Some Hellish

by Nicholas Herring

Herring is a hapless lobster fisher lost in an unexceptional life, bored of thinking the same old thoughts. One December day, following a hunch, he cuts a hole in the living room floor and installs a hoist, altering the course of everything in his life. His wife Euna leaves with their children. He buries the family dog in a frozen grave on Christmas Eve. He and his friend Gerry crash his truck into a field, only to be rescued by a passing group of Tibetan monks.
During the spring lobster season, Herring and Gerry find themselves caught in a storm front. Herring falls overboard miles from the harbour, is lost at sea for days, and assumed to be drowned. And then, he is found, miraculously, alive. Having come so near to death, he is forced to confront the things he fears the most: love, friendship, belief, and himself.
Some Hellish is a story about anguish and salvation, the quiet grace and patience of transformation, the powers of addiction and fear, the plausibility of forgiveness, and the immense capacity of friendship and of love.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Book Club, Literary Fiction, Nautical

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2022

Reviews

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your average tourists view of beautiful Prince Edward Island, but rather a glimpse into life in a tiny harbour town and the lives of the lobstermen and fishermen that frequent the many harbours and wharves that dot the Island. Sometimes humorous, sometimes serious and at times heartbreaking, this is a brilliantly written book about one man’s life and the consequences of the choices he has made. The many supporting characters greatly add to the story often in very humorous ways. I won’t be able to drive by the wharves in the many harbour towns on the Island again without thinking about this book.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was absolutely beautiful, but I need a story to pull me through.

[Jack Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giving the protagonist the same last name as you is insane behavior.

Overall enjoyed the read, particularly the second half. The first part of the book was a meandering slog. Herring’s character arc is pleasant to follow but reference to his earlier self being an awful human being seems somewhat misguided as there are a number of events that portray his thoughtfulness, despite his general distastefulness. Once again definitely not quite grasping some of the symbolism but it’s presence was felt….

[Ryan Lottermoser · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The brume approached like the slowest and gentlest of Biblical floods, and it occurred to him that this was the human condition. Things were obscured and revealed, and then obscured again, and man was a cold thing with poor vision, which stumbled through everything, good and evil, as best it could. The birds in the trees were making one hell of a ruckus.”

[Apollo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Look I’m all for a book with no plot. Love a good ol character study, but for a character study to be good, you need to be invested in the characters. You don’t need to love them, morally grey or terrible character studies can easily make for a good book, but this wasn’t any of that. I wasn’t invested in this character what so ever, I didn’t like him, I didn’t hate him, I felt absolutely nothing. When he was presumed dead was the most interesting part of this book because I thought he would stay dead and the book pov would stay shifted on these side characters and how they cope and treat him etc etc. Then he came back, and I don’t even know what the fuck the point of this near death experience was. There was some moments in the story with very pretty writing, but it was absolutely sloshed by the amount of uanessacry things. If I have to read about pissing in the sink one more time I might just jump off a bridge. You could cut 200 pages off this book easily and still get the same point. What the point is? Idk.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly, a good writer. There were some sentences I had to read out loud to others because they were so clever. Though its themes and motifs are Heminwayesque, the character-driven plot feels Joycean at times (without the Sparknotes!). It deserves a second read.

[Lauraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

At turns funny and tragic, and sometimes hard to follow, but overall a very interesting book. Can someone explain the ending to me though!?

[Carolyn Pendergast · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit… I almost quit after the first couple of chapters but thankfully pushed on and was well rewarded with this first novel by PEI author Nicholas Herring. If you are looking for a plot forward book - this may not be for you. It is very much a character driven novel. It is gritty and oh so real. Obviously the author has spent time in the company of such men as Herring and Gerry. He captures that world of masculinity that is grounded in emotional restraint/repression, bravado, violence, self medicating addiction … and on it goes. It is a novel that is full of boredom and heightened excitement with not much room for anything else in between. The language is raw and it is rich. There are so many sentences that will stop you in your tracks - making you laugh out loud, rethink what you believe, break your heart. The ending was a perfect way to give context to the whole story - offer some hope but maybe not too much. It is a story I would like to read again as it is so rich in image and language that a second reading would surely “catch” things missed.
As a side note, I first heard about the book months ago while attending a reading by author David Adams Richards. Nicholas Herring was in the audience and was congratulated by the event host on his debut novel. I couldn’t help but think of the similarities between Herring and Richards as I read Some Hellish. Herring seems to share Richards’ talent for writing with authenticity and compassion. Looking forward to a second novel from this talented Island writer.

