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Cold Storage #2
Cold Storage, Alaska
An offbeat, often hilarious crime novel set in the sleepy Alaskan town of Cold Storage from the Shamus Award winning author of the Cecil Younger series.
Cold Storage, Alaska, is a remote fishing outpost where salmonberries sparkle in the morning frost and where you just might catch a King Salmon if you’re zen enough to wait for it. Settled in 1935 by Norse fishermen who liked to skinny dip in its natural hot springs, the town enjoyed prosperity at the height of the frozen fish boom. But now the cold storage plant is all but abandoned and the town is withering.
Clive “The Milkman” McCahon returns to his tiny Alaska hometown after a seven-year jail stint for dealing coke. He has a lot to make up to his younger brother, Miles, who has dutifully been taking care of their ailing mother. But Clive doesn’t realize the trouble he’s bringing home. His vengeful old business partner is hot on his heels, a stick-in-the-mud State Trooper is dying to bust Clive for narcotics, and, to complicate everything, Clive might be going insane—lately, he’s been hearing animals talking to him. Will his arrival in Cold Storage be a breath of fresh air for the sleepy, depopulated town? Or will Clive’s arrival turn the whole place upside down?
From the Hardcover edition.
Cold Storage, Alaska, is a remote fishing outpost where salmonberries sparkle in the morning frost and where you just might catch a King Salmon if you’re zen enough to wait for it. Settled in 1935 by Norse fishermen who liked to skinny dip in its natural hot springs, the town enjoyed prosperity at the height of the frozen fish boom. But now the cold storage plant is all but abandoned and the town is withering.
Clive “The Milkman” McCahon returns to his tiny Alaska hometown after a seven-year jail stint for dealing coke. He has a lot to make up to his younger brother, Miles, who has dutifully been taking care of their ailing mother. But Clive doesn’t realize the trouble he’s bringing home. His vengeful old business partner is hot on his heels, a stick-in-the-mud State Trooper is dying to bust Clive for narcotics, and, to complicate everything, Clive might be going insane—lately, he’s been hearing animals talking to him. Will his arrival in Cold Storage be a breath of fresh air for the sleepy, depopulated town? Or will Clive’s arrival turn the whole place upside down?
From the Hardcover edition.
328 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2013
389 people are currently reading
3879 people want to read
About the author
John Straley
40 books193 followersNovelist John Straley has worked as a secretary, horseshoer, wilderness guide, trail crew foreman, millworker, machinist and private investigator. He moved to Sitka, Alaska in 1977 and has no plans of leaving. John's wife, Jan Straley, is a marine biologist well-known for her extensive studies of humpback whales.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 323 reviews
December 18, 2013
"Is everyone in this town a goddamn comedian?"
Lance continued feeding sticks into the stove, the flames lighting his face. "No, actually most of the people in this town are drunks or depressives, but we have our funny moments."
I used to want to live in Alaska...
...back when I thought the place was populated with the cast of 'Northern Exposure'. Then I found out, people like Ted Stevens and Sarah Palin live there, too. That kind of ruined things for me.
But now, my faith in our largest state has been restored.
Meet the strange and wonderful denizens/characters of Cold Storage, Alaska, the most likable group of "drunks and depressives" you're likely to encounter. They're a mostly laid-back bunch. They look to Miles McCahon to patch up their wounds and keep them healthy enough to drink another day. Soon to join the mix is Clive McCahon, Miles' younger brother. Just sprung from prison, he's returning to his hometown, determined to walk the straight and narrow...IF he can avoid a rabid State Trooper determined to send him back to the pen, AND an old "business" associate out to "tie up some loose ends." Wackiness ensues. People do funny, unexpected things. I ended up smiling quite a bit.
This was a first-reads giveaway, but YOU can buy and read in early February. I would suggest that you do. There's not much else to put a smile on your face in that bleak and snowy month.
And Alaska? I probably don't want to live there, but I'm sure willing to visit. Save me a black cod collar...whatever the heck that is...
Lance continued feeding sticks into the stove, the flames lighting his face. "No, actually most of the people in this town are drunks or depressives, but we have our funny moments."
I used to want to live in Alaska...
...back when I thought the place was populated with the cast of 'Northern Exposure'. Then I found out, people like Ted Stevens and Sarah Palin live there, too. That kind of ruined things for me.
