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Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs
Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs
Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs
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Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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The Time Bandit is the fishing vessel that Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand use to hook the "deadliest catch," Alaskan king crabs and opilio crabs, in the Bering Sea, a dangerous and mercurial body of water that can steal years from a fisherman's life. The Hillstrand brothers, however, are the real "thieves." They take valuable crabs from the sea while facing its dangers head on. In pursuit of their daily catch, the brothers brave ice floes and heaving sixty-foot waves, gusting winds of eighty miles per hour, unwieldy and unpredictable half-ton steel crab traps, and an injury rate of almost 100 percent. There are fewer than 400 fishermen of this kind in the United States, and early death is a common fate. But the Hillstrand brothers are drawn to the drama and adventure of life on the high seas, as was their grandfather before them. They don't complain about the risks and dangers-this is their world.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 19, 2008
ISBN9781400177462
Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs

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Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    When I received my copy of this book, I started reading it with great enthusiasm. I'm a big fan of the Discovery Channel series "The Deadliest Catch," and I was hoping that Time Bandit would in some way enhance my enjoyment of the show. I should preface my review by saying that I do believe that the Hillstrand brothers have some truly remarkable and fascinating stories to tell, and that the idea of this book is a good one. Unfortunately, it never really worked for me. Almost the entire book seemed like someone had just given Johnathan Hillstrand several shots of tequila, and then turned him loose to tell some stories. The stories are, in general, interesting, and sometimes become fascinating. Unfortunately, there's no real flow between them, and as a result the book feels incredibly disjointed. With the exception of a few of the descriptions of specific fishing events, especially the tragedies averted and those experienced, the book was a struggle to finish. I would encourage fans of the show to stick to the show, and leave this book behind. I would also encourage the Hillstrand brothers to find another co-writer and editor and try again. Perhaps someone else would take a firmer hand in shaping the many stories into one coherent narrative, the kind of book that I think it's possible to write from the experiences of these hard-working fishermen.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I didn't read the review well enough when I selected this book. I started reading it and realized that this was almost identical to the TV series which was very disappointing to me. I read it, and enjoyed the book, but could not get overly enthusiastic about it because it was like I was reading it for the second time - I had already watched most of the TV series. I think the guys that do this job are definitely crazy and should be regularly checked by psychiatrists, however, it is a job that they appear to love.I only gave this book two stars because to me, it is simply a rehash of the TV series, and in my more sarcastic ways, think it's just them trying to capitalize on every financial avenue available to them. I fully expect to see toy boats modeled after their fishing boats any day on the shelves at Walmart.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was not at all what I expected. It was much more similar to "A Perfect Storm" than I would have liked but it was still interesting. In real life maritime stories are not a genre I typically choose to read from. The Hillstrand brothers perspective on the fishing industry is interesting But still not what I am interested in reading.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Just finished reading this book as part of the Early Readers program and I must say I have mixed feelings about it.The book (in print only because of the popularity of "The Deadliest Catch" on Discovery) is essentially a series of anecdotal stories about growing up in a fisherman's family and living the fisherman's life. While this could certainly be entertaining and engrossing since it's real life, the narrative felt very flat for me for several reasons. First, the story wanders all over the map between trying to advance the "core" storyline and just throwing in mentions of incidents and musings about the world seemingly at random.It's a quick read, but even so it tended to get repetitive and the alternating first person POV did not come off particularly well for me.Another large problem was that many of the situations were not explained well enough to grasp the emotional aspect of the setting. The authors seem to have forgotten that not many readers will intricately know the workings on a crab boat and they fail to engage the reader because of this.By page 15 I was dying for a basic map! Listing every bay, inlet, bank and port in the area gets tedious if you are reading without reference.The book needs some better editing and more skillful writing. I laughed a few times when the fisherman threw out those $5 words -- as if he'd say that in real life.The best parts of this book are the details about life on the high seas and the insight into the fishing industry, costs of doing business, etc. And while some of the anecdotes were entertaining, some just sounded boastful and crazy. I'm not sure there was a tale here that didn't involve booze, fighting or serious injury.Overall, this reads like a book where the co-author, MacPherson, just took every story told by the brothers and threw it in at random. The disjointedness just ruins the narrative.