![]() And although the more reserved of the pair make no mistake Andy has a wild streak too Andy’s narrative is less personal and places a lot of emphasis on family, marriage and having a life away from fishing. He has just received the call that his brother’s gone missing while salmon fishing. ![]() He provides a great deal of humour throughout, none of which I can repeat here but sure made me laugh and is without a doubt the “bad boy of the Bering Sea” A couple of chapters in we switch to Andy’s POV on his horse farm in Indiana. Jonathans narrative takes us through the Hillstrand brothers rough and tumble childhood, the tempestuous relationship they had with their father and onto the Time Bandit into 2008. He has lost power, doesn’t have a radio and is quickly running out of cigarettes however by the end theres still 1 flare left and he hasn’t cracked the Crown Royal. Starting with Johnathan drifting alone in his 38 foot fishing vessel 'Fishing Fever'. Ghost written by Malcolm Macpherson, he cleverly takes an assortment of the Hillstrand brother’s tales, adds some facts and then layers them all within a gripping adventure. They talk here just like they do on TV too so expect the F-bombs, a general feeling of unruliness and a hell of a lot of fun. ![]() Exhilarating, anguished and often hilarious these modern day pirates give a first hand account on what its like to face death on the Bering Sea with stories that are in turn riotous and often sadly reflective. However all the behind the scenes details and the intimate look into Andy and Johnathon’s lives really make this worthwhile. If you’re a fan of The Deadliest Catch then you’ll love this even though you will have already seen some of the stories played out on TV. Now thanks to the boys I also know just about everything I’d ever want to about Alaskan weather, rogue waves, hypothermia, what happens when you party naked, ice flows, never quitting, how many groceries you need to feed 7 hungry men for two weeks, the coast guard (coasties), eagles, seagulls, the Bering sea, red gold, flares, silly string wars, crab pots, survival suits, cod, salmon, the fishing industry in general and how to get out of jail in Mexico. Opening Line: "I am a fisherman, an Alaskan fisherman, and a Bering Sea crab fisherman with thirty-seven years on commercial boats."Īs a long time fan of TV’s The Deadliest Catch and an avid biography reader it was a given that I’d read Time Bandit, I just didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did or be given such candour into Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand’s lives. By turns raucous and reflective, exhilarating and anguished, enthralling, suspenseful, and wise, Time Bandit chronicles a larger-than-life love affair as old as civilization itself–a love affair between striving, willful man and inscrutable, enduring nature. Here is the Hillstrands’ own heartfelt hymn to the brutally hard, gloriously independent, and mysteriously soul-satisfying life that has earned them their daily bread and defined their existence. In pursuit of their daily catch, the brothers brave ice floes and heaving waves 60 feet high, the perils of 1000-lb steel traps thrown about by the punishing wind, and the constant menace of the open, hungry water.Įven the brothers’ downtime on land–where the deadly realities of the unforgiving sea are never far from their minds–is lived as if borrowed: fast and hard, haunted by the knowledge that the next season at sea could end asleep in the deep. Natives of tiny, fishing hamlet, Homer, Alaska sons of a hard-bitten, highly successful fisherman and born with brine in their blood, the Hillstrand boys couldn’t imagine a life without a swaying deck underfoot and a harvest of mighty Alaskan king crabs waiting to be pulled from the ocean floor. To read Time Bandit is to step into their skins, smell the sea air, feel the frigid wind, and know with all your senses the exhilarating, and terrifying life on the edge. If you’ve watched their exploits on TV’s Deadliest Catc h, you’ve only scratched the surface. And among the rapidly diminishing ranks of these die-hard salts, brothers Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand have forged a reputation as fierce masters of their treacherous, enthralling trade. Season after season, they bond and battle with its icy depths, determined to reap yet one more rewarding harvest while eluding the ever-present threat of sudden, certain death. And perhaps none take more chances than the men and women who brave the tempestuous, bountiful waters of the Bering Sea. But make no mistake–there truly is much to beware for those who are drawn to risk their lives and seek their fortunes upon the waves. “Many brave hearts are asleep in the deep, so beware, beware,” goes the chorus of an old sailors’ sing-along that celebrates the allure and danger of the seafaring life.
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