Taking off in his sailboat to find a way forward after the death of his wife, Matt encounters so much more on his journey of healing: he discovers the gentle wonders of islands he visits, strangers of disarming kindness and generosity, lasting friendships, an unexpected love, and an exquisitely satisfying stroke of justice. While the novel starts as Matt’s engaging wanderings with his trusty old dog Hank (akin to Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley), Troy Hollan’s Clucked steadily transforms into big-hearted adventure filled with staggering revelations.
From the beginning, the reader feels Matt’s palpable loss from the tragic death of his beloved Julie, who was killed by an asleep-at-the-wheel truck driver for the corrupt Clawson Chicken Corporation. The crimes of the corporate leader Colonel Clawson are legion and multiply over the course of the novel. His lost court battle with that corporate magnate and his two years of mourning Julie’s death push Matt away from his job on the power lines and onto his sloop.
That journey from Corpus Christi through the Gulf of Mexico, in and about Florida, and up the Carolina coast is filled with watery wonders – phosphorescent plankton, cavorting porpoises, and menacing swells. Yet even more memorable are the friendly and helpful strangers along the way, including Kenny and his granddaughter Desiree, the retirees Jim and Clara, and the wild Cajun shrimp Captain, Boudreaux. Indeed, “at every turn, a helping hand had pulled him out of the darkness and back on his feet.”
Following his boat being torn up on a coral reef, Matt limps his vessel through the intercoastal waterway up to Charleston for repairs and is befriended by the fiberglass expert Roy, aka Tiny. That relationship with Tiny – a Gullah whose grand extended family lives out on the Sea Islands – will lead to Matt discovering the two most important things he could use right now: love and revenge. Those two become entwined in the smart and lovely Hannah who has her own troubled history with Colonel Clawson. And boy, that’s when the story delivers many intrigues and thrills.
Without giving away too much, I will say the revelations about Clawson’s lurid production methods and his personal debaucheries are both magnificent yet consistent with all that has preceded. The account by the servant Jenkins is stunner, and the disclosures just get even better from there. Filled with wry humor and satiric moments throughout, the novel deftly develops the theme of how the cruel, profit-hungry insensitivities of large corporations cavalierly harm everyday people, often with tragic results. The crimes of Colonel Clawson serve as an allegory for the lurid corruption of the American Dream.
Hollan’s Clucked serves as an inspiring reminder of the best of the American spirit, one that cries out for redemption. Indeed, this novel with a fun and satisfying read even as it mines our dark past and present.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
A Really Fun Read!
A good old fashioned adventure story, with sweet old dogs, flawed but lovable humans, revenge, romance and plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor, along with a few pokes at the state of the corporate food industry and factory farming. Full disclosure - we're married to the author!
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2023
- Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2024
- Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2023
