anymore. Indeed, soaring property values have made it increasingly a haven for land speculators, wealthy summer residents, and tax-sheltered retirees, and Troy's home- just off the harbor on a quiet stretch of Hull Creek-is exactly the sort of property these newcomers covet. So Troy must decide whether to join his friend on an illegal path to solvency or let the straight-andnarrow take him from his beloved home. Hull Creek is a timely tale of change on the coast of Maine and the challenges it brings to the men who still seek their livelihood from the sea.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nichols (Slow Monkeys) delivers a lively yarn about Maine lobstermen facing down times both hard and modern. Narrator Troy Hull is a "dub lobster fisherman" from the port hamlet of Pequot who dropped out of college a decade ago to take over the family lobster business after his mother was killed and his father injured in a car wreck. With his longtime pal, Polky, Troy has fallen to smuggling weed as times have gotten difficult, including a divorce, delinquent boat payments, and an influx of affluent tourists and transplants who have corrupted the charm of his rustic hometown. Smelling a quick way to dash their money troubles, Polky cooks up a big score with dope smugglers and brings in Troy, but the easy job might come at a high price. Nichols does a persuasive job of portraying a town and lifestyle in flux, and if the marine passages sometimes read like they'd benefit from a translation from the seadogese, they come off as the real deal.