[Steph Percival · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rambling, jaunty tome busting at the binding with east coast colloquialisms. You can picture Herring (the author, not the character) camping out at the wharf, reeling in all the talk to weave this unabashed tale of a fisherman trudging his way up from the depths of despair. Read it for the stories within the story or read it for the romping good language; either way, read it.

[Marianne Bissonnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

As beautifully written as it is bleak. Smart dialogues and poetic maritime descriptions, but weird unfinished plotlines and many stagnant character arcs. It is a strange book and I have no idea if I actually enjoyed it.

[Joanne]

I just couldn’t get into this book, try though I did. It isn’t fair to give it a rating.

[Eli Milner · Rating 2 out of 5]

No plot. It has some sentimental moments and beautiful writing about the nature of people, if you can pay attention.

[Anne Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After seeing Some Hellish by Nicholas Herring win the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize late last year, I made the mental note to dig it out of my (rapidly expanding) bookshelves and give it a try. The fact that it didn’t have a clear plot scared me away from it until now, but I figured it must have some amazing qualities otherwise to have won this prestigious award, especially as a debut novel. After a slow start, I was caught up in the rolling waves of the protagonist’s life, a fisherman living off his lobster season. There’s a random rise and fall of action in this one, so it won’t be for everyone, but the writing and moments of beauty are what kept me turning the pages. The hilarious maritime slang helped too.

Plot Summary

Herring and his buddy Gerry are lobster fisherman. Herring has his own boat, and together they spend significant amounts of time preparing for the season: cleaning up and repairing traps, repainting buoys, etc. Money is extremely tight as it is for most people on this island (I believe it’s Prince Edward Island this takes place on, but I’m not sure it’s every really stated outright where they are located). Drinking daily, driving drunk, and doing drugs regularly are all parts of Herring and Gerry’s life as well, and because of this, Herring’s wife has left him and taken their two daughters with her. They occasionally see each other, but its strained, and Herring is quite clearly adrift without them. A very strange, almost miraculous situation occurs in Herring’s life, which shocks not only the reader, but everyone in their harbour, including the other fisherman who regarded Herring with little more than suspicion and contempt. To avoid spoilers I’m being vague on purpose, but the ripple affects of this situation spark new life into the characters, offering hope to this small community that is in dire need of some optimism.

My Thoughts

This book won’t be for everyone; the plot meanders, and there are many phrases that are hard to understand when not familiar with this area of Canada (which I am not, but wish I was!). Herring and Gerry live a life foreign to many; car crashes are common, and they get themselves into a few drug-fueled benders that typically end in lost jobs, fistfights, and broken furniture. Still, these two characters are so well-drawn that you get the sense they are simply doing the best they can with what little they have been given, and it’s entertaining to follow them along on their adventures, even though they are cringe-inducing. And there’s no question as how to hard-working they are; the life of a fisherman is a difficult one with little money and lots of solitude to show for it.

Speaking of odd phrasing; I chuckled my way through this book, despite the dire situations Herring and Gerry find themselves in. The sayings these men use (and they are almost all men, very few female characters in this book) are crude but hilarious. A few of my favourites:

“Herring asked him how the day was going.

‘Oh, ya know, up and down like a hooker’s skirt,’ said Willy Lyon, the movements of his weathered face inappreciable and mere, as economical as possible”.

-p. 58 of Some Hellish by Nicholas Herring, ARC
“‘Gerry, ya still tryin’ to get around with that Georgetown license of yers?’ said John.

‘Does a duck’s boner drag weeds there, John?’ said Gerry”.

