Brian A. Hopkins

Hopkins is one of those authors that I really enjoy but that I don't read often enough. Obviously the fault is all mine since he has books and collections out there. It's just that my reading doesn't always move in the same circles as his writing. But when they overlap? Enjoyment! I don't know about others but some authors that I love get ignored for years until I rediscover them and wonder why I haven't read more by them. Hopkins is in this category. Anyway, as is more common than I would like to admit for myself, I didn't connect the title of the book with the theme of the stories until three or four stories in. "Ahhh, stirring tales involving the ocean. Got it." While the theme might have been common for them, the mood and tone varied significantly. There was a haunting ghost tale, fight for your life action, do what you can to protect others and lots in between. For me, the emotion and feelings invoked in each were captivating. My favorites from the collection are below. Hopefully I will find myself moving in the "books written by Hopkins" circles again soon.

"North" - A blind boy lost in the woods get unexpected help.

"The Promised Hour" - A hunt for a rogue narwhal turns into a fairy tale.

"Crocodile Gods" - An intense tale that starts fast and scary, then stays there. Very much in the same line of the Blake Lively movie "The Shallows" but scarier to me because of the set up.

"Flotsam" - A tale of death from the sea creatures point of view.

"The Baited Night" - A dying nerd discovers a way to do good before his death. Someone should definitely adapt this because it played in my head as something between a Twilight Zone episode and a 1950s alien comes to Earth movie. Not quite either one but it left me feeling that way.

"Wrinkles at Twilight" - A not quite marine biologist tries to save a dolphin.… (mere)

As the title indicates, this book is a collection of stories that relates to oceans. I may never swim again!

I'm not sure why I didn't expect a lot when I started this collection but I was quickly proven wrong. Brian A. Hopkins has some serious writing chops. Even though these tales all I have a common theme, they are widely varied and often the tone of one story is completely different from the tone of the next.

These were my favorites:

THE BAITED NIGHT-What a scream! I felt so, so bad for George, battling cancer and his entire, sad history. (And NO history with the ladies, poor guy!) Anyway, a man can be dangerous when he has nothing to lose. This would have made a great movie-because it was so well written, it played out like a movie in my head.

THE CROCODILE GODS- Holy Hell! This is one of the most harrowing tales I've ever read. There was a note from the author that end that chilled me to the bone.

NORTH- A blind boy gets lost in the woods, with only the sounds of a nearby bay to guide him.

DIVING THE COOLIDGE- A tale of two men, diving the wreck of a luxury ocean liner, later turned troop carrier in 1941, before she was sunk by a mine. Just thinking about a ship like being taken over by the ocean, sea creatures living in it, and who knows what else? *shudder*

Joshua Saxon, the narrator, is fast becoming one of my favorite voices in audiobooks. He can perform anything, his accents sound genuine, and he adds just the right amount of drama to keep those earphones stuck to my ears.

This was a rather short collection, and I enjoyed that it didn't take me forever to get through. For me, short stories are often a palate cleanser between novels and as such, sometimes it takes me months to finish an anthology or collection. This one rolled by pretty quick and I'm looking forward to learning more and reading more from Mr. Hopkins.

Highly Recommended!

*Thank you to the author for the audio download in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*… (mere)

At a little more than 100 pages, this book is more of a novella. No matter its size though, it carries a wonderful story. Being vague in order to avoid any spoilers because they a large part of this story is the discovery, Ricky Bennington is an archaeologist in Mexico who suffers a tragedy and then comes up with a unique solution to get past it. The story is dripping with the history of Mexico; I found myself fully encompassed by the world and feeling like I was there. Both the wonder of the Mexican environment and the story are slowly and lovingly revealed. That is a large part of why I don't want to give too much of the story away. Hopkins completed tons of research for the story and it shows. I did get lost a little bit with all the names and locations that were mentioned but it was also something that was easy to get past. The names and locations were absolutely needed though to provide the mood. I highly recommend this book. It will be one that you find extremely difficult to put down until you've finished.… (mere)