Clucked

Troy Hollan’s story “Clucked” is a sweet and poignant tale of how one man deals with grief after losing the love of his life in an unnecessary accident due to the corporate greed of Clawson Chicken company. Matt decides to leave his life behind and set sail on his boat Lonesome Dove with his aging dog Hank. In fact, I was totally reeled into the story when I learned that Matt’s boat was named (partly after) the boat that Robin Lee Graham had sailed around the world in when he was 16. That story enthralled me back then, and I still have it on my shelf.

Along the way Matt meets quirky characters who offer kindness and hope—bringing him out of his despair. In fact, without the help from strangers, he may have been forced to give up his plans to sail to remote locations for a year when his boat had become severely damaged. This event leads him to meet Hannah, the sister of the boat repairman. Hannah has some inside information about the disgusting things happening at the Clawson Chicken plant—far worse than he had previously imagined. It wasn’t just the fact the chickens were forced to listen to the popular wedding song “The Macarena” for hours on end. There was also… Well, I’d better not give away any more of the plot. Suffice to say, even though I know this is a work of fiction, I’m glad that I never eat chicken nuggets. Matt, with the help of Hanna (and his dog Hank) free the chickens, get retribution for his wife’s untimely death, and learns that life can go on.

Thank you Net Galley and Black Rose Writing for providing me with an ARC of this wonderful five-star novel. I’m already looking forward to the author’s next book.

What begins as an attempt to escape the heartache following the death of his beloved wife, Matt sets out alone to complete the sailing adventure they had hoped to take together. The last remnant of his shattered family, his old, half-blind dog, Hank at his side, Matt points his nose toward the waves and sets sail. Trying desperately to stay ahead of the pain of grief as if it were a growing storm off the stern, he hopes this trip will soothe his broken heart with enough distractions to loosen the grip of loss. Even in the vastness of the sea, he can’t outrun the giant corporation responsible for Julie’s death. One careless move leaves him with a hole in his boat to match the hole in his heart, and he fears his adventure is about to come to a screeching halt. Instead, the sea has seen fit to bring him together with a family community which has also suffered, maybe not so coincidentally, at the hand of the Clawson Chicken Corporation.

Throughout the book, the reader’s face is misted with salt water—both from the sea, and from tears. Hollan asks his readers to be brave enough to place their eye against the viewfinder to get a hard look at the dark side of the food industry. The heart is tugged in many directions for both the people and the animals who languish in the factory farming industry. Hollan’s friendly style of writing grabs the reader from the very first paragraph and, much the same way Matt secures Hank into his harness, he safely locks you in for the ride. Just like every great adventure tale, each chapter rises and falls like a wave, a vignette in the greater arc of the story. Every word is worth reading—Hollan paints vibrant pictures of a world he sees clearly in his mind, bringing us in without overwhelming us with the invitation. The characters are so well developed, it feels as if Hollan is describing his own friends, and we are invited to share a beer with them all aboard the old sloop. There is much to mourn and celebrate in this novel which perfectly blends a sea-faring adventure with a tasty mystery. And just like the sailboat zigzagging across the water to hold a straight path, Matt and Hank’s hearts finally find their way toward healing.