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Humpy Cove
2009 McRoy Blackburn trade paperback, Don G. Porter (Happy Hour). Alex Price, Alaska bush pilot must defend his friend Renaldo from a murder charge. Serious instrument flying and boating on a luxury yacht take them from Seward to Cordova and the islands in Prince William Sound. Kisti, the topless dancer from San Francisco and her lover Tony may have murdered the heiress, but if she's still alive her return is worth a million bucks. They find her held hostage by a gang of fur seal poachers. The question becomes, are Alex and Renaldo more apt to be killed by the poachers, Kisti and Tony, or renegade Fish and Wild Life officers. - Amazon
182 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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October 30, 2016
Well, I have never reviewed an in-progress book while it was still in-progress, but there is a first time for everything. I am about to be away from computers for a week and I hate to leave t's uncrossed and i's undotted.
I will be taking Humpy Cove with me to finish up while I wait in the bus station. I am about halfway through at the moment and can honestly say I have enjoyed nearly every bit of the story so far. If I do come up with anything to make me change my thoughts or my rating, I will try to remember to come edit this review.
Humpy Cove is the third "Alex Price Alaska Adventure". Price is a bush pilot with a private investigator's license and a good friend (roommate from college) named Renaldo. They have spent years (well, at the very least two other books) getting into and out of trouble. I enjoyed the interaction between these two. They are funny without being too cutesy about it, and tough when they need to be without being too bloodthirsty. I would really like to read the other Alex Price Alaska Adventures, so when I am in AZ I will be sure to check the used book place where I found this book and see if there are any more there.
Here is what is happening: Renaldo wants to build a luxury hotel in a cove in Alaska, and we start the book with our two heroes on their way to visit the site, traveling by boat (the Mugwump) and in a storm. We come across an apparently empty yacht that is drifting out of control, so we tie on and tow into the cove where the waters are more calm. Then we explore and find that the yacht is not empty after all.
I don't read many detective/crime mysteries, so a bigger fan of the genre might feel differently about this book, or might even see where the whole thing is leading quicker than I can. So far I am still not sure exactly what is going on, but neither are Alex and Renaldo, so at least I am not alone.
At times the author gets a little too detail-ish, especially in one of the flying scenes I have read so far. We who are not pilots would not care about each little step that comes along in the flight process, but other fliers would lap that up, and since the author himself was a bush pilot like his main character, I can forgive him telling me more than I understood.
I did have to Google 'Alphonse and Gaston' to understand the running joke by Renaldo whenever the two are about to explore unknown territory. He always makes a 'courtly bow' and says "After you, Alphonse." Price so far has not supplied the expected response, which seems to be "No, you first, my dear Gaston!". Price just goes ahead and goes first. Turns out this came from a comic strip popular starting in 1901. From the Wiki article:
The strip faded from public view shortly after Opper's death in 1937, but the catchphrase "After you, my dear Alphonse" lived on. It continues to the present day, spoken in situations when two people are being overly courteous to each other, or when a person receives a dare to do something difficult or dangerous or both; the catchphrase returns the dare to the person who made it. Sometimes it is said when two people are simultaneously trying to go through the same doorway and awkwardly stop to let the other go through.
Certainly a little bit of such a thing would go a long way, but at least so far in this book it is not overdone. And I'm glad I know now where it came from.
So, as I said: fun book, interesting and puzzling situation, appealing heroes. What better to take with me on a 28 hour bus trip?!
I will be taking Humpy Cove with me to finish up while I wait in the bus station. I am about halfway through at the moment and can honestly say I have enjoyed nearly every bit of the story so far. If I do come up with anything to make me change my thoughts or my rating, I will try to remember to come edit this review.
Humpy Cove is the third "Alex Price Alaska Adventure". Price is a bush pilot with a private investigator's license and a good friend (roommate from college) named Renaldo. They have spent years (well, at the very least two other books) getting into and out of trouble. I enjoyed the interaction between these two. They are funny without being too cutesy about it, and tough when they need to be without being too bloodthirsty. I would really like to read the other Alex Price Alaska Adventures, so when I am in AZ I will be sure to check the used book place where I found this book and see if there are any more there.
Here is what is happening: Renaldo wants to build a luxury hotel in a cove in Alaska, and we start the book with our two heroes on their way to visit the site, traveling by boat (the Mugwump) and in a storm. We come across an apparently empty yacht that is drifting out of control, so we tie on and tow into the cove where the waters are more calm. Then we explore and find that the yacht is not empty after all.
I don't read many detective/crime mysteries, so a bigger fan of the genre might feel differently about this book, or might even see where the whole thing is leading quicker than I can. So far I am still not sure exactly what is going on, but neither are Alex and Renaldo, so at least I am not alone.
At times the author gets a little too detail-ish, especially in one of the flying scenes I have read so far. We who are not pilots would not care about each little step that comes along in the flight process, but other fliers would lap that up, and since the author himself was a bush pilot like his main character, I can forgive him telling me more than I understood.
I did have to Google 'Alphonse and Gaston' to understand the running joke by Renaldo whenever the two are about to explore unknown territory. He always makes a 'courtly bow' and says "After you, Alphonse." Price so far has not supplied the expected response, which seems to be "No, you first, my dear Gaston!". Price just goes ahead and goes first. Turns out this came from a comic strip popular starting in 1901. From the Wiki article:
The strip faded from public view shortly after Opper's death in 1937, but the catchphrase "After you, my dear Alphonse" lived on. It continues to the present day, spoken in situations when two people are being overly courteous to each other, or when a person receives a dare to do something difficult or dangerous or both; the catchphrase returns the dare to the person who made it. Sometimes it is said when two people are simultaneously trying to go through the same doorway and awkwardly stop to let the other go through.
Certainly a little bit of such a thing would go a long way, but at least so far in this book it is not overdone. And I'm glad I know now where it came from.
So, as I said: fun book, interesting and puzzling situation, appealing heroes. What better to take with me on a 28 hour bus trip?!
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