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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Provincetown debut, June 23, 2008
This review is from: The Fisher Boy (Hardcover)
Summering in P-town in hopes of jump starting a new career in improv, Mark Winslow instead finds himself looking into the wave of crime that strikes the community. Is it gay bashing? Fundamentalist fanatics? Eco-warriors? Or are the crimes unrelated? Well, they are certainly connected in that they all involve Mark's friends, and the deeper his investigation goes, the more complex and tangled the web becomes.
The Fisher Boy is an ambitious murder mystery, with enough plot elements to support 2 additional novels. Well written, infused with satisfying imagery, populated by substantive characters, the story speeds along, drawing the reader into its various puzzles and crises. The gay culture so long ensconced in P-town is portrayed believably, and the clash of cultures and belief systems is also well handled. It does makes for an enjoyable reading experience, but leaves little room for any substantive development. For example, the book's central image, the painting of the fisher boy, promises an intellectual element that fails to materialize. In like manner, the motivations of some of the miscreants are facile, but on the whole, implausible. Nevertheless, author Anable has produced a respectable and literate first novel, a welcome addition to the genre.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
STELLAR READING OF AN OUTSTANDING DEBUT, June 13, 2008
For a writer who has spent much of his professional life writing business related articles Boston born Stephen Anable certainly knows how to spin a suspenseful tale as is illustrated in his debut novel, The Fisher Boy.
Province town, near Cape Cod is the setting Anable chose, as it is a place he knows well having spent many summers there. Thus, his story is filled with authentic sights, sounds and, yes, even aromas, that typify that area. He also wisely created characters familiar to him as he once was an actor, and a stand-up comic.
We may wonder just how much of the author we find in protagonist Mark Winslow who has brought an acting troupe to Province town, wanting to become a part of he summer club scene. Nonetheless, you know what is said about best laid plans. A prelude of dark days to come is the body of a dead dog left on a doorstep.
It's not long before Ian Drummond's body is found with his throat slashed. Ian is an old school friend of Mark's and they recently had a disagreement that escalated into a fight. Our wannabe entertainer suddenly finds himself the prime suspect in a murder case. Only alternative seems to be for Mark to find the actual murderer.
There is quite a trail for him to follow as it involves some of the bluest bloods in Boston, a weird homophobic sect, and a famous painting. Trying to tie all of this together is enough of a chore for Mark without the unique clique of characters who may or may not have some bearing on the killing.
Anable has crafted a compelling picture of a summer resort rife with skullduggery and secrets. Audiophile Earphones Award winning actor Paul Michael Garcia brings all of this to life with his skillful narration. His classical training in theatre stands him in good stead as he adroitly voices a disparate cast of characters. An acclaimed performer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, his voice is resonant, distinct, as he shapes and enunciates his narrative with appropriate shades of meaning.
- Gail Cooke
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
First time novelist did an outstanding job ... a great read!, April 22, 2008
This review is from: The Fisher Boy (Hardcover)
When a well-known member of gay society in the summer enclave of Provincetown is the apparent target of a hate crime, locals are quick to blame it on a new (and homophobic) "Christian Right" group operating out of a downtown storefront near the harbor. But the subsequent brutal murder of another gay A-lister a few weeks later causes the entire population, gay and straight alike, to wonder if this seemingly harmless propaganda group would go that far, or if it could be connected to a group of dirty, disrespectful hippie-like panhandlers who were rumored to be connected to a Scandinavian ship archored off the harbor, or maybe - they eventually considered - it could be one of their own.
In this atmosphere of confusion and suspicion we find Mark Winslow, a gay man who recently left his respectable day job and is in P-Town to try to get some gigs for his amateur comic troupe. With his hunky comic partner Roberto, his good friend Miriam and her young daughter, Chloe, and older friend Arthur (whose party was the target of the first incident), Mark angers the slow-acting local police by doing some investigating of his own, checking out Arthur's former houseboy, the conniving and devious Edward, and stumbling upon a mysterious clan in a nearby town, which could be the source of the panhandlers and a lot of other unanswered questions about what they are doing there, as well as what connection they might have to an early 20th Century painter, whose work "The Fisher Boy" - a personal favorite of Mark's - was the recent target of vandalism by a madman spouting Christian rhetoric.
An intricate but impeccably-woven and beautifully styled masterpiece of a mystery novel, revealing hidden town and family secrets that would later have relevance to solving the crimes. Loved it from the first page, a definite five stars out of five!
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