-p. 88
“‘I used to work with this one fella. We called him Tommy Two-Hammers ‘cos he always carried two hammers around with him. Never used either of ’em. And as useless as a screen door on a goddamn submarine.”‘

-p. 289
So why did this book win such a massive award? It wasn’t because of the plotting, and even though I enjoyed it, the dialogue and phrasing wasn’t enough to justify an honour such as this. It’s the characters that drew me in, shocked me, and warmed my heart all at the same time. I couldn’t believe I was sympathizing with men that drove drunk, when in ‘real life’, I’m disgusted with that behaviour; it’s unjustifiable putting others lives in danger like that. Yet, Herring shows us the heart and soul behind these terrible acts, and we can’t help but sympathize and cheer them on. It’s not an excuse for their actions, but the pain and suffering they experience and witness in others helps us understand their destructive behaviour. And it’s not all about pity either – they are witness to a natural wonder many of us will never see ourselves, so in some ways, they are lucky too, and the author holds this dichotomy for the reader in an incredibly effective way.

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[Rain Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Hellish by Nicholas Herring is a charming blend of contemporary, philosophical, and slice-of-life fiction. It follows the expedition of a PEI lobster fisherman and his complicated relationship with himself, his life, and those around him. It is a reflective and empathic journey toward forgiveness, transformation, and love that also manages to balance the harsh realities of substance abuse, self-hatred, and regret.

The story follows a middle-aged lobster fisher named Herring, who leads a semi-impoverished life on the ocean harbours of Prince Edward Island. His life is falling apart at the seams: he buries the family dog on Christmas Eve, his wife and children leave him, he is in a constant losing battle against alcohol and financial struggle, his reputation is quickly dwindling, and his living room is now left with an enormous hole in the floor after a fit of blind anger. After being saved from a drunken truck crash by a group of passing monks, Herring and his similarly troubled friend, Gerry, go lobster fishing on the M&M (Herring's boat), high on acid, to cope with the misery of their lives. After a careless accident, Herring falls overboard and is lost at sea for days, presumed dead. But just when the world begins to mourn his loss, he miraculously survives, coming back to his broken life a new man: determined, bald, and willing to do better.

I found Some Hellish to be a beautifully written, thought-provoking work of literature in which I was thoroughly immersed until the very end, which gave me an equally undeniable impression that lasted even days after reading. It did an honest job of crawling inside the human psyche and exposing man's darkest, most vile contemplations and his most passionate aspirations and perseverance toward fulfillment and purpose. It did not hesitate to call out the thoughts that we hate to-- or would never—admit thinking (ex., secretly wanting a friend to suffer after they've wronged you or admitting to admiring the virtues we lack in someone we hate).
Additionally, it could paint a vivid, realistic picture of the Maritime lobster fisherman lifestyle, describing the realities of its intense physical toils, the general uneducated, drunken, anti-technological societal outlook, the turbulent weather, poverty and often quite disgusting normalcies of animal guts and lack of personal hygiene. (Needless to say, it isn't sunshine, lollipops and rainbows…).
I found the book's honest portrayal of both psychological and environmental aspects admirable, and I caught myself guiltily relating to Herring but happily comparing his unfortunate circumstances to my own many a time.

Though I found the book to be a bit slow in terms of plot progression, as most of it centred around character development and the slow harbour life rather than an action-filled overarching narrative like most stories, I ironically found that its sluggishness and focus on the people and personality rather than plot added to the charm, portraying itself as true-to-life and ultimately a story I enjoyed reading through. (After all, real life isn't a 24/7 MARVEL comic-book story with bad guys to defeat and cities to save… in truth, we're all living Herrings in one way or another.)

My favourite line from this book is:
"Well, at the end of it all," he said, "I guess you could say that I was willing to die so that people could eat. No matter all the stupid shit I've done, I'll always have this. Be able to say this about myself. And that's not nothing, huh." (paragraph 1, page 311)

In all, while Some Hellish may not be everyone's cup of tea (and if you can't stand the thought of reading the obscure existential crises of a middle-aged drunkard for 325 pages, this may truly be some hellish for you…), it is undoubtedly a book that merits its prestigious Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and one that deserves the recognition and praise it has now. With its poetic disquisition, memorable characters and environment, thoughtful philosophical overtones and humane message of hope, it is a truly unforgettable experience that I strongly urge any stoic, deep-thinker and enjoyer of moving storylines to dive into.

