Releasing the Catch

Women. Crab fishing. The Bering Sea. Some men don’t think they belong together. One woman wants to prove them wrong.

Mack Carter’s life is circling the drain. When he hears about how lucrative the fishing industry is in Alaska, he decides to try his luck on the frigid Aleutian Chain. There he meets, Nels Pearson, who teaches the younger man how to be a crab fisherman on the deadly Bering Sea, and becomes the friend and father-figure Mack’s never known. Carter must learn to navigate both the foreign world on the water, and home life on land, finding a tenuous balance with both.

Through circumstances beyond her control, Faith Pearson, is inserted into the dangerous life the men live in. To most fishermen in this high-velocity world, women onboard a crab boat is a bad omen. Faith finds life on the sea difficult to maneuver, not just the conditions but the men and superstitions she must also endure.

When tragedy strikes her life again, Faith strives to overcome great obstacles, and proves herself worthy mentally and physically, as she navigates self-discovery in a man’s bleak yet adventurous world. She also discovers lessons about love and just how deadly the Bering Sea can be when her own life is on the line, possibly never releasing her from the catch.

 

By Jeny Heckman

By Elizabeth Berie

December 2020 - Celtic Butterfly Publishing

The Meeting

An Excerpt

Squaring her shoulders, Faith shifted her eyes back to Andy and stuck out a hand. “Actually, I’m Faith. Mack says you’re looking for a seasoned deckhand to help you through the winter, that, right?”

Confused, Andy’s stared first at her face, then her chest region, then at her outstretched hand. In complete bewilderment, he checked Mack’s face, then his brother’s.

Jake, long legs sprawled out in front of him, an elbow on the table, and hand supporting his chin, serpentined a slow, genuine smile across his face. He flicked his index finger up over his lips and used only his eyes to measure his brother’s reaction. Since the skipper didn’t appear to snap out of it any time soon, his younger brother outstretched his own hand, and shifted his gaze back up to Faith.

“That’s right. I’m Jakob Rassmussen, deck boss. You can call me Jake. This is my brother, Andy, he’s capt’n.” They shook hands and Jake returned his observation to Andy, whose face started to turn colors. A gurgle of laughter escaped from the younger man, before covering it up with a cough. Mack never stopped peering into his drink.

“Oh, for chrissake!” Faith said, disgusted, and all three men jerked their attention toward her, as if slapped. “My father,” she gestured at Mack. “Is an asshole. It’s not his fault, he was just born that way. He didn’t tell me about any of this,” -she waved a hand at them and the table- “Until I got here, a little over an hour ago.”

She flicked an accusatory glare at Mack, who had the excellent sense to stay quiet. “Look, I don’t have time for any of your good-ole-boy superstitious bullshit. I’ve lived on a crab boat since I was eight-years-old. I became a full share deckhand at sixteen, and I’ve worked as deck boss and as an engineer.” Her glare now fell on Jake, who stared back in fascination. “I just left my last job because it was time for a change, not because I couldn’t hack it. I work well on the hydraulics, stack, rail, bait, wherever the hell you want to put me. I’m a fast learner and I don’t expect to find your boat to be the space shuttle. Either you want me or not. I’ll be on the pier tomorrow at seven a.m., so you have the night to decide. Right now, I’m tired and I want to go to bed.”

She grabbed Jake’s drink, the closest and fullest, with three fingers of some strange, yet horrific alcohol, she discovered. She drained it in one large gulp, turned on her heel and left the bar. All three men stared in her wake, open-mouthed.

Reviews

N.N. LIGHT

AMAZON VINE VOICE

A heart-wrenching adventure...

Mack Carter craves adventure and when he hears about how much money there is in crab fishing, he leaves his crappy life behind and heads up north to Alaska. He befriends Nels Pearson who teaches him everything about crab fishing, from the bottom rung up to the captain’s chair. They form an unbreakable bond and a life-long friendship. Through hard work, heartbreak, tragic events, and the dangerous waters of the…

SHOWMETHELOVE

AMAZON READER

Adventure on the Bering Sea

Author Heckman has a laudable eye for descriptive detail about everything in the hardscrabble crab fishing world and her ear for realistic language made every moment vibrate with often harsh authenticity. Faith Pearson’s story is powerful, poignant, and passionate. The people in her life are fully rounded with deep, believable backstories. Pick up this book. Jeny Heckman will sweep you away with her unforgettable cast…

ANDREA FLORESCU

goodreads reader

Releasing the Catch

A grand story about a woman who wants to make it in a world that women are not expected to even be. A harsh and dangerous world of commercial crab fishing in Alaska. The book is set in Seattle and Alaska and is the story of Faith Pearson and Mack Carter. Releasing the Catch starts in the early 70s wtih Mack Carter, a poor, wayward teenager left on his own who tries to make it and embarks on the adventure… 

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