BELOW THE HORIZON

by John Wingate ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 1975

Set in the very near future, this tells the story of the Third Cod War (there have been two real cod wars already). Iceland, having fished itself fishless within its three-mile limit, then its newer twelve-mile limit, has announced that now there is a 50-mile limit around the island and that all foreign trawlers either will be arrested or sunk. British skipper Hooky Walker, an overweight giant, does not recognize the new limit and says the fish beyond the twelve-mile limit are in international waters. He plays cat-and-mouse with the armed gunboat Hekla, sometimes getting a good haul, at others going home with little to show the company. And trawling is expensive. His worries mount. We follow his English Campion through a terrible blow and freak wave that nearly sinks them. On another trip he is fired upon by the Hekla but escapes in a fog. During the disastrous final voyage, a fellow trawler is fired upon and, out of his mind, Hooky rams the gunboat. Both ships sink in icy waters. But the tragedy is as much about the savaging of fish and rape of the world's greatest protein supply as it is about toilers of the sea. Good adventure, and solid technical savvy in spite of the prose where cliches swim along with the cod.

Pub Date: April 14, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1975

Categories: FICTION