Looking Through Water (Revised Edition): A Novel

by Bob Rich

A father and son, long-estranged, fight to win a fishing competition together—and lose the pain that’s kept them apart.

It’s 1976, and William McKay is at the top of his game. He’s taken over the family brokerage firm. He has a stunning and accomplished fiancée. The NYC Chamber of Commerce has named him the Under 40 Executive of the Year. And yet . . . William knows something is missing.

Then he receives a phone call from his father, who disappeared eleven years earlier while William's mother was dying from Alzheimer’s. Leo's living in the Florida Keys now, and he wants William to join him in a father-son fishing competition. Stunned by this father’s audacity, suspicious of his motives, but even more desperate to leave New York, William agrees and heads south in his private jet.

The basis for the forthcoming film Blood Knot starring Oscar-winner Michael Douglas and his own son Cameron Douglas, Looking Through Water chronicles the indelible impact that long-festering pain can have on a family, and the healing that comes with forgiveness—once we learn when to reel in a big catch and when to let it all go.

255 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 24, 2024

About the author

BOB RICH was first exposed to the art of storytelling in summer camps in northern Ontario. Growing up, reading Hemingway inspired him to write. Living on the shores of Lake Erie and the Florida Keys provides him with a wealth of his own tales to tell. He is the author of three books: Fish Fights, The Fishing Club and The Right Angle and co-author of Secrets of the Delphi Cafe. LOOKING THROUGH WATER is his first novel.

Reviews

[Dave Weller]

Three generations of McKay's managed a Wall Street money management firm successfully. Angus was the founder, and he purchased a second home on Loch Loon in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. This is where grandfathers take their grandsons onto the lake to fish and teach about the ways of the world. Most of the story unfolds, however, around the third generation McKay, William, and much of the action transitions to the Florida Keys. In the current time period, William is a grandfather, and he takes his grandson out on the lake, and the grandson asks William about his history, and William relates the main plot of Looking Through Water. William's story begins, as he is attending a major award ceremony for himself for being named New York City executive of the year. His fiancée is there along with his assistant Randall. Randall makes a speech and presents William with two antique pistols. When William makes his acceptance speech, he goes off the rails and reveals that his fiancee and Randall are having an affair, and he challenges Randall to a duel. He makes a hasty exit, and in a drunken state in the aftermath, he mistakenly fires one of the pistols and creates a scar on his face. I'll stop there. I enjoyed this book, although in many ways it was a description of events and did not dig too deeply into the inner thoughts of the main characters. Although the aberrant speech was an interesting surprise, there is very little background or build up about his relationship with his fiancee. Another significant portion of the plot revolves around his father, Leo McKay. Leo left the family when William was young, and he was out of contact for fourteen years. Suddenly Leo reenters William's life, but the reader never learns a clear explanation of why he left. This bothered me. At any rate, I enjoyed the story, and as a fly fisherman, I particularly liked the saltwater fly fishing scenes and action. I would have liked to see more of Jenny, but she appears in William's life and then leaves and returns, but the reader never learns about what happened in between. It's a quick read with some good scenes, and apparently there is a film out based on this book.

[Tracey]

A really enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a lovely story with interesting characters, good points to make you think about life, unexpected twist and funny moments.

[Kathy P]

A delightful and touching story. Quick read. Now I want to learn to fly fish and take my grandkids.