Written by John Angus
Published by The Halcyon
Press in 2005
Star rating ****
This is the first of two
books John Angus has written about his time spent fishing for billfish; marlin
and swordfish.
The book opens explaining how
he travelled to New Zealand
to support a close friend through a difficult time. They fish together for
snapper and other fish for the table, but John notices Primetime, a big game fishing boat in the marina skippered by John
Gregory, who had a reputation as a somewhat grouchy skipper.
The two fish together and a
bond develops, helped by Angus moving his family from the UK to New Zealand
permitting more time to be spent fishing; initially just for marlin, then for
swordfish. Together they win several tournaments and set records. John Angus
also introduces his children to the sport and they go on to set records and win
tournaments following in their fathers footsteps.
This book is very much in the
Zane Grey mould, telling stories of battling with giant fish which is hardly
surprising as grey appears to be Angus’s hero.
As I read the sequel by
chance before reading this work, I commented that there were items the reader
would like to know which are covered in this work, and would recommend that the
reader would benefit from reading these books in the order they are written.
One negative aspect is that
the photographs at the start of the book do not align with the relative page of
the text, some appearing pages away which I found mildly irritating and would
benefit from tighter work by the publisher.
However, the book is
enjoyable and I read it in one sitting from start to finish on a plane journey,
which I rarely do which is perhaps the best recommendation.