Overall, I give the book a solid 4.7 out of 5 rating. I recommend this book!

*** Reviewer received a free copy of book in exchange for this review.***

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book's lyricism, although I admit to wishing for fewer similes. Sometimes I wondered whether a thing could just be, on its own, without some bizarre comparison thrusting me into another dimension.
Very little happens, except what could be a resurrection which throws the novel into quite a different register near the end. And the end is only that. What saves the narrative is its refusal to offer a tidy resolution.
Herring, the character, is both impenetrable and drawn with extreme detail. Whatever he does--which isn't a lot--seems without reason or motivation, most of the time. But the reader is not spared many, sometimes excruciating, details about his bodily functions, whether sober or under the influence. Most of the novel is told from his point of view and because his actions begin and end without explanation, the reading experience is like fading in and out of a film or tv series without ever grasping the premise. (There I go with the similes!)
I commend this book to anyone who loves language and can read with the sound of a maritime voice in their head.

[Digitally Lit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rain's review:
Some Hellish by Nicholas Herring is a charming blend of contemporary, philosophical, and slice-of-life fiction. It follows the expedition of a PEI lobster fisherman and his complicated relationship with himself, his life, and those around him. It is a reflective and empathic journey toward forgiveness, transformation, and love that also manages to balance the harsh realities of substance abuse, self-hatred, and regret.

The story follows a middle-aged lobster fisher named Herring, who leads a semi-impoverished life on the ocean harbours of Prince Edward Island. His life is falling apart at the seams: he buries the family dog on Christmas Eve, his wife and children leave him, he is in a constant losing battle against alcohol and financial struggle, his reputation is quickly dwindling, and his living room is now left with an enormous hole in the floor after a fit of blind anger. After being saved from a drunken truck crash by a group of passing monks, Herring and his similarly troubled friend, Gerry, go lobster fishing on the M&M (Herring's boat), high on acid, to cope with the misery of their lives. After a careless accident, Herring falls overboard and is lost at sea for days, presumed dead. But just when the world begins to mourn his loss, he miraculously survives, coming back to his broken life a new man: determined, bald, and willing to do better.

I found Some Hellish to be a beautifully written, thought-provoking work of literature in which I was thoroughly immersed until the very end, which gave me an equally undeniable impression that lasted even days after reading. It did an honest job of crawling inside the human psyche and exposing man's darkest, most vile contemplations and his most passionate aspirations and perseverance toward fulfillment and purpose. It did not hesitate to call out the thoughts that we hate to-- or would never—admit thinking (ex., secretly wanting a friend to suffer after they've wronged you or admitting to admiring the virtues we lack in someone we hate).
Additionally, it could paint a vivid, realistic picture of the Maritime lobster fisherman lifestyle, describing the realities of its intense physical toils, the general uneducated, drunken, anti-technological societal outlook, the turbulent weather, poverty and often quite disgusting normalcies of animal guts and lack of personal hygiene. (Needless to say, it isn't sunshine, lollipops and rainbows…).
I found the book's honest portrayal of both psychological and environmental aspects admirable, and I caught myself guiltily relating to Herring but happily comparing his unfortunate circumstances to my own many a time.

Though I found the book to be a bit slow in terms of plot progression, as most of it centred around character development and the slow harbour life rather than an action-filled overarching narrative like most stories, I ironically found that its sluggishness and focus on the people and personality rather than plot added to the charm, portraying itself as true-to-life and ultimately a story I enjoyed reading through. (After all, real life isn't a 24/7 MARVEL comic-book story with bad guys to defeat and cities to save… in truth, we're all living Herrings in one way or another.)

My favourite line from this book is:
"Well, at the end of it all," he said, "I guess you could say that I was willing to die so that people could eat. No matter all the stupid shit I've done, I'll always have this. Be able to say this about myself. And that's not nothing, huh." (paragraph 1, page 311)

In all, while Some Hellish may not be everyone's cup of tea (and if you can't stand the thought of reading the obscure existential crises of a middle-aged drunkard for 325 pages, this may truly be some hellish for you…), it is undoubtedly a book that merits its prestigious Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and one that deserves the recognition and praise it has now. With its poetic disquisition, memorable characters and environment, thoughtful philosophical overtones and humane message of hope, it is a truly unforgettable experience that I strongly urge any stoic, deep-thinker and enjoyer of moving storylines to dive into.

