Hook, Line & Sinister

February 22, 2010
Fishing can be murder both literally and figuratively, as shown in this rich string of 16 original stories caught and displayed by bestseller Parker. Not all are trophy worthy, but most are keepers, like “Mr. Brody's Trout” by the late William G. Tapply, in which bait shop owner Stoney Calhoun guides an elderly fisherman on a monthlong quest for “a ten-pound native Maine brook trout.” Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak solves a missing person case and metes out poetic justice in her Alaskan village in “Cherchez La Femme.” In John Lescroart's clever “Unsnaggable,” a Yellowstone fishing trip offers a spouse the chance to exit a marriage. Three brief fishing lessons from a hit man teach a suicidal man a life lesson in Brian M. Wiprud's provocative “Granite Hat.” Other contributors include Michael Connelly, Ridley Pearson, C.J. Box, and James W. Hall. This solid anthology demonstrates that a passion for fishing and a passion for writing can hook a reader and reel him in.