But now, my faith in our largest state has been restored.
Meet the strange and wonderful denizens/characters of Cold Storage, Alaska, the most likable group of "drunks and depressives" you're likely to encounter. They're a mostly laid-back bunch. They look to Miles McCahon to patch up their wounds and keep them healthy enough to drink another day. Soon to join the mix is Clive McCahon, Miles' younger brother. Just sprung from prison, he's returning to his hometown, determined to walk the straight and narrow...IF he can avoid a rabid State Trooper determined to send him back to the pen, AND an old "business" associate out to "tie up some loose ends." Wackiness ensues. People do funny, unexpected things. I ended up smiling quite a bit.
This was a first-reads giveaway, but YOU can buy and read in early February. I would suggest that you do. There's not much else to put a smile on your face in that bleak and snowy month.
And Alaska? I probably don't want to live there, but I'm sure willing to visit. Save me a black cod collar...whatever the heck that is...
June 26, 2017
This book ticked all the boxes for me. It's got some beautiful writing, quirky characters, skilful dialogue and a roller coaster storyline that lurches from sadness and pathos to merriment and back again. It makes for a very memorable read.
June 23, 2014
I would describe this book as being neither offbeat, nor hilarious, nor a mystery. I found myself not caring at all about the characters, and for a book that spends so much time talking about plot structure and narrative arc, "Cold Storage, Alaska" didn't seem to have much of either. I read this mostly for the setting -- I haven't read many books set in Alaska before -- and the sense of place was pretty much the only thing I enjoyed about the book.
As an aside: I was a bit annoyed when a large number of new characters popped up almost literally out of nowhere about halfway through the book, since they added very little to the plot, but made it more complicated to follow along with all the new names.
Color me unimpressed.
As an aside: I was a bit annoyed when a large number of new characters popped up almost literally out of nowhere about halfway through the book, since they added very little to the plot, but made it more complicated to follow along with all the new names.
Color me unimpressed.
September 1, 2016
Winter sets in long, cold, and lonely in Cold Storage, Alaska, but Straley sets us up with a comic narrative that takes most of the vinegar out of the population of “drunks and depressives” and sweetens it with romance. He introduces us to a fiercely independent and strangely cohesive group of folks who laugh (and make us laugh) in the face of adversity and who create the conditions for generosity of spirit. But not all is feasting on “King Salmon Every Day.” It continually astonishes me that characters in a fiction can make one feel actual sorrow and sadness, but we do in this one. Everything is going swimmingly and then something truly dreadful happens.
It is the year 2000 and Clive is thirty-five years old. He is being released from a seven-year prison stint in Seattle. After a brief detour to eat a fresh lettuce salad, Clive goes to collect his share of criminal proceeds from his pre-incarceration drug sales days. He is aiming for a small coastal town in Alaska where his brother, Miles, and his mother still reside.
Cold Storage is a failing fishing village of 150 residents on the outer coast of southeastern Alaska, originally settled by Norwegian fisherman who felt at home in the steep-sided fjord-like bay: “She’s hell for snug except when it’s coming straight down.” Some of my favorite passages in this novel come when Straley is describing the surrounding countryside, the changing quality of the water, the luminescent sky, the ragged rim of trees.
This novel is a little hard to characterize. It is not mystery, but it could be romance, though it is an unusual example of the genre. Falling in love is no more remarkable in Cold Storage than falling out of love. Both provide important entertainment to residents even when they themselves are not directly involved, except perhaps through the placing of bets on the timing of who is falling in or out of bed with whom...
No, this is a crime novel, though law enforcement is rarely in sight, and is the butt of jokes when it does come calling. This story is all about the ‘crims’ and their extended family of friends and partners in crime. We empathize with these oddball characters, many of whom act much as we have done (though we don’t wish to admit or recall), and all of whom change in the year or so since we meet them.
Straley claims in interviews “…I do not recognize revenge as the lifeblood of a great plot,” but he introduces a little revenge in this novel that upends his screwball comedy and changes lives forever. Straley then tells us his secret: “I still believe that love and compassion are what move through the hearts of all great characters.” And that’s exactly what we like about them.
This book was offered to me by Soho Crime in exchange for an honest review.