Overall, I give the book a solid 4.7 out of 5 rating. I recommend this book!

I recommend this book.

[Alison Gadsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a writer, you’re going to want to read Nicholas Herring’s debut novel, SOME HELLISH!

I always write my reviews from a writerly perspective, so when I say you MUST read this book, I’m usually talking to my writer friends, but today, it’s going to be different. If you’ve ever struggled with mental health, addiction, love, grief and all those human emotions that make us question what it is to be alive, then you need to read SOME HELLISH.

In Nicholas Herring’s literary debut, he offers us a fictitious Herring, who has sawed a hole in the floor of his home ­– his wife’s grandfather’s home – for no apparent reason. He and his best buddy Gerry string along, from drink to drink (shine to shine), smoking pot and hash, popping pills and acid, and thinking about nothing more than the lobsters, the boat, the upcoming season, and the relationships they’ve lost and want. As they prepare for the season, we meet dozens of characters, some important, some who simply exist. They are as much the setting in the novel as the trees, the houses, the rigs, and signposts. They are ARE this novel. The reader knows from the opening pages, the hole in the floor isn’t the only shitty thing that’s going to happen in this novel. When Herring falls overboard and disappears, both he and Gerry are faced with the big questions, and this time they cannot drown them out with shine or more pills.

SOME HELLISH is not just a novel that asks what it means to think, to live, to be human, but it demands we look at those who are struggling with empathy and love. To live a daily grind in the storm and crises of human existence, like grief, divorce, lovelessness, fruitless labour, is a difficult life and to do it with addiction and mental illness is near impossible. In this novel, Nicholas Herring offers us two men, whose friendship is a potent reminder that in this life, we only need to love, and be loved by, one other human being to understand its true meaning.

“Gerry was as faithful a friend as he could be to a person such as he (Herring), and that it was precisely this faith in him that had him here, biting his lip at three-thirty in the morning, trying to be patient and genial. Strangely enough, prior to this little scene (finding Gerry’s fake teeth in a washing machine), he had never thought of Gerry as a friend. But now, the notion took a hold on him. He swallowed hard, yoked by the sense that something had opened in him, given him a kind of admittance. Yes, he was running on a drunken sleep, which was no sleep at all, that had been divided by the need of another, but somehow or another he felt quite awake.”

For my writer friends. Holy smokes. If you want to be impressed by some beautiful writing. Herring’s tone of voice, the authenticity of language, the characters, the torrent of lyricism and figurative language, you must read this novel. I have got sticky notes in dozens of places, and I’ve even circled in pen (argh) some of the most moving passages!

“The Island this muted and humble sleep of land. To behold it so stirred something in a person, soothed you. You could feel yourself grow. The sky and the earth and the waters, and whatever lay within each of us these tiers. Man was in constant communication with these things, and out here, to be reminded of this was lovely, reassuring. This acknowledgement was like an embrace that you could relish even as you outgrew its influence. Everything, all things, were fermenting.” So good!!

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMG, talk about hellish! This was one boring read. No plot, just lengthy descriptions about a fisherman going about his daily life in excruciating detail. In lieu of plot, Herring offers up one character after another, all using colorful colloquialisms. He lays it on a little thick at times - it's one expression after another, one story piled on top of another.

An incident happens about two-thirds of the way through the book - the protagonist falls into the ocean. I had a feeling he wasn't dead, since there was still a lot of book to be going through without him, and sure enough he reappears seemingly none the worse for his eight-day adventure in the sea. I would have been happy if he'd drowned - I was pretty sick of the book by then. It is sort of a catalyst for the protagonist to change the way he lives, but it's a catalyst in a sort of minor way.