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A look into the lives of two brothers that are commercial crab fishermen and are featured on the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. The three Fs are well covered, here - fishing, fighting, and..never mind. There is some interesting information about the business of crabbing but also a tendency toward overphilosophizing about the manliness and daring of the crabber.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am really enjoying this book as it tells a story in a way that I'm actually able to mentally picture the events occurring. I'm about 1/2 way done with it right now, so a more "formal" review will be coming in the near future. In the meantime, I promise not to peek at what others have said. As a sidenote, I am aware of the show, The Deadliest Catch, but haven't sat down to watch it as it's not really my cup of tea, nor that of my pre-teen boys.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I had a really hard time getting into this book. Narrative is disjointed, as it is usually written in the first person, but jumps between characters every chapter. The plot mostly seems to consist of long winded stories that never seem to come to any solid or interesting conclusions. While I feel that each chapter seems to be leading up to some revelation of sorts, that revelation never really comes. Most of the time I am having trouble remembering who it is that is telling the story and what might be different about their perspective. Since all of the stories seem to be about the same, I was bored within the first 3 chapters. This book might be a great follow on read for someone who has been a fan of the cable tv show and already knows all of the main characters and some of their background. For me the book was a rambling and disjointed tale that failed to tell an actual story. I made it about 3/4 of the way through and decided that it was not quite good enough to warrant more attention. Maybe the end brings everything together and makes the first 3/4 of the book worthwhile, but I doubt it.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I spent a good part of the summer after my freshman year in college on the Bering Sea and I watch the Deadliest Catch with mixed nostalgia and fascination. Yet with all of this I only finished this book because I agreed to review it. The book is centered around the weak plot device of Andy Hilstrand being "lost at sea." It might have worked if anyone had edited this book to give it some sort of cohesive thread. Instead it is a disjointed series of bar stories that flip from how much Andy misses his dead dog to how great it was to get beaten by his drunken dad. I can appreciate the effort that goes into writing a book, but I fail to see why someone didn't take the less repugnant of Andy's stories and make them readable. It’s hard not to judge the content along with the writing and as I read I just felt less and less that Andy Hilstrand was someone who I wanted to know. This would not be relevant if this was a work of fiction, but it isn’t it’s a mish-mash of stories from the life of someone lucky enough to do interesting things. The irony here is that the main demographic for this book are not people who generally read books. I am sure this won’t hurt the sales much because they will milk the connection to the TV show for all it is worth and people will buy it buy the potfull.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book is about the two brothers, Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand, who captain the Alaskan fishing boat "Time Bandit" featured in the Discovery Channel series The Deadliest Catch. I watched a few episodes of this show before reading the book to get a feel for what it's like. I think the book was written to take advantage of the show's popularity. The stories Andy and Johnathan tell about their modern-day adventures are realistic, interesting and exciting. I learned a lot about Alaskan fishing (perhaps more than I wanted to know; the section on federal regulations was a rather tedious but important part of the story).However, the book itself is very poorly written. I received an advance copy from Ballantine Books/Random House through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program, but the book did not arrive until well after the April 8 publication date. I have not seen a copy of the book as published, so perhaps some of the problems I've noted were addressed in the final book.The narrative is told from the first-person viewpoints of both Andy and Johnathan. Trouble is, the book does not indicate who is narrating each passage - you have to figure it out (if you can) from the context. The book also jumps around in time. The book is loosely held together with a "real-time" predicament of Johnathan's (he's adrift alone in a small fishing boat with no radio), but that is interspersed with stories from the past, and at times it can be difficult to tell them apart.Despite the presence of a co-writer (MacPherson has written more than a dozen books and was a former correspondent for Time and Newsweek), paragraphs are often long and jump from topic to topic. The book would have benefited from more editing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a different type of book for me. I haven't seen to much of the series Deadiest Catch. But I liked it!