Warriors

A Novel

This prequel to the acclaimed Highliners novels is “a fascinating, gritty, and realistic historical novel about Alaska commercial fishing . . . A great read!” (Joe Upton, author of Alaska Blues).

Long before Hank Crawford arrived to work the waters off Alaska, his compatriots were already in love with its crystaline shores . . .

Following the final, crushing moments of World War II, Japanese officer Kiyoshi Tsurifune, Sergeant Jones Henry, and Resistance fighter Swede Scorden struggle to regain normalcy and return to the shimmering, fish-filled sea. Suffering from lost honor, fallen friends, and a cultural identity gone in the wake of a nuclear blast, these fishermen-turned-soldiers have a long way to go before they return to the waters that feel like home.

Arriving in Alaska, they find it much changed. There’s a new union calling for a strike at height of salmon season. Expensive new engine boats are replacing the sails and oars fishermen like Jones Henry have relied on for years. Plus, unhealed wounds make the looming deal between Alaskan fishermen and Japanese buyers painful for many. And behind every conversation and every haul of fish, the question looms—will these men shattered by war ever find peace again?

“Fast-paced and tautly written” Warriors is a novel that can’t be put down and will never be forgotten (Karl Zingheim, Historian, USS Midway Museum).