It is the year 2000 and Clive is thirty-five years old. He is being released from a seven-year prison stint in Seattle. After a brief detour to eat a fresh lettuce salad, Clive goes to collect his share of criminal proceeds from his pre-incarceration drug sales days. He is aiming for a small coastal town in Alaska where his brother, Miles, and his mother still reside.
Cold Storage is a failing fishing village of 150 residents on the outer coast of southeastern Alaska, originally settled by Norwegian fisherman who felt at home in the steep-sided fjord-like bay: “She’s hell for snug except when it’s coming straight down.” Some of my favorite passages in this novel come when Straley is describing the surrounding countryside, the changing quality of the water, the luminescent sky, the ragged rim of trees.
This novel is a little hard to characterize. It is not mystery, but it could be romance, though it is an unusual example of the genre. Falling in love is no more remarkable in Cold Storage than falling out of love. Both provide important entertainment to residents even when they themselves are not directly involved, except perhaps through the placing of bets on the timing of who is falling in or out of bed with whom...
No, this is a crime novel, though law enforcement is rarely in sight, and is the butt of jokes when it does come calling. This story is all about the ‘crims’ and their extended family of friends and partners in crime. We empathize with these oddball characters, many of whom act much as we have done (though we don’t wish to admit or recall), and all of whom change in the year or so since we meet them.
Straley claims in interviews “…I do not recognize revenge as the lifeblood of a great plot,” but he introduces a little revenge in this novel that upends his screwball comedy and changes lives forever. Straley then tells us his secret: “I still believe that love and compassion are what move through the hearts of all great characters.” And that’s exactly what we like about them.
This book was offered to me by Soho Crime in exchange for an honest review.
February 24, 2019
It had great characters and an awesome setting. Some of the details were a bit shaky at times, but it still had a good flow and was worth the read.
June 22, 2017
I've read several books set in Alaska over the past few years, all of which share a last-frontier sort of quality. I love the fun that these authors have with their characters, forging human contact even as they hang onto the natural world tenuously. Individualism is most apparent here, and a touch of the prodigal son. Plus a dog who sometimes appears wiser than those around him. Plotwise, valid similarities have been made to Get Shorty, and the author himself admits to this being an homage to screwball comedies, one of his own favorite genres. He also promises more to come in a series --
here's hoping he makes good on this promise.
here's hoping he makes good on this promise.
July 12, 2016
Great characters and refreshing Alaskan descriptions.
Others have likened this novel to Get Shorty. It is also similar to A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. There's a good dose of the story of the prodigal son, as well.
The antagonists are humorously-drawn.
The small-town setting allows the author to explore the intensity of relationships among several of its inhabitants.
Others have likened this novel to Get Shorty. It is also similar to A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. There's a good dose of the story of the prodigal son, as well.
The antagonists are humorously-drawn.
The small-town setting allows the author to explore the intensity of relationships among several of its inhabitants.
March 17, 2017
Narrated by Stephen R. Thorne. 3.5 stars, and recommended.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
March 25, 2021
I LOVED this book and listen to it over and over. If you love Alaskan and all the characters that make living there different you'll love this book.
April 15, 2014
John Straley's thoroughly enjoyable and slightly wacko "Cold Storage Alaska" opens with former drug dealer, Clive "the Milkman" McMahon, heading home to Cold Storage after he's released from a Seattle prison after serving a term for dealing cocaine. In prison, he elected isolation and Bible study, and discovered that animals sometimes talk to him. Determined to go straight, he's planning to reopen the bar his grandparents once ran in a remote Alaska town that gets 200 inches of rain a year that feeds a natural hot spring and where "almost everyone either clinically depressed or drunk."
On the way, Clive picks up a stash of money and adopts Little Brother, a failed guard dog. It's "a strange gangbanger mix of Rottweiler, pit bull and wolf, a brindle-dun carnivore" with the "off-kilter stare of a Mexican street dog charged up on a jolt of methamphetamine."Up to now, the dog has been managed with a cattle prod.
If the dog can be set free and salvaged, maybe Clive can, too.
Of course there are obstacles. Clive's younger brother Miles, a physician's assistant who's been caring for their ailing mother, isn't rolling out the welcome mat. A brutal former associate is looking for Clive to recover drug money. And a humorless trooper is determined to prevent Clive from moving his drug business to Alaska.
Whimsical subplots featuring eccentric minor characters abound. A young local who experienced a religious conversion sets off in a kayak for Seattle to meet the visiting Dalai Lama. A Tlingit Indian collaborates on a movie script with a former drug dealer.
