Customer Reviews

The Fisher Boy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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!

Provincetown comes alive in Anable's first novel, an engaging but often frustrating read. A complex plot, well-developed characters and vivid descriptions of the setting are enough to recommend the book. However, there is perhaps too much going on with various story lines competing against one another and the author's overuse of similes becomes annoying. The characters are not as humorous as you might expect and the lead character is particularly uninteresting. That said, there is writing talent here and I would read more from this author.

Mark Winslow and his improv actors group leave Boston to perform in Provincetown. His summer stay starts upbeat over the Memorial Weekend when he attends a party thrown by his friend Arthur Hilliard; Mark anticipates meeting club owners as everyone who is anyone wants to be seen at this scene.

However, everything turns bloody ugly starting with the dead dog on the outside stoop; or perhaps as Mark suggests before that canine incident the Swedish tall ship the Vasa in the harbor was the harbinger of death. When Mark has an argument with Ian Drummond at a restaurant, he thinks nothing of it until later when he finds the brutalized corpse of Ian. Knowing he is the prime suspect in the killing of a Boston Brahmin, Mark investigates while noticing an influx of Scandinavian tourists but clues hint at the Christian Soldiers in town for the exhibition of the early twentieth century work of artist Thomas Royall.

More a witty social commentary on life in Provincetown, THE FISHER BOY is an entertaining amateur sleuth tale although the detecting takes a back seat to Mark's observations on life in the Cape during that fatal summer. The story line is character driven by Mark who seeks motive through his observations on the various diverse groups battling for supremacy of the Cape Cod town. Readers will appreciate this fine whodunit that is more a deep look at the discordance of diversity.

Harriet Klausner

Boston comic Mark has arrived to Provincetown with a group of fellow actors ready to break into the town's club circuit - but when he gets into a public fight with a famous local and becomes the prime suspect when the lawyer is murdered, Mark finds himself reluctantly drawn into the role of an investigator to clear his name. A tense thriller evolves, perfect for mystery collections.

Still listening to this book and enjoying the tale.
Provincetown is a wonderful place to visit, gay or straight. The people, the food, the view and the art assure you will have a happy experience.
This book gives you a good survey course. The cult is scary and not a typical component of the P-town experience.
My only problem is the reader. I assume the writer spent time in P-Town. Someone should have made sure the reader was familiar with the area. We have our own language and pronunciation. The reader cannot pronounce any of the local place names and a lot of just ordinary things like settee and Breughel. It jars concentration on the story! Someone should have taken responsibility to ensure the reader was conversant in the local jargon!!!

"The Fisher Boy" is an intriguing novel set in the arts community of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Stephen Anable cleverly intersperses clues with red herrings, and takes the reader on a wild mystery ride with unexpected twists and turns. The writing is so vivid and vibrant that I felt like I was watching a movie---or maybe even IN one! I highly recommend "The Fisher Boy" to anyone who likes a well crafted mystery that is beautifully told!

The violent death in the gay community on Cape Cod that is at the heart of this mystery story may result from soured relationships in that community--or it may relate to the extremist cult in the area, or the anti-gay religious group that is demonstrating in town, or the prep school grudges that still have life, or the scandals and greed of the deceased's blueblood family. Mr. Anable's debut novel kept me wondering until the very end. And along the way it delighted me with the salty taste and imagery of Cape Cod. I look forward to reading Mr. Anable's second novel--and I hope that I do not have to wait too long for it!

By the end of the book I was more interest in where the next simile was going to fall then where the plot was going.

This meandering story is told through Mark Winslow a gay man vacationing in Provincetown. Mark has given up his main career and had decided to bring his improv group to P-town for the summer to see if they have what it takes to break into the club circuit. But the peace and quiet are quickly broken when a dog is found murders on the mailbox of a wealthy man, a group of curious Scandinavian's tourist, who look more like panhandlers take over the town and Mark finds out more about his past then he bargained for.

Add in the death of another high profile community leader and a painting that tells a story of it's own and you have a book that wanders in too many directions at one time with a rather anticlimactic ending. If it wasn't for the last 20 or so pages where the author recaps the whole thing I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to tell you what this book was supposed to be about.

Can't recommend this one; maybe next time if he can figure out the one or two plotlines that he wants to stick with.