The Big Both Ways [Paperback]

John Straley is one of my favorite authors, ever.

I was hooked by The Woman Who Married a Bear. I loved The Curious Eat Themselves. I've read every word he's ever had published in book form, and have a hard time waiting between books.

This last wait was the worst. It stretched on forever.

It was worth it.

This one is the best yet.

We lose Cecil Younger, but we gain four fascinating characters that we'll never forget. Five, if you count the bird.

Slip is a logger who quits when a friend of his dies high in a tree. He is going to 'retire' to a quiet life of farming. Or so he thinks.

In reality, his life is going to spiral around and down like something gross being flushed down a toilet. Every time he tries to escape the latest horrific event, everything just gets worse.

Ellie is his love interest, if you can call it that. He's attracted to her, but is also more than a little scared of her. It's more fascination than love, but just as powerful. She gets him into new legal jams twice as fast as he can get out of the last jam. [Death follows her, and therefore Slip, like a lonely puppy.]

Ellie's fetching niece, Annabelle, helps keep him interested, as in some strange way does Annabelle's bird, a cockatiel named Buddy.

A Seattle detective named George is after all of them, because he is intent on bringing Ellie and Slip to justice, not much caring what happens to the kid and the bird.

That's all I'm going to say about plot, because the story line, while strong, is not what makes this book 'cook.' What lifts it above mere mystery is Straley's magnificent style, his keen insight into what makes characters tick, or not, and his knack for grabbing us where we live emotionally and never letting go.

In the end, what matters is not who is or who is not guilty of murders galore, but who is or is not truly human. That's always been true in Straley, and this time around it's truer than ever.

I stand in awe.

With this book Straley has proven he can 'change horses' and still ride. Or, in this case, write. Although I will miss his Cecil Younger character, I found a whole new slew of characters to like in this new book. Setting it in 1935 is unique because Alaska barely existed in the eyes of the world prior to 1941 and the outbreak of WWII. The characters in this book, the misfits and the people they run into on their escape up the Southeast coast of Alaska are so 'real', I felt like I knew them all. People credit the gold miners with 'settling' Alaska but it was every bit the others as well, the bartenders, storekeepers, cannery workers, fishermen, and loggers, the everyday folks who people Straley's books who really pioneered Alaska. Hats off, John. It was a great read!! Keep 'em coming!

Once again, John Straley takes you into the misty, wild realm of Southeast Alaska in a way that few authors can. This time it's with a new cast of characters easily as rich and interesting as the old crew of Cecil, Todd and the rest. Straley fills a leaky dory with a cargo of innocence, strength, tenderness and hope then sets it on a journey as unpredictable as the waters it travels. A clever mix of mystery, action, history and heart, this story will pull you along with each stroke of the oars and each stroke of Straley's masterful pen. I loved this book.