2182 KHz

A salty debut from the frozen North plots the uneven course by which seaman Henry Seine makes his way home from Alaska to the Puget Sound.

Seafaring tales (from Sebastian Junger’s nonfiction to Tom Clancy’s novels) often lean rather heavily on the nuts and bolts to such an extent that the machinery has more personality than the characters. Fortunately, Masiel’s protagonist is a full-bodied exception, though he certainly fits the classic strong, silent mold. A devoted husband of the old school, Henry spends six months of the year working tugboats and icebreakers in the frigid waters off the Alaskan coast so as to make the payments on his Washington State home. It’s a squalid life in many regards (just read the descriptions of how human waste is disposed of in subzero temperatures), but Henry is happy to put up with it—until he gets a Dear John letter from wife Heather, who tells him she’s fallen in love with another man. At that point Henry signs on with the next southbound craft he can find. Unfortunately, this turns out to be the Fearless, a filthy old pot skippered by a quasi-madman who makes Captain Bligh look like Olive Oyl. The Fearless capsizes during a gale, and Henry is narrowly rescued by clinging to the barge she was towing. The only survivor, he has the added good fortune of being plucked from the brine by beautiful Julia Lew, cook aboard the good ship Vigilant. Although they very quickly become lovers, Julia is too free a spirit to settle for one man. Besides, she and Henry soon find themselves in a race against time to rescue Louis Moneymaker, a scientist stranded on a rapidly melting icecap. Will help appear before the ice disappears?

Obviously destined for some high-decibel multiplex, this is a good page-turner with an appropriately colorful crew and perfect tempo.