Dashes of magical realism mixed with ironic humor reminiscent of the Coen brothers and violence worthy of Quentin Tarantino make this second series novel a winner. Compelling characters and deft treatment of themes like redemption and the power of community take it to a level beyond.
(Review appeared in the Boston Globe)
On the way, Clive picks up a stash of money and adopts Little Brother, a failed guard dog. It's "a strange gangbanger mix of Rottweiler, pit bull and wolf, a brindle-dun carnivore" with the "off-kilter stare of a Mexican street dog charged up on a jolt of methamphetamine."Up to now, the dog has been managed with a cattle prod.
If the dog can be set free and salvaged, maybe Clive can, too.
Of course there are obstacles. Clive's younger brother Miles, a physician's assistant who's been caring for their ailing mother, isn't rolling out the welcome mat. A brutal former associate is looking for Clive to recover drug money. And a humorless trooper is determined to prevent Clive from moving his drug business to Alaska.
Whimsical subplots featuring eccentric minor characters abound. A young local who experienced a religious conversion sets off in a kayak for Seattle to meet the visiting Dalai Lama. A Tlingit Indian collaborates on a movie script with a former drug dealer.
Dashes of magical realism mixed with ironic humor reminiscent of the Coen brothers and violence worthy of Quentin Tarantino make this second series novel a winner. Compelling characters and deft treatment of themes like redemption and the power of community take it to a level beyond.
(Review appeared in the Boston Globe)
December 3, 2017
A place that grows on you
Quirky, cold (it's Alaska!) and fun; the people, the setting, the dog. At first you wonder why anyone lives there...and then the animals talk.
Quirky, cold (it's Alaska!) and fun; the people, the setting, the dog. At first you wonder why anyone lives there...and then the animals talk.
Read
April 11, 2022COLD STORAGE, ALASKA
John Straley
Straley is becoming one of my favorite authors mainly because of his quirky style. I really enjoyed COLD STORAGE, and this book would make it a sure tourist stop if it was real. I know I would go.
Clive is getting out of prison after a long stint and is going home to Cold Storage, Alaska to see his mother. He did his time out of the general population by choice and he intends to stay out this time. Cold Storage is a small town, so small it seems that the population is growing old at an amazing rate, but the bar is still hopping! When towns are as small as this one, people drink and depression is high, but it is to be expected when it rains 200 inches a year.
Once released, Clive retrieves his dog and his stash of money and heads to the airport. Clive's puppy is huge and certainly not a puppy when he eats cats for breakfast and sometimes speaks to Clive.
Miles is Clive's younger brother and a physician's assistant. He lives in Cold Storage and has been looking after their mom. Miles is one of my favorite characters, and these are characters! There is the Indian, the old gold miner, the school teachers, the kayaker, the trooper who wants to put Clive back in prison, and Jake, Clive's old boss who believes he has to kill Clive. I loved every layer seeped in small townness and whimsy and reality (yep, read it).
4 stars
Happy Reading!
John Straley
Straley is becoming one of my favorite authors mainly because of his quirky style. I really enjoyed COLD STORAGE, and this book would make it a sure tourist stop if it was real. I know I would go.
Clive is getting out of prison after a long stint and is going home to Cold Storage, Alaska to see his mother. He did his time out of the general population by choice and he intends to stay out this time. Cold Storage is a small town, so small it seems that the population is growing old at an amazing rate, but the bar is still hopping! When towns are as small as this one, people drink and depression is high, but it is to be expected when it rains 200 inches a year.
Once released, Clive retrieves his dog and his stash of money and heads to the airport. Clive's puppy is huge and certainly not a puppy when he eats cats for breakfast and sometimes speaks to Clive.
Miles is Clive's younger brother and a physician's assistant. He lives in Cold Storage and has been looking after their mom. Miles is one of my favorite characters, and these are characters! There is the Indian, the old gold miner, the school teachers, the kayaker, the trooper who wants to put Clive back in prison, and Jake, Clive's old boss who believes he has to kill Clive. I loved every layer seeped in small townness and whimsy and reality (yep, read it).
4 stars
Happy Reading!
