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Full Fathom Five
For fifteen years Caleb Hayes built and ran one of the most successful security firms in Los Angeles, catering to celebrities at the top of the A-list. Now, desperate for change, desperate to be free of the secret that tortures him, he has come back to his native Maine, and to the work of his younger days, hauling lobster traps from the cold Atlantic. But the small town of Hopefleet, his boyhood home, is now ground zero in a fight between two international corporations; one that wants to build a liquid natural gas terminal in the little fishing town, and another that will do anything to stop them. Just as Caleb thinks he has found the escape he so desperately wants, a corpse tangled in his trap line plunges him into a world of violence and intrigue. To keep himself and Katie Brennan, his partner in lobster catching, alive, Caleb must fall back on the clandestine and lethal skills he had hoped to leave behind along with the life he tried to flee.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 30, 2016
36 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
James L. Nelson
62 books359 followersJames L. Nelson (1962-) is an American historical nautical novelist. He was born in Lewiston, Maine. In 1980, Nelson graduated from Lewiston High School. Nelson attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst for two years, and then transferred to UCLA, with the ambition of becoming a film director. Nelson, his wife, Lisa, and their daughter Betsy lived for two years in Steubenville, Ohio, while Lisa attended Franciscan University. They also have two boys, Nate and Jack. They now live in Harpswell, Maine, where Nelson continues to write full time.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 28, 2016
Nobody tells a sea story better than Jim Nelson, author of the terrific Revolution at Sea series and much more—and his new thriller, FULL FATHOM FIVE, doesn’t disappoint. Set in the fictitious coastal town of Hopefleet in modern-day Maine, the story tracks a former L.A. celebrity bodyguard turned lobsterman, Caleb Hayes, who falls afoul of a big-bucks debacle about siting an LNG terminal in Casco Bay. Determined to stay out of the political fray, Caleb just wants to be left alone with the dubious pleasure of teaching lobster-fishing basics to his neophyte sternman, sassy marine biologist Katie Brennan. However, his disengagement is doomed when he hauls up the body of a site management specialist for a corporation opposed to the terminal. Pretty soon someone decides that Caleb knows more than he ought to, and it seems increasingly unlikely that the duo will survive until the Hopefleet selectmen can vote on the LNG terminal.
Nelson writes with clarity and a sure hand about lobstering, boat handling, and life in a small Maine town. I hope he sharpens up his proofreading, though; there are five errors in the first 10 pages alone, from “reining” for “reigning” to “taught” for “taut.” I took off a star for that lack of care. Still, FULL FATHOM FIVE is a fine thriller. With luck, it will be the first of several about Hayes and Brennan.
Nelson writes with clarity and a sure hand about lobstering, boat handling, and life in a small Maine town. I hope he sharpens up his proofreading, though; there are five errors in the first 10 pages alone, from “reining” for “reigning” to “taught” for “taut.” I took off a star for that lack of care. Still, FULL FATHOM FIVE is a fine thriller. With luck, it will be the first of several about Hayes and Brennan.
February 12, 2017
After reading, or attempting to read, a string of books written by people who were apparently allergic to both research and careful writing, it was nice to read another James Nelson novel. Nelson has written a lot of well researched and entertaining historical fiction. Now he has turned his talents and work ethic to a modern suspense thriller set among Maine lobstermen in a small fishing town which has attracted the attention of two, competing energy companies which really don't play by the rules. Excellent character development for the main and supporting characters. Good sense of place. Suspense builds as answers are revealed and the plot develops. Satisfying conclusion to the main story. A little less so for the subplot. Overall, an entertaining and well written suspense thriller which should satisfy both fans of the genre and of Nelson.
February 12, 2017
After reading, or attempting to read, a string of books written by people who were apparently allergic to both research and careful writing, it was nice to read another James Nelson novel. Nelson has written a lot of well researched and entertaining historical fiction. Now he has turned his talents and work ethic to a modern suspense thriller set among Maine lobstermen in a small fishing town which has attracted the attention of two, competing energy companies which really don't play by the rules. Excellent character development for the main and supporting characters. Good sense of place. Suspense builds as answers are revealed and the plot develops. Satisfying conclusion to the main story. A little less so for the subplot. Overall, an entertaining and well written suspense thriller which should satisfy both fans of the genre and of Nelson.
May 17, 2017
Love his Viking books so thought I would try this one. It's good, bit slow to start - I almost gave up. Glad I kept going. The story picked up and there were some surprises. In the end, I liked it enough that I'll watch for the next one.