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I simply find that I cannot be too critical when it comes to this book. Taking into account the men who wrote it, their backgrounds, and the obvious audience for which this book was written, I think it was a fascinating read and an interesting glimpse into the world of two of Discover Channel's more famous "characters." Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand are different as the day is long, yet alike somehow. While they may not win any awards for record-breaking prose, they tell a story that is real. As a fan of their show, I found myself just as fascinated by this book. While some parts felt a bit dry to me, I chalk it up to the fact that I am a 22 year old girl, fresh out of college. If my grandfather read this book, I'm sure he would have loved the technical fishing talk just as much as I enjoyed every little story recalled by these men. Don't read this book if you're looking for an amazing piece of literature, but DO read it if you enjoy fun, interesting, and sometimes dramatic bits of memoir. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, just as much as Deadliest Catch!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There is something about fishermen: if you have the luck to be within earshot of one, you know you are going to be in for a story. At least half of it could be bullshit, but it won’t matter. The story is the point—not the truth. They aren’t journalists for chrissake, they’re fishermen. And if you know what’s good for you, you had better sit down and listen. You just might learn something.The Missus and I don’t get any television channels out here in the holler, so I wasn’t familiar with the Hillstrand brothers and the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch show when I stumbled across their book. I’ll definitely be surfing the free cable in search of it the next time we find ourselves holed up in a Best Western. I’m a big fan of Sebastain Junger and his dispatches from the ragged edges of gainful employment, so Time Bandit caught my eye as a possibly entertaining and enlightening summer read in The Perfect Storm mode. I was not disappointed. These guys are the real deal.It was 105˚ in our front yard Saturday, so we grabbed the ice chest, some Lost Coast Alleycat Amber, and fled to the beach. I felt a little guilty reading about the brothers fighting the freezing, murderous Bering Sea while I was chillin’ in a lounge chair sipping Eureka’s finest, so to show some solidarity, I jumped into the ocean. Not quite the same experience, I now realize.If I could say one thing about the Hillstrands, it would be: they are insane. By the end of the book, you may understand why they became that way (genetics mostly), but it doesn’t change the reality of their condition one bit.Two days later and it’s cooled off considerably, but I wouldn’t know it since I’m sunburned all to hell. I just couldn’t put Time Bandit down long enough to seek some shade. There’s one cold Alleycat left and instead of pouring it on my tomato-colored chest, I think the Hillstrands have earned a toast. For every wound, a balm / for every sorrow, cheerFor every storm, a calm / for every thirst, a beer
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ok, let's be honest. I've been fishing, I've eaten crab, and I can find the Bering Sea on a map. This would be the only things I have in common with the authors of this book, and probably most of the people who might read it. Not the best qualifications for a reviewer, one might think. But here I am, reviewing this book, and I have only one thing to say: I loved it! "Time Bandit" was entertaining, informative, and suspenseful. I visited the book's web site for more information, and I've already recommended it to about twenty people (yes, mostly guys). Even though I don't own a television, I've already decided to drop by a friend's house tomorrow and watch the show "Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel.Granted, it's not for everyone. There is more than a little swearing and other perhaps "objectionable" activities. But, after all, these are commercial fishermen. (Yes, several of Jesus' disciples were originally fishermen, but let's be realistic.) I found the rowdy writing style to be evocative of the personalities of these two men. I imagine we have Malcolm MacPherson to thank for that.The lifestyle of the commercial fisherman is one that most people will not only never experience, but may never even be aware of. That this book can capture some of this exhilirating, albeit grueling, line of work is a marvel.I'll never look at crab legs the same way again!