October 8, 2015
Audio: 3+ stars - Note to Mystery/Thriller fans: If you're looking to read something you can figure out or try to solve while your reading, a whodunit, or edge-of-your-seat thriller, this book is NOT it. It is an interesting, lighthearted story-telling of a small town (on an island or difficult to get to location) in Alaska near Sitko and the quirky people that live and visit there. There was something that happened right at the end that may have some wondering, but it is explained a couple minutes/pages later in the epilogue, which does include interesting follow-ups for the some of the towns quirky and/or lovable characters. I picked this from a list of mysteries by state for a State (reading) Challenge, and it is tagged as such, along w/thriller, crime & humor & several other tags on GRs. The humor tag is a kind of a stretch, but I guess a few one liners & a couple funny situations but definitely not lol- or belly jiggling- funny/humor). It does have a few crime & criminal elements so that tag is fine, as well as the other GR tags (Adult Lit, Adventure, Animals, Fiction). I did like the Alaska landscape and life style descriptions. I thought it was funny that summary mentioned it being a town w/a dwindling population and early in the book 2 people in town died (I thought that was the mystery, but turned out not to be the case); however, several/numerous people either returned to the town or came to visit (for good or bad intentions) and ended up staying permanently. Also, another theme throughout was about love and friendship in various forms which were nice and subtly weaved it by an author who realizes readers have a brain (compared to in your face or spell-it-out-for-the-reader type of writing that seems to be fairly common). Now who do we speak to about appropriate book tagging or descriptions. Part of my disappointment came from waiting for elements that were said to be there and never came, which has happened w/some other books lately, but at least this one was still a pretty good, quick read overall anyway.
October 28, 2016
My favorite parts were the atmospheric bits that gave a real flavor of being somewhere small and remote - the rhythm of boats and planes coming in, a scene where the entire town cut supplies of firewood together, the informal arrangements of using and cleaning the bathhouse, the frequently-dead phone lines, and the lightning-fast gossip.
It's described as a crime story about a recently-released felon who comes home to Cold Storage, Alaska, while pursued by old colleagues who hold grudges, but the crime story nature makes only cameo appearances - the book takes its time, and spends more time in a sort of good-natured rural quasi-religious philosophizing. I never felt very invested in the plot or characters, but I do appreciate the warmheartedness.
It's described as a crime story about a recently-released felon who comes home to Cold Storage, Alaska, while pursued by old colleagues who hold grudges, but the crime story nature makes only cameo appearances - the book takes its time, and spends more time in a sort of good-natured rural quasi-religious philosophizing. I never felt very invested in the plot or characters, but I do appreciate the warmheartedness.
June 13, 2019
I am an absolute sucker for a book about quirky but loveable characters. This is a treasure of quirky but loveable characters living in the town of Cold Storage, Alaska. I want to know these people.
June 9, 2020
Setting is interesting and the best part of the novel for me.
March 16, 2020
This was a strange little book that I enjoyed, but for some reason I had the feeling that he didn't exactly know for sure what he wanted to do with it when he was writing it. At times it is funny, addresses social issues, and is serious as well. I liked most of the characters and their quirks, even if some of the events seemed contrived. No matter, I liked the unusual community of Cold Storage and the story of two completely different brothers dealing with a small Alaskan community and life. I loved Little Brother, the massive dog. There is a hint of magical realism in the book as well. I will definitely try out the first (though supposedly actually the second) book.
February 9, 2020
I admit that I read this book because it took place in Alaska, and it sounded funny. I did enjoy the Alaskan setting, although it all took place in a tiny town that has seen better times. The characters and storyline were more quirky than funny, but I did find myself liking the townspeople and rooting for the town.
March 16, 2017
Interesting crime fiction written by a man who is a criminal investigator for the state of Alaska and was the writer laureate of Alaska in 2006. He lives in Sitka, which has some similarities to the town in this book.
December 6, 2017
Offbeat and odd, this book is not for everyone. I liked it but did not love it. The characters were quirky and yes at times funny, but I never got attached to them. I enjoyed the description of live in a small island Alaskan town cut off from outside influence for weeks at a time.
February 1, 2020
Cold Storage is intended to be a screwball comedy but was just OK. It felt like the book was going somewhere in the middle as characters were more developed but the ending felt contrived and did not tie things up well.
