The Big Both Ways

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But first, she has to take care of that pesky dead body in the trunk of her car… From the Trade Paperback edition.

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He received a BA in English from the University of Washington and, at the urging of his parents, a certificate of completion in horse shoeing…. More about John Straley. Straley hits all the right notes here.

He has tremendous feeling for the setting: Noir Mysteries Crime Mysteries Category: Noir Mysteries Crime Mysteries. About The Big Both Ways Rattled by the gruesome accidental death of a coworker, Slip Wilson quits his job at a logging camp, and decides to make a clean start in Seattle. Also by John Straley. Inspired by Your Browsing History.

Looking for More Great Reads? I have a knee-jerk reaction against novelists that portray Alaskans as quirky throwbacks to whatever time isn't now and I am not terribly receptive to a style of writing that is more poetry than prose. Mind you, I am fully aware that both of these characteristics are in large part responsible for the success of John Straley novels, nevertheless Having said As much as I like and respect John Straley, not that I know him well, I have read his novels of Cecil Younger with a touch of exasperation.

Having said that, I loved this book. It was full of interesting characters whose quirks were accepted, by me, as being a result of actually living in a "time that isn't now. The prose did not aspire to poetry. It was beautiful in the way that the hands of a hard-working man or woman are beautiful. It was no-nonsense, workmanlike, but showing experience and skill in creating a world that I wanted to remain in for much much longer.

Jan 21, Sam Reaves rated it really liked it. The title refers to the Inside Passage up the west coast between Washington and Alaska, a big river that flows both ways.

The Big Both Ways by John Straley

That's the setting for this picaresque tale of an unemployed logger, a female political agitator and a little girl with a pet bird who in take to an open boat to flee from Seattle after a murky intrigue that leaves a couple of bodies in car trunks. The cops and the strikebreaker thugs pursue them northward as they encounter threats of the natural and human varieties, get The title refers to the Inside Passage up the west coast between Washington and Alaska, a big river that flows both ways.

The cops and the strikebreaker thugs pursue them northward as they encounter threats of the natural and human varieties, getting a panoramic view of Depression-era miseries in a region of spectacular beauty along the way. The book suffers just a little from its attempt to be both a crime novel and a tale of seagoing adventure; the exposition is a little disjointed in the murder mystery aspects. But it's vivid and absorbing as a survival tale and a portrait of deprivation and social ferment in a region most of us will only see from the comfort of a cruise ship, if ever.

I loved this, so 4. It's historical fiction and a prequel to Cold Storage, which is a hoot. This is not a hoot--it's spare and heartbreaking. In , Slip, Ellie, Ellie's young niece, Annabelle and her pet bird, Buddy, escape bad juju of Ellie's making in Seattle on a dory, and head to Alaska.

This is the story of how they got on that dory, the journey, and the aftermath. I loved the writing style, sort of a marriage of Ivan Doig and John Steinbeck. Sep 21, Annabelle rated it really liked it. A good mystery read set in the rough and tumble Northwest and Alaska passage soon afher the Gold Rush and during the US depression. Straley is a young author who is also the writer laureate of Alaska, who takes his intimate, kinesthetic relationship of the Inside Passage to Alaska also known as the big both ways, since the current flows north and south to create a rich and vivid setting for three humans on the run.

Slippery has farmed in eastern Washington, but looses the farm when his father A good mystery read set in the rough and tumble Northwest and Alaska passage soon afher the Gold Rush and during the US depression.

Murder By the Book review: "The Big Both Ways"

Slippery has farmed in eastern Washington, but looses the farm when his father dies, he is a great carpenter, but has to work in logging to get by. But a beautiful blonde, a Red, a labor organizer catches him off guard and embroils him in her life of espionage with labor, security, the police, and mine owners. Murders abound, and the two are on the run with her niece, Annabelle, the only sane one, who studies, loves a yellow bird and has the courage to save both of them at times.

Straley is a dense writer, with vivid descriptions which capture the hardships of being poor during the depression, the corruption of the mine owners, and the beauty and unforgivingness of the landscape.

The character development was particularly good, with the main characters having believable actions and trajectories, and clear differences between them. Sep 11, Jen rated it really liked it Recommends it for: This is a fabulous historical mystery set in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska during the s when trade unions and Communism were duking it out. Ellie is a Red with a heart but she's in trouble with the big boys -- one of them is lying dead in her trunk. Slip leaves his lumberjack job and hitches a ride with Ellie and things all go downhill from there.

Eventually they both have to run so they take a tiny boat up the Inside Passage to Juneau, chased by police and bad guys all the way. The book This is a fabulous historical mystery set in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska during the s when trade unions and Communism were duking it out. The book has funny moments, and is evocative of the weather and scenery of the PNW -- but the mystery holds all the way to the end -- you don't even know if Ellie's a good guy or a bad -- you just have to get to know her!

Jan 19, Steve rated it it was amazing Shelves: I gave this novel a rare -- for me -- five stars because it hit me on so many levels. It is a crime story set in the Pacific Northwest in the s. The writing, plot, and characters are all first-rate. I felt like I belonged in this world. Mar 10, Avid Series Reader rated it liked it Shelves: Slip Wilson left his parents' farm in the Dust Bowl to find work.

Big, strong, and hard-working, he did well as a logger in the Pacific Northwest, saving a nest egg for his future. He dreams of owning his own property and business. When his best friend and fellow logger dies in a logging accident, Slip decides it's time to go build his dream. Hitchhiking his way to Seattle, he catches a ride with Ellie Hobbes. Once he realizes she's involved in a crime, he wants to go his own way - but she tricks him into helping her. Slip joins Ellie at a labor union committee meeting, where violence erupts. Once again, he attempts to go it alone, this time in a dory; Ellie and Annabelle catch up just as he departs.

Together, they flee the criminals that are pursuing Ellie and now Slip , tackling the Puget Sound in a tiny boat. They soon learn the 'Big Both Ways' is the nickname for the Inside Passage, whose flow changes direction with the tide. Slip, Ellie and Annabelle are no match for the fierce current in a small dory. They accept help from a man piloting a larger boat - until he tries to kidnap Annabelle. Slip and Ellie work for a time in a cannery - where hazardous conditions have tragic consequences for Ellie.

In a parallel plot, a detective from Seattle also travels north, to solve the crimes Ellie and her anarchist cohorts committed back in Seattle.

The working conditions illustrate the dire need at the time for labor reform, however the criminal acts of union organizers reveal dark motives. Slip and Ellie's journey runs the gamut from gritty and depressing, to gripping and exciting.

The Big Both Ways

They finally reach Alaska, where the detective catches up to them, in a difficult to understand labor standoff, followed by a surprising conclusion. Nov 22, Linda Gaines rated it it was amazing. A great story with a man, woman, girl and bird travelling to Alaska by small boat. It's set in the '30s with violence between unions and Reds. The characters are so real and the ending is set for another novel, Cold Storage AK. I read that first so it was revealing to see the back story for the girl, Annabelle.

This was really fun. Anarchists and strike breakers, a precocious child and a yellow bird. The inland passage, lots of blood and a few characters who just keep popping up no matter how many times it looks like they are down. Reading this made me very happy. Sep 19, Gary rated it it was amazing. Nov 11, Joan Huehnerhoff rated it it was amazing. Excellent historical fiction of pacific northwest and the labor issues and crime. May 19, ND rated it really liked it. Aug 09, Rogue Reader rated it it was amazing Shelves: The Big Both Ways is a panorama of drama, history and geography as the Wobblies battle for political power and emerging trade unions seek humane working conditions in the forests and canneries of Oregon, Washington and Alaska -- they're fought at every stage by government agents.

It's the myth and legend of all battles and heros who came before like Swedish labor acti The Big Both Ways is an epic story along the lines of Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion, but is both more and less than that work. It's the myth and legend of all battles and heros who came before like Swedish labor activist Joe Hill, Sheriff McRae's murderous attack on the Steamship Verona in Everett, Washington and the castration and lynching of Wesley Everest in Centralia, Washington.

It's the story of uncertain and unexpected love between Slip Wilson and Elle Hobbes, of women's freedom in an unlikely time and place, of hope and desperation, and of an incredible journey navigating a dory up Puget Sound's Inside Passage from Seattle to Alaska. Publishers Weekly and Booklist give Straley's work rare starred reviews.

Straley's beautifully understated narrative, vivid sense of place and unapologetic, unadorned characters make this a riveting, unpredictable ride. He is also the author of The Rising and the Rain, a collection of poetry published in John Straley was Alaska's Writer Laureate During the day he is an investigator with the Alaska Public Defenders Office, specializing in homicide on burning boats.

His wife Jan is a marine biologist at the University of Alaska and spends her days watching whales and researching their nutritional habits. Straley and his wife were guests of the Ashland Mystery Readers Group event series in and they love Southern Oregon. Southern Oregon loves John Straley.

Apr 25, Jim rated it liked it Shelves: This book is set in , with the depression in full swing and jobs hard to come by. Along the way he comes to the aid of an attractive young woman, Ellie Hobbes who has car trouble. Ellie is This book is set in , with the depression in full swing and jobs hard to come by. Even though he is told to stay away from her, Slip quickly finds himself emotionally involved and caught up in a web of violence.

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Hot on their trail are some very unsavory characters and a Seattle policeman. Straley skillfully maneuvers the major players and makes it all work together as he crafts an unusual tale that I found to be an enjoyable visit to the first half of the last century. Jan 07, Georgina rated it it was amazing. This is the second book I have read by John Straley and enjoyed it immensely.

John Straley

It takes place in when a logger leaves camp and meets up with a woman who he helps to get her car out of a ditch. They head to Seattle and life as he knows it or life as he plans it completely changes. The logger, the woman, her niece and her bird have to flee Seattle but they do so in a dory taking to the inland waterways from Seattle to Juneau, Alaska. They are being chased by thugs as well as the law. What is so This is the second book I have read by John Straley and enjoyed it immensely. What is so intriguing about this whole "chase" is that it seems to be going in slow motion -- the logger is rowing a dory and the law and thugs are on a steamer ship.

They have to travel through waters that governed by weather and tides. They get separated and come back together only to be separated again; they almost get caught, but then manage to get away. However, after all is said and done -- it has a happy ending!!! John Straley writes so well and is a wonderful storyteller. I'm looking forward to finding and reading more of his books. Sep 08, Kay rated it really liked it Recommended to Kay by: I won it as a door prize. After a lush introductory portion, though, the beauty of the writing provided the perfect ironic background for a desperate and violent story.

I also liked that the story was not an Emile Zola gritty one of detailed struggle in poverty and violence and dirt, but used natural beauty, especially for long sea trips through Alaska's Inner Passage in a dory!

It made a deeper impression on me to be delivered in the beauty of the language Straley uses.

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