It's interesting. When you read a lot of positive reviews of this book, you get a lot of comments on how good the writing is. It seems like every time those kind of comments are a recurring theme in reviews, I end up hating the book. I think I must like a book more for the story than for the flow of words - pretty writing can't cover up crappy plotting, or in this case, no plotting, and it sure didn't work here.
There's a nice scene with his wife late in the book. But beyond that, there's just a lot of boring details showing us the day-to-day life of a not-very-interesting man. I knew what I was getting into when I started it - the tone felt very familiar - and it reminded me of a lot of other books I read - a lot of books set in the Atlantic province, actually - The Shipping News, Rockbound, The Macken Charm, Matt Cohen. The relationship between Herring and Gerry reminded me of Sometimes a Great Notion and the relationship between Hank and Jim Ben. Some of those books were good, others not so much. But I just didn't realize how dull the book was going to become.

This book won a literary award. It joins a long list of literary-award winners that I haven't enjoyed. So in that way, I guess it's in good company. The game isn't worth the candle, in this case, and I can't recommend this book. Disappointing.

[Brooksie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some random thoughts on this book:

-I really, really wanted to like it. The beginning is so strong, and I was nearly in tears over the dog along with Herring. (Spoiler: no on-camera dog death, but the story is about fishermen, so expect some dead fish.) But then it just petered out from there.

-Herring is a drunk, drug-addicted lobster fisherman, and that's pretty much the first two-thirds of the book. Then something catastrophic happens, followed by something miraculous, and he's forever changed. It takes 300 pages for him to realize that maybe he has depression.

-It gets DAMN tiresome reading the ins and outs of every. single. day. in this man's life. I don't mind a story where very little happens, but literally nothing changes for chapter after chapter. It's tedious.

-There are two main characters (Herring and Gerry, though he disappears for awhile), and 75 minor characters. Every one of those minor characters, even if they only appear once, has a full name, family history and some stupid quirk or eccentricity that must be gone into detail. There are more similes, metaphors and anecdotes than you can shake a lobster at. I just started skipping a lot of it.

-Oh, and Herring (the character) thinks Alice Munro is soooo profound, which I assume is also true of Herring (the author). Sweet, sweet irony, considering. https://www.npr.org/2024/07/08/nx-s1-...

Overall I can only recommend the first chapter. Then just put it down; you've learned all you need to know about these characters.

[Nancy Leblanc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicholas Herring’s “Some Hellish,” the winner of the Writers’ Trust 2022 fiction prize, is an intense and at times brilliant work.

You are immersed in the world of two lobster fishermen, Herring & his friend Gerry, in their P.E. I. community where everyone knows everyone and we are introduced to regular local hangouts, longtime rivalries, community lore and plenty of desperation. It isn’t an easy read, as the novel starts, with more than enough drinking, drug use, and family and personal dysfunction portrayed. The life of the lobster fishers is gritty, gory at times, and quite physically and mentally demanding. If you want to know what it is like to do this for a living, you'll get that from this novel.

This is ultimately a story of messy, floundering lives and the characters’ search for meaning. In this way, the novel has a larger audience and message.

This is also a very Canadian story about a traditional Canadian way of life and it’s done with panache by Herring. For a first novel, the writing is deeply impressive and the main reason for the five star rating. There are passages throughout the novel that are riveting.

Overall, a very unique read, unlike any Canadian fiction I’ve read in the past few years.

Oh, and I loved the cover and the title of the book.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He and the girls and Gerry were the brushstrokes of colour upon a kind of infinite canvas, and those strokes of colour that they were, were also canvasses that would uphold more colours, because, in fact, they had already done this very thing.” This excerpt from “Some Hellish” sums up the powerful message the novel delivers and demonstrates the poetic and philosophical prose style of Nicholas Herring.

“Some Hellish” is the story of PEI lobster fisherman Herring – an everyman who is trudging through life battling addictions and dealing with the fallout of the breakup of his marriage. Herring is aware of his many flaws and struggles to come to terms who he is and what his place is in the world. A life altering event gives him new perspective and helps him begin to find answers.

Nicholas Herring vividly portrays the fishing culture of PEI and the rough-around-the-edges characters of the men and women whose lives are bound up in and dependent on the ocean and what it offers. He draws readers onto the boats and illuminates the details of days at sea in intimate detail.