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand are brothers and crab fishermen in the Bering Sea. Their lives are among those documented on the television show THE DEADLIEST CATCH.This book is basically a memoir, divided into sections where different voices are heard. Jonthan has joined a group of his buddies for ‘fishing camp’ basically an opportunity for them all to drink, tell lies and fish, with a little betting on the side. The adventure for John starts when his boat is disabled and he is left adrift. His batteries are gone, so he cannot radio for help and since he tossed his cell phone into the fire the evening before, he is isolated. His thoughts turn to the past and the events that lead to his present condition. He tells of his father, also a fisherman, his brothers and their lives as boys and men fishing in Alaska.Andy, meanwhile is working on his horse farm in Indiana. He is married, has two children and has elected to spend his off seasons working with horses and building a life for the time when he can no longer fish. He also thinks about his brothers, their parents and the way they grew up.One of John’s fishing buddies and a crewman on his boat, TIME BANDIT, is among the guys at the ‘fishing camp’. He becomes concerned when John hasn’t returned by late evening. He just has a feeling something is wrong. It is a sensation that has served him well in years past working the deck of a crabber.The story bounces back and forth between the two brothers with bits about Russell, the deck hand. Johnathan is the baby of the family, never married, though he has children and grandchildren. His thoughts are mostly of the past and of ways to get out of his current predicament. He savors some of the tales of catches, drinking, fighting and womanizing that make up the largest part of his life.Andy has spent many of their years protecting John, first from their father then from the incidents he’s gotten himself involved in. Andy also looks forward, realizes that the fishing industry is changing and that before too many more years pass, he, John and TIME BANDIT will be outmoded, old fashioned and out of the field.This book is an interesting, if fairly superficial, look into the inner workings of men who work hard, play hard and live dangerously. It opened a new vista for me, one I’d never thought of. Who thinks how difficult it was to catch the beautiful crab on your plate, boiled in saltwater with melted butter. It is a good read, with stories of heroics, dastardly behavior and always the boat, the sea and the catch.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have an image in my head of Malcolm MacPherson sitting at a table surrounded by piles of audio-cassettes and notebooks, head in hands as he tries to figure out what in the world to do with the hours of anecdotes, stories, histories, and process explanations that he has just collected in conversations with the Hillstrand brothers. That MacPherson was able to find a central narrative on which to hang all of these baubles is not as impressive as his ability to maintain a lively voice for each of the brothers.Not having cable, I haven't had the pleasure of watching the Discovery Channel's show Deadliest Catch. After reading Time Bandit, I'm not sure that I need to. MacPherson uses the narrative of Jonathan's rescue from being adrift alone during a salmon fishing run to organize the biography of these life-long fishermen as well as a brief lesson in the history and mechanics of crab fishing in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. While the stories are told with first-person immediacy, the book doesn't lose the narrative drive like the disappointing Jorgy. While some chapters may go on a bit, the overall rhythm of switching from Jonathan's narrative to the related tales and obeservations is generally effective. The suspense of Jonathan's situation carrying you over the wave ahead.The "as told to" approach of Time Bandit robs it of the literary quality of the fisherman/authors collected in Leslie Leyland Field's anthology Out on the Deep Blue or the memoirs of Linda Greenlaw, but Time Bandit is not simply two old salts telling war stories. Throughout the volume, both Hillstrands reflect often on the nature of humanity that would put themselves through such danger and also on what drives them personally to continue in an industry that will most likely kill them. Their ruminations go beyond hyper-masculine chest thumping to the questioning of human motivation.At one point describing themselves as dinosaurs, the Hillstrands represent a unique brand of fisherman that was raised with the old, practically unregulated, system and is now transitioning to an era of fishing that is much more controlled by the government. The Hillstrands admit and illustrate the necessity and even effectiveness of the new regulations, but they also fear that the heart of the industry is being eroded by the encroachment of bean-counters and bureaucrats. Time Bandit may then stand as a salt crusted monument to the frontier long after it has been rationalized into the ground.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Being a fan of the "Deadliest Catch" TV show, I expected to really enjoy this book. I was disappointed. As with most books of this type, the "celebrity" authors (the two Captains Hillstrand, who are featured in the TV reality series "Deadliest Catch") worked with a professional writer in the creation of this book. In the best books of this type, the "pro" keeps his or her own personality in low profile, and you can almost HEAR, in your mind, the subjects of the book saying their piece in their own voices. Unfortunately, I didn't feel this was the case here, especially in the sections featuring Jonathan. The CONTENT of the stories fit my expectations based on what I'd seen of the Hillstrands on TV. My problem was with the stilted prose used in the telling of the stories. Once in a while Jonathan's voice came through lound a clear, but I could not imagine him saying 90 percent of what was written in "his" first-person account. (It was a bit less of an issue for me in Andy's sections, perhaps because he comes across as a little more well-spoken than his brother on TV.) I found this so distracting that