June 21, 2021
God’s Country, Ayuh
Maine in the summer is a great place (yes I’ve been). Not so sure I’d like to visit in the winter. Unlike Mr. Nelson’s other books, this one takes place in Maine in the present day. Sort of. It’s a whirlwind of a book that gets your attention with a drowning in chapter 1 and becomes more and more addictive as it gathers speed. The lobstering backdrop is convincing (for someone who knows what a lobster boat looks like but has never actually fished for the creatures at least). The intrigue and industrial espionage angle is important to the plot and totally clicks with the protagonist’s past as a high end security manager. It’s readable and compelling as many of the author’s other books are. I liked it in spite of the fact that the main plot line is flawed.
I say that because the actual history of the liquefied natural gas industry doesn’t fit the plot. The book comes across as contemporary while the LNG industry went through the stages shown in the book in the 1970’s. Cove Point LNG Terminal was commissioned in 1978 as a place where the carriers could pump the stuff into the US pipeline network. But the market for natural gas experienced a slump later on and the facility was inactivated — I sailed past it several times in my own boat. I was a co author of a report on the decline of the shipbuilding side of the industry, written in 1990-91. Then after the millennium there was fracking and the US began producing more of the stuff than we could use, and Cove Point was reactivated to ship LNG out of this country to other places less endowed with it. The book seems mired in the fuel crisis mentality that didn’t fit what was really happening from 1980 on. I suppose if the story had been set in 1975 it would be in its correct setting but the cellphones, internet, and compact cameras and spy equipment didn’t exist in 1975 so that’s a mismatch. Not up to Mr. Nelson’s standards of historical accuracy.
For most readers that won’t matter and that’s why I gave it 5 stars, but for those of us who lived through that period it hits a sour note.
Maine in the summer is a great place (yes I’ve been). Not so sure I’d like to visit in the winter. Unlike Mr. Nelson’s other books, this one takes place in Maine in the present day. Sort of. It’s a whirlwind of a book that gets your attention with a drowning in chapter 1 and becomes more and more addictive as it gathers speed. The lobstering backdrop is convincing (for someone who knows what a lobster boat looks like but has never actually fished for the creatures at least). The intrigue and industrial espionage angle is important to the plot and totally clicks with the protagonist’s past as a high end security manager. It’s readable and compelling as many of the author’s other books are. I liked it in spite of the fact that the main plot line is flawed.
I say that because the actual history of the liquefied natural gas industry doesn’t fit the plot. The book comes across as contemporary while the LNG industry went through the stages shown in the book in the 1970’s. Cove Point LNG Terminal was commissioned in 1978 as a place where the carriers could pump the stuff into the US pipeline network. But the market for natural gas experienced a slump later on and the facility was inactivated — I sailed past it several times in my own boat. I was a co author of a report on the decline of the shipbuilding side of the industry, written in 1990-91. Then after the millennium there was fracking and the US began producing more of the stuff than we could use, and Cove Point was reactivated to ship LNG out of this country to other places less endowed with it. The book seems mired in the fuel crisis mentality that didn’t fit what was really happening from 1980 on. I suppose if the story had been set in 1975 it would be in its correct setting but the cellphones, internet, and compact cameras and spy equipment didn’t exist in 1975 so that’s a mismatch. Not up to Mr. Nelson’s standards of historical accuracy.
For most readers that won’t matter and that’s why I gave it 5 stars, but for those of us who lived through that period it hits a sour note.
January 2, 2017
First let me say this was an excellent read. I became a fan of Mr. Nelson reading his Viking saga, which is really an exciting adventure. His Viking saga is truly a page turner and has kept me up many a night because I couldn't put it down. He made each chapter a cliff hanger. This being said, I expected the same from his new mystery.
However his style was different yet exciting. I learned probably more than I needed to about lobster fishing, but I found it interesting and not boring. I really enjoyed his character development of Caleb and Katie. The plot was a winding path as the threads of the story were woven together involving corporate espionage, a budding romance, and murder and as we reached the peak of the story there is an explosion of the fabric of and I could not put it down until the end. I did not guess the ultimate bad guy until a bit before our hero figured it out so I would hope the same for other readers.
Mr Nelson, I enjoyed the humor with the book Caleb was reading and what Caleb and Katie watched on TV. I had a good chuckle there.
I highly recommend this book as well as the Viking saga of Thorgrim Nightwolf. I cannot wait for the next book in this series and I would also look forward to other future writing by this author.
However his style was different yet exciting. I learned probably more than I needed to about lobster fishing, but I found it interesting and not boring. I really enjoyed his character development of Caleb and Katie. The plot was a winding path as the threads of the story were woven together involving corporate espionage, a budding romance, and murder and as we reached the peak of the story there is an explosion of the fabric of and I could not put it down until the end. I did not guess the ultimate bad guy until a bit before our hero figured it out so I would hope the same for other readers.
Mr Nelson, I enjoyed the humor with the book Caleb was reading and what Caleb and Katie watched on TV. I had a good chuckle there.
I highly recommend this book as well as the Viking saga of Thorgrim Nightwolf. I cannot wait for the next book in this series and I would also look forward to other future writing by this author.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews