Before the Wind

A Novel

By: Jim Lynch

Narrated by: Roger Wayne

Joshua Johannssen has spent all of his 31 years among sailboats. His grandfather designed them, his father built and raced them, his mother knows why and how they work (or not). For Josh and his two siblings, their backyard was the Puget Sound and sailing their DNA. But both his sister and brother fled many years ago: Ruby to Africa and elsewhere to do good works on land, and Bernard to god-knows-where at sea, a fugitive and pirate.

Now pushing 30, Josh - who repairs boats of all kinds in a Steinbeckian marina south of Seattle - is still pained by whatever it was that went wrong with his damn family. But when the Johannssens unexpectedly reunite for the most important race in these waters - all of them together on a historic vessel they made decades ago - they will be carried to destinies both individual and collective, and to a heart-shattering revelation.

Past and present merge seamlessly and collide surprisingly as Jim Lynch reveals a family unlike any other with the grace and humor and magic of a master storyteller.

©2016 Jim Lynch, c/o Inkwell Management. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Good sailing lore but corny plot

Author Lynch captures the northwest sailing scene well but the overall story is marred by overdrawn characters and bad dialog. Fun read if you sail.