Black Fish

Sailing Thrillers

by Sam Llewellyn

An sailing story that combines sailing with mystery and intrigue, Black Fish refers ti fish that are protected species but are being caught and sold by criminal elements. This leads to an adventure of mystery and murder combining the elements of skullduggery at sea (with ecological overtones), a strong but flawed hero with all kinds of baggages, a charismatic but enigmatic female foil, and, in this case, lots of very black humor, which gives the book an extra dimension. The protagonist Gavin Chance is a former policeman and Olympic sailor and now a yacht broker. his business partner has disappeared, there's a corpse on a stolen trawler, and he may be next. All this leads to an adventure of crime, intrigue, poachers, and killers on both land and high seas.

Genres: Mystery

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Sam Llewellyn is a British author of literature for children and adults.

Reviews

[Kathy KS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago, when reading book reviews in anticipation of an order as a public librarian, I read a review that compared Llewellyn as the sailing equivalent to Dick Francis' horseracing novels. That was enough to convince me to order and read my first of Llewellyn's works. Since, I've read most of his work.

Black Fish>/i> exists in the same world as many of the "sailing thrillers" Llewellyn has written. MC Gavin Chance is a former policeman and Olympic sailor, as well as currently a yacht broker (actually going broke...) He ends up embroiled in the activities of various shady characters that are extremely dangerous. The novel describes sailing of various craft and the lengths to which Gavin will go to stay alive. I find Llewellyn's style fun to read; not because they are at all comic, but his turns of phrase and the stoicism of his main characters often would elicit a chuckle from me.

Gavin is more of an anti-hero than otherwise, but that doesn't necessarily mean I wouldn't like him in person (in small doses). He swings from "recovered" alcoholic to full-blown drunk. He's intelligent, overall, but some of his decision make one cringe. But he perseveres throughout.

Readers don't need to understand sailing terminology to enjoy these books, any more than you need a knowledge of steeplechasing or flat-track horseracing for Francis' novels. It's the suspense of the stories that make them enjoyable.

I'll be looking for another of LLewellyn's books that I haven't already read...

[Christine Kling · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great fun taking off on another sail with Sam Llewellyn after all these years. I've read all his earlier sailing thrillers and this new tale shows he hasn't lost his flair. The man knows how to write a rollicking sailing yarn. Gavin Chance, former policeman now floundering yacht broker loves his whiskey almost as much as he respects the sea, and he's not about to let a bunch of greedy thugs get away with making a killing off black fish. I love the way Llewellyn depicts the penniless sailor in salty oilskins and sea boots giving the yacht clubby types their comeuppance. I hope this book is a sign he's back to writing more sailing thrillers.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like this guy - had forgotten about him - don't know a thing about sailing but like the way he writes.