From the author
Falling off the Wind is a heartfelt, insightful story of a man stripped of everything familiar and dear to him. Clement Scheutz finds himself stranded on a small Caribbean island with no money, the woman he loves has left him, his boat has been smashed on the rocks by a hurricane, and he has been accused of killing a local Puerto Rican. He gets a job helping rebuild a local restaurant while trying to put the boat and his life back together. In the process he helps the restaurant owner cope with her teenage daughter and find out who killed her uncle.
Book Description (from Amazon) Publication Date: October 1, 2012
Clement Scheutz, his schooner smashed on the rocks of Puerto Rico by a hurricane, is accused of killing a local islander. The woman he loves has deserted him and he is without money. While putting the boat back together, he helps rebuild a local restaurant and finds new love with the owner.
“Few authors can combine both compelling characters and gripping plot. Meibers does so here – his richly-drawn Clem character is both introspective and swashbuckling, both poet and pirate.” -David Brody
“A modern version of a Joseph Conrad adventure. Meibers has created an engaging tale of life on a Caribbean island where his challenges reflect our own.”
-Dwight Harshbarger
About the author: Richard lives in central Massachusetts. He is the author of The Fitchburg Watch, a non-fiction history of manufacturing in the United States and the Scheutz trilogy.
My review:
Falling of the wind: A sailboat falls off the wind when it points its bow further from the eye of the wind. The opposite of heading up into the wind.
After Hurricane Sandy hit my home, I thought that I would be completely turned off by a plot that starts off with a boat smashing on the rocks because of a hurricane. Fortunately I was able to plow through and continue on the journey that Meibers crafted in his fourth novel.
Meibers takes us through two story lines with one being the love story and the other being the horrible Hurricane Hugo. Although this story is a work of fiction, the date and locale of Hurricane Hugo are factual. This adventure story delves into the lifestyle of a Caribbean sailor and explores the realities of life lived on a boat. It is also filled with hardship and love, without being too sappy.
Something that I know distracted a few reviewers was the sprinkling of Spanish phrases throughout the novel. Even though I never had a lick of Spanish in high school, I seemed to be able to use context clues to figure out what was happening.
I would recommend anyone that loves sailing and romance to pick up a copy today. Falling off the Wind by Richard Meibers was given to me for a free review by The Cadence Group.