it was difficult to really enjoy what might have otherwise been a very interesting account of life lived on the edge in a very perilous profession. It might have been helpful if their pro co-author had focused more on helping them better organize the stories they were telling into a more unified, easier-to-follow, book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Time Bandit is a fascinating look at the life of an Alaskan fisherman, written in the form of a meandering series of stories that illustrate the lives of the Hillstrand brothers and the world they live in.The book is less a novel and more a personal account, though no less powerful for it. What it lacks in polish, it more than makes up in authenticity. Often non-fiction works struggle to be as interesting as their fictional brethren, but Time Bandit never suffers from this all too common fault.The audience for the book may not be as wide as some other forms of literature can claim. For those who are fascinated by the experiences of someone who lives in a reality much removed from that of the every day citizen however, it would be a hard task to put the book down once begun. The book goes beyond being merely a series of recollections, as it shows the insight of the Hillstrand brothers into human nature as it is revealed around them. The people that surround them are not merely one dimensional ciphers, but living breathing people who have motives and reasons of their own for what they do. The writing itself can be hard going at times, as neither of the brothers are writers, but rather fishermen by trade. This doesn't hurt the subject at all, though it does the clarity, as at times the lack of structure muddles what is being said. Given the form of the account, nothing could change the structure outside a complete re-write which would loose most of what makes Time Bandit such an interesting read - its character.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I just finished reading Time Bandit. I wish I had spent my time better. The book was written by Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand, with William MacPherson. The brothers Hillstrand are among the boat captains that star in the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. They are Alaskan king crab fisherman.When I first got the book title, my first thought was about the movie Time Bandits. That movie is one of my favorites. The name of the book is the name of the authors' boat: Time Bandit. The authors' father named the boat after the movie.The story opens with Johnathan out fishing on another of his smaller boats. The engine dies and the battery dies, leaving him stranded on the Bering Sea with no way to call for help. The book then jumps back and forth from the stranded boat to past stories of the adventures and misadventures of the brothers. The obvious comparison is to Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm. I am not sure whether it is a fair comparison or not. Regardless, as I was reading the book I kept thinking about The Perfect Storm.I have not watched the Deadliest Catch, so I was not familiar with king crab fishing or the brothers Hillstrand. Perhaps I would have enjoyed the book more if I had watched some of the show first. But I didn't. After reading the book, I am not any more inclined to watch the show. Johnathan comes across as cliche. He drinks hard, works hard and lives hard. Johnathan portrays himself as indestructible. So it is no surprise that at the end of the book he is rescued just in the nick of time. I thought his brother Andy sounded more interesting as he tries to balance his time fishing in Alaska with his horse farm in Indiana.You can better spend your time re-reading The Perfect Storm or Linda Greenlaw's The Hungry Ocean.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Time Bandit is the story of the Hillstrand brothers, Alaskan crab fishermen. They are just 2 of the men featured on the Discovery Channel show, Deadliest Catch. I'm a fan of the show so I was interested in reading this account of the lives of Johnathan and Andy. Part of the premise of the book is that Johnathan is adrift in a disabled boat on a fishing trip away from Alaska's Bering Sea. As he tells of his predicament, he also recounts his life story and other crab fishing anecdotes. Other chapters are told from his brother's Andy perspective, who spends his off season on a horse farm in Idaho. Luckily, this is a short, quick read since I started to tire of the back and forth between reminiscing and Johnathan's current dilemma. Many paragraphs started off with "once, we were" and "one time" and then went into another scrape the boys got into. Overall, if you're a fan of the show, you'll enjoy this quick account of one its more colorful characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book from Library Thing's Early Reviewer program. This was the 3rd book I've gotten and by far the best one. The story mostly from the point of view of Johnathan Hillstrand, with a couple shifts to his brother Andy and their friend Russel. I really like how the story unfolds, We are with John when he has a problem out on the ocean by himself when he starts to reminisce about his youth and family. The whole book is a story that follows a pattern that is rather fun, and I think an excellent mode of storytelling. Each chapter usually starts off in present and what is going on now, then something trips a memory and we go back along memory lane to learn how these guys got to where they are and how they became the men they are today.Whether this story is true or not, though it feels like there is some boastful embellishment, does not matter since it is an excellent story with a ring of truth about the Bering Sea and the rigors the fishermen put themselves through for some crabs. The money is huge but so are the risks. I also liked the history about the crabbing industry in Alaska, and how it has evolved over the last 30 years.Overall I found this a great book and I enjoyed it immensely. If you like a good fishing story, or just a good story about someones life, this one is both entertaining and thought provoking at the same time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I honestly like the show better, but I thought the book was a decent adaptation of the same thing. Disjointed at times, it reads fairly well.