February 23, 2020
There's no way I figured that Cold Storage would become one of my favorite books, but it did. It seems that this remote Alaska town would be unbearable to live in--gloomy beyond limits--but the writing brings everything to colorful life. I particularly liked the talking dog. Even though i can't remember why I chose to read it in the first place, Cold Storage, Alaska was a surprisingly fun read. Who knew?
May 29, 2024
A glimpse at a quirky tiny town along the Alaska coastline, this book often references Sitka, Juneau, and Seattle. According to the author, this is the first book in a series, though it was published second.
January 15, 2020
For fans of Northern Exposure and Canadian absurdist humour this will be a welcome addition to your shelves!
February 12, 2020
I’ve shelved this as a funny mystery but it’s really more of a dramedy with criminals. I actually quite enjoyed this - though there was a point about 2/3 in that I wondered why even more characters were being introduced. It feels like a first effort and is a little clunky in transitions from one moment to the next but I forgave it for being fairly unique and I cared about Miles and Clive and Lester. Rounding up from 3.5. Though I worry that I liked it so much because I didn’t expect much, whereas if I read it thinking it was a 4 star right off the bat the lack of finesse would of bothered me a lot more.
September 12, 2020
#1 in John Straley's Cold Storage series, but the second of the series to be published. Somehow this is perfect in relation to the humor that laces together the different plot lines in this book. There is a certain level of craziness that reminds me of the terrific 50s British comedies from Terry-Thomas or Ian Carmichael as well as the brain set of the Monty Python which came later and the manic Keystone Cops which came earlier. In the midst of all this tale of theft, revenge, love and not, what I always love about Straley's books are the setting and the writing, and with the extreme heat wave we've had in LA, reading about a cold place is a lovely thing indeed.....
January 17, 2014
If this novel is to be believed, Alaska is the home of some of the most genuinely quirky and borderline insane characters in all of America. It would certainly explain Sarah Palin.
Clive McCahon is out, after seven long years sitting in a prison cell and keeping his mouth shut, while his ex-partner has been worried sick that Clive would spill to the feds about the drugs, the money, and the rest of it. Clive isn't really interested in putting Jake away, though. No, he just wants his money, and to make a fresh start for himself back in the hamlet of Cold Storage, Alaska. But when Clive goes and gets his money, money Jake believes is his, and even takes the vicious guard dog to boot, he winds up provoking the drug-dealing screenwriter into hunting him down. Meanwhile, Clive's little brother, Miles, gets word that Clive is coming and he's worried that if Clive doesn't kick up a hornet's nest himself in the coastal fishing village, the people coming after him will.
For a crime novel that didn't ever feel like it featured much crime at all, this novel was a hard one to put down. This was my first time reading John Straley's work, and I guess it's the fact that he's been living in Alaska since the 70s that he managed to create such a vibrant and enticing portrait of some of the most unforgiving land on the continent. By the end of the book, I knew I never wanted to live in Cold Storage, but I sure as hell wanted to pay it a visit. Well, Alaska in general, since the little cluster of homes clinging to the rocky shores is sprung out of Straley's imagination, but you know what I mean.
The characters populating this novel might be even more outstanding than the scenery. An eclectic bunch to say the least, and while the oddballs of Cold Storage were comical, none of them came off as farcical. I never got the sense that the peculiar antics of the locals were presented with any kind of point-and-laugh approach, and frankly a few of them were downright lovable for all their antics.
If I'm to knock the novel for anything, I guess it would be how it seemed to get muddied around the midpoint, veering off from the very clear conflict between the McCahon brothers, as well as the desperate criminal and priggish trooper on Clive's tail. Oh, the distractions were fun, and offered a lot by way of highlighting some secondary characters, but it took a heck of a time for things to get back on track, I thought. In the end, I think it exemplifies John Straley's own opinions on the genre and the concept of revenge. Quirky, but it works.
Still, a wonderful example of story being bolstered by character and setting, and a great way to be introduced to Straley's work. I will definitely be looking for more of his novels.
Clive McCahon is out, after seven long years sitting in a prison cell and keeping his mouth shut, while his ex-partner has been worried sick that Clive would spill to the feds about the drugs, the money, and the rest of it. Clive isn't really interested in putting Jake away, though. No, he just wants his money, and to make a fresh start for himself back in the hamlet of Cold Storage, Alaska. But when Clive goes and gets his money, money Jake believes is his, and even takes the vicious guard dog to boot, he winds up provoking the drug-dealing screenwriter into hunting him down. Meanwhile, Clive's little brother, Miles, gets word that Clive is coming and he's worried that if Clive doesn't kick up a hornet's nest himself in the coastal fishing village, the people coming after him will.
For a crime novel that didn't ever feel like it featured much crime at all, this novel was a hard one to put down. This was my first time reading John Straley's work, and I guess it's the fact that he's been living in Alaska since the 70s that he managed to create such a vibrant and enticing portrait of some of the most unforgiving land on the continent. By the end of the book, I knew I never wanted to live in Cold Storage, but I sure as hell wanted to pay it a visit. Well, Alaska in general, since the little cluster of homes clinging to the rocky shores is sprung out of Straley's imagination, but you know what I mean.
The characters populating this novel might be even more outstanding than the scenery. An eclectic bunch to say the least, and while the oddballs of Cold Storage were comical, none of them came off as farcical. I never got the sense that the peculiar antics of the locals were presented with any kind of point-and-laugh approach, and frankly a few of them were downright lovable for all their antics.
If I'm to knock the novel for anything, I guess it would be how it seemed to get muddied around the midpoint, veering off from the very clear conflict between the McCahon brothers, as well as the desperate criminal and priggish trooper on Clive's tail. Oh, the distractions were fun, and offered a lot by way of highlighting some secondary characters, but it took a heck of a time for things to get back on track, I thought. In the end, I think it exemplifies John Straley's own opinions on the genre and the concept of revenge. Quirky, but it works.
Still, a wonderful example of story being bolstered by character and setting, and a great way to be introduced to Straley's work. I will definitely be looking for more of his novels.
September 9, 2014
On audiobook. I guess this is officially crime fiction, a genre I never read. I've read most of John Straley's books, and the rest of them are all mysteries. I don't really like mysteries. They're usually so much about the plot, not about the writing, and I've never been a person who particularly enjoyed puzzles. But Straley lives in Sitka in Southeastern Alaska and sets his books there, and he brings that beautiful, vivid, quirky world to life in his books, the landscape, bits of folklore, and most especially the people. Straley says in an author's note that this book was influenced by his love of screwball comedies, and I can totally see it in his great and very funny characters and the wonderful conversations they have with each other. I spent four summers in a town in Southeastern Alaska that I loved and that is lost to me now, like Brigadoon, and I really enjoyed spending time in that world in this book.
Miles is kind of a medic/EMT, and sort of holds together the small town of Cold Storage, Alaska. He's a good guy, but kind of lonely. His brother, the bad kid in the family, is coming back home after spending years in jail, but he brings with him a whole bunch of money he thinks he's earned, and not everyone agrees that it actually belongs to him. He also brings the ugliest dog anyone has ever seen. But really? The plot is just a framework to start with so you can listen to the people in this book have great conversations in bars and diners.
Miles is kind of a medic/EMT, and sort of holds together the small town of Cold Storage, Alaska. He's a good guy, but kind of lonely. His brother, the bad kid in the family, is coming back home after spending years in jail, but he brings with him a whole bunch of money he thinks he's earned, and not everyone agrees that it actually belongs to him. He also brings the ugliest dog anyone has ever seen. But really? The plot is just a framework to start with so you can listen to the people in this book have great conversations in bars and diners.
February 12, 2017
This book is quirky the way Alaska is quirky. Cold Storage is a small town in Alaska. The characters are all, well characters. Alaska is definitely one of the characters. It is funny and fun. I hope this is the beginning of a series because I want to go back to Cold Storage.
November 8, 2014
This was one of the most compassionate novels I have ever read, which may be strange since it's about an ex-con returning to his home town, where he left his kid brother and mother after his dad's death. Cold Storage is a small, declining town in Alaska, where the fishing industry was adversely impacted, and folks are just getting by as they can- with very few local services or amenities- no local doctor, no movie theater or video store, no shopping centers, etc. Miles, the kid brother, was in the military and has enough medical skills to serve the simpler medical needs of the community. Clive, the ex-con, has baggage- his former boss is looking for the money Clive took, and Oscar, another former crime buddy, is also mad at Clive. The cast of characters in Cold Storage is interesting and wacky- for instance young Billy plans to paddle his kayak from Alaska to Seattle to meet the Dalai Lama. Needless to say it doesn't end well for him. Lots of fun.
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