The Hookmen

by Timothy Hillmer

A winner of the Colorado Fiction Award tells the story of a man who makes a living fishing dead bodies from the river, struggles to support his alcoholic father, and pursues a relationship with a mysterious woman. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1994

About the author

Timothy Hillmer has been a teacher and mentor in the Boulder Valley School District for the past twenty-three years and serves as a teacher consultant for the Colorado Writing Project. He is the author of the award-winning "The Hookmen." He lives in Louisville, Colorado, with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What if the river hadn’t been Huckleberry’s escape but instead a gruesome and volatile shackle? What if Jim hadn’t been a kindly, safe (and stereotyped) adult presence guiding him through the world but instead an untrustworthy and unhinged white trash caricature? What if Pa hadn’t been the easy and absolute villain removed from the plot by an act of God and instead was a pathetic, dependent old man? What if summer break was over and the rapids of adulthood hit hard and kept on coming?

These are the questions I imagine Tillmer asked himself while creating the grim realities of The Hookmen. This novel is coming of age meets southern realism meets attempted gothic romance. It’s interesting and moody and imperfect.

There were three main issues which kept this book from becoming an easy 4 stars for me: (1) the blatant (and cliche and lazy) use of rape as a plot device to “spice up” the romantic interest’s tragic backstory; (2) the ham-fisted treatment of said rape (detailed, gratuitous descriptions of the attack immediately followed by semi-consensual graphic sex scenes); and (3) the underwhelming ending (after all that build-up, I needed much more sound & fury at the end).

However, despite these detractions, the novel creates a pretty immersive atmosphere and engaging story. The prose, especially about the natural world, was strong, there was a delightful sense of menace at key points of the story, and I felt a lot of empathy for Cruz, the raw deal he’s been given, and the quiet, tired acceptance he’s settled into prematurely.

Overall, think of this book as Faulkner Lite (very lite).

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P.S. Seems like the author may have been trying to reference or invoke the Golden State Killer with the description of the home invasion and prolonged, multi-roomed rape. Unclear to what effect. Is this what a man imagines most rapes are like? Or was he attempting to bring real life events into the mix?

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“He drank glasses of iced ginger ale to kill the bitter taste of sand and dust in his mouth. At night he hauled an old air mattress on top of the trailer and slept under a gulf of stars. He imagined a cool breeze drifting inland from the Pacific to soothe him from the heat. In the distance he could see the twitching pink and green neon of the Kern Valley Motel. He listened to the sound of traffic out on the interstate. Sometimes he dreamed of the drowned girl.

In the dream she was always alive and staring up at him with eyes as black as eels, her mouth so close he could feel her breath on his lips. Looking down he could see the hook thrust into her side and the blood seeping into the grass like syrup.”

[Andrew Reeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you encounter a review which compares any novel to James Dickey's seminal work, Deliverance-- if you’re like me your apt to quickly toss the review aside and move onto something a bit more realistic, perhaps the comics or editorial sections of your local paper. It's a hard case to make since Dickey is widely regarded as one of the finest poets and prose writers of a generation, perhaps one of the best this Country has ever produced—along with Annie Dillard, Jim Harrison, Joyce Carol Oates, and a scarce few others. However, in this case, the reviewer was closer to the mark than most. Timothy Hillmer’s The Hookmen is a breathtaking journey down a swirling river of regret and foaming, ethereal suspense. It is certainly one of the best novels of 1993—one of the top 100 of the decade. And, like Dickey’s work, the novel has managed to mature gracefully in the two decades since its publication; seemingly more full-bodied and flavorful than ever. So, if you haven’t read this novel, pick a copy up and immerse yourself in the river’s bracing currents, and prepare yourself for a whirlwind ride down the buffeted literary rapids of quality prose. You won’t be disappointed.

[Tom Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Thought this was a good book, somewhat understated and ultimately I wanted an undefinable bit more. It was authentic except for the part about the shooting at the bar. I thought realistically that there would have been police involvement as well as pursuit of bikers. The area is not that populated and people know of each other. The river scenes are great.