“Some Hellish” may be a bit slow-paced for some readers appetites. But if you enjoy a deep dive into a character’s life and the painful arc his life takes, you’ll find yourself engrossed in this novel.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having lived on PEI for 10 years now, I got quite a lot out of this one. I was pleased to understand references to Wes the Cat, the Tits, and the Islander Breakfast. I constantly found myself wondering what my friends and family in Ontario would think about this book, whether or not they’d make heads or tails of it.

The story definitely meanders, and sometimes felt like a series of loosely connected anecdotes, exactly the kind you’d hear secondhand from a guy at work who takes Setting Day off to help his friend who fishes lobster, and who’s been referred to by the same nickname for so long now that he doesn’t remember who gave it to him or what it even means. In this sense, the writing is very authentic, and even though it’s a work of fiction, I think every word in this book is “true.”

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A character (quite the characters!) driven novel that I wish had been a bit more plot driven. The first chapter tried so hard that I almost lost all hope that I could come to terms with the author's voice. I am glad I stuck it out though, as it did become more grounded. Being from a small fishing community in PEI, many things about the characters were familiar to me, especially their sense of humour and the habit of finding their vehicles in places they shouldn't be. I was surprised by the deep and dark places the author took his characters, places most don't like to talk about or admit they are familiar with. These are the things I will remember most about Some Hellish.
3.5/5

[Annette Power · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having grown up in the village he writes about and still living in the area I was challenged by local fisherman to read this book. It rambled, the main plot was unbelievable and what was the ending? Did it end or did the author just get tired? I felt nothing for the main character but I feel for the fisherman of Eastern Prince Edward Island. Lobster fishing is a challenging job and I wish Nicholas had written more about the experience of fishing than about the bad behaviour of some. My apology to the author but it was indeed an odd book.

[Francis-Adrien Morneault · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really stretches what the novel form can embrace, making me think not only of Hemingway but of Faulkner in its form. And I truly enjoyed the philosophical aspects of the book! Some passages are quotable and offer insights - I love that in a novel! In my opinion, too many contemporary authors fall prey to the prevalent minimalist approach to the narrative.

I'm definitely reading it a second time!

If it interests you, you might like my novel "The Light Of Faded Stars", which is similar in its poetic and philosophical ideas delivery, although it follows a relatively linear plot.

[Susana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initially the scene is like dropping into one of Dante's rings of hell with a nightmarish swirls of a party sliding sideways into chaos. Eventually the pieces and characters come into focus as we follow the death of of the shaman through transformation and metamorphosis. I'll never look at a lobster again in the same way. Herring (the author) weaves in life down east on PEI with heart and careful observation. Recommended for all those that want a taste of our Island deeper than our cliches.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a couple of tries to get into and then finish this book, but I'm glad I did. The world that Herring and his "friends" (some better than others) live in isn't necessarily one that you're eager to get lost in, but it has its own sort of charm. A book for someone who wants to live someone else's life for a while, with no real plot to push things forward. I liked the contrast of the rough characters and environment with the beautiful writing.

Also, the similes were great - one that stood out: "His voice cylindrical and of a singular quality, like a dead man's last breath hurled through a clarinet."

[Valerie Grant Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique voice in this author’s first novel. Wonderful descriptive prose, compelling and authentic characters. Terrific dialogue. I had to read passages out loud to my partner. The protagonist is a beleaguered Everyman trying to make sense of his life as a modern day fisherman on Canada’s Prince Edward Island. My empathy for him grew with every page.

[Margaret Mawhinney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Being from the Maritime’s and the daughter of a lobster fisherman, I really wanted to love this book and sadly I gave up after chapter 9. The storyline really didn’t have a clear storyline and for me it was just very difficult to try to understand what the author was trying to get across perhaps it would’ve came together in the last couple of chapters, but I just simply could not continue 🙁

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the characters in this book a lot, mainly because of the way they talk, curse, and behave - it is so much like the people who live in the Ottawa Valley. The writing is so well done that I can literally picture the fishermen sitting around spitting and drinking and laughing. Not a lot happens in this story, but the main characters change and grow in subtle ways that warm the heart.