What do readers think of The Fisher Boy by Stephen H. Anable? Write your own review.

Interesting story although a bit far-fetched. Well written, it did retain my interest. The main characters in the book are gay although there are no graphic scenes. Interesting descriptions of the Cape Cod area.

A young gay man struggles with the issues of his parentage, the murder of someone close to him, and the difficulties of developing a meaningful relationship with his male partner. Set in the Cape Cod resort area during the summer, the novel follows Mark Winslow as he attempts to solve a murder and at the same time answer some of the questions about his own life. Genre: Gay Fiction

I had a really hard time with the first half of this book but the second half rolled out like a great murder mystery. As another reviewer said, there are many references to the gay characters' relationships and their preferences which will be a turn off for some readers. What drove my rating of the book was the uneven plot and character development; and that the upscale New England beach town had more presence than the characters in the first half of the book. In the second half it was the exact opposite. Whether this is a deficiency or the intention of the author the reader can only guess but I much preferred the pace and the characters in the second half when it turned into a race to the finish to find out who dun it and see who would survive.

I found the first part of this book hard to get into, and the gay aspects of the story bothered me, not because I'm anti-gay, but in the way that gratuitous sex in any book would bother me. However, the second half of the book was much better, and once the story picked up, it was hard to put the book down. I enjoyed following Mark around, trying to help him figure out who was behind the nasty goings-on in Provincetown while trying to keep himself out of harm's way, and was as surprised as he was when the murderer was finally revealed.

I hoped this book would get better as I read it, but it did not. There was too much jumping around and not enough character and/or plot development. Found myself going back to past chapters over and over to see if there was something I had missed... Also, it was too hard to believe some of the scenarios...in particular the commune that no one seems to know about but was right under everyone's noses. It was a stretch. Seems too small of a community for something like that to go unnoticed. I hope to see something else by this author, though, if he will take more time with the unfolding of the story....I liked his description of the locale...could picture it clearly as if I were there.

I was disappointed by this novel. The setting and some of the major characters had a lot of promise, and I was hoping for a fast-paced comic mystery. But the plot never got off the ground. For one thing, the author’s style was embellished with too many descriptive details about events and props that didn’t seem to matter very much. And then minor characters would appear without making any clear impact. I would say the book lacked focus. There were some witty exchanges and clever observations, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

I had a very difficult time with this first novel. The plot is convoluted to the point that I had a problem trying to sort through all the main characters. Each chapter brings another element into the plot with expansive, even rambling description that does nothing to move the story along. I felt I was being exposed to the author's diligent research. I would not recommend this book.

I normally don't read mystery books, but thought the description of this one sounded like it would be a little different, more fun, in a way.

I was also not prepared for how much of the book was about gay people/being gay/gay issues. I found that I had a hard time getting into the whole premise, and I really didn't like any of the people in there much either. I have nothing against gays, I just don't find it interesting to have a book go on about it that much. For some reason, the story never grabbed me and I just didn't care about the characters or their situation, which to me is an important part of whether I like a book or not. So I must say that overall I was disappointed by this book, even though it did have some fun moments now and then.