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This story about and by the brothers that run the 'Time Bandit'. This is intesting and vivid, the writing is done as if by someone who is doing nothing but putting together a group of tales told by the brothers. The TV show 'The Deadliest Catch' is the general basis, but this is a more behind the scene, background with the brothers and their crew. While I found the description pretty good, the flow of the story was more difficult to follow.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book is entertaining, but somewhat unfocused. There are two narrators, which at first was confusing, but I got used to it. Above all, I know I will never complain about the price of seafood...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There are many anecdotes that are entertaining and fund to read throughout this memoir. But it is really more a collection of tales on the sea than a memoir. The tales are told in no particular order and the relevance to the preceeding story is not always clear. The set-up was confusing when it bounced back and forth between Johnathan's real-time predicament and the stories from the past; however, I had an advance reader's copy and this might have been made more clear in the final version. Overall, a very entertaining collection of sea tales but not much more than that.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Poor writing and a rambling, fragmented story make for one horrible book. It reads like a rambling drunk telling outrageous tales that barely make sense. Making a living in the Bering Sea is certainly an interesting subject, but this book doesn't take advantage of it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I don't know that this is one that can really appeal to a large audience but it certainly had an appeal for me. I've had a secret obsession with Deadliest Catch from the first moment it aired. I can't explain it. And I also can't explain how the crew of the Time Bandit became my favorite to watch. What I do know, is this book made me love them all the more. There is something so incredibly heart-warming and touching in the midst of a world where people barely call home for the holidays to see a family...that actually comes together, works together, lives together, and supports each other in one of the deadliest jobs and places this world has to offer.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    If you are a fan of the show "Deadliest Catch", then this is the book for you. It is the story of John and Andy Hillstrand, owners of the crabbing boat "Time Bandit". You learn how they were born into fishing and continued their father's legacy by building their own boat. You also learn a lot about their personal lives. What it takes to run a boat, hire a crew and catch crab. Pictures are included as well. Anything you want to know about crab fishing is in this book. You will laugh, cry, and appreciate all that these men do.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Was looking forward to it--love daring real-life adventure stories.Disappointed--too much foolish bravado and poorly written.Still admire these men and others like them.Book doesn't do them justice.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Time Bandit reveals a mix of moments both terrifying and hilarious. The book has commentary by both brothers, Andy and John Hillstrand, that could have been more clearly organized. Perhaps the chaos was reflective of their chosen profession. That said, there's no denying the power of their stories and for those who love tails of adventure, this is a good one.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Time Bandit is not to be confused with the movie Time Bandits. The book is named for the boat, which in turn was named for the movie. The F/V (Fishing Vessel) Time Bandit may be familiar to viewers of the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch. Time Bandit is one of the crab boats featured in the series. The book is co-authored by brothers, and co-captains, Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand. Many thanks to LibraryThing Early Reviewer for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.I think this book will appeal to readers who enjoy watching the show. If you’ve been a regular viewer, you probably have some liking for the characters and more than a cursory interest in the work they do. For those who don’t know, the F/V Time Bandit fishes for Alaskan king crab in the Bering Sea. As you can imagine, the Bering Sea is a dangerous place to be, especially during the winter crab fishing season, and most certainly aboard a working fishing boat. The seas are rough, often with very high waves, storms are frequent, and the work is difficult and dangerous. The crew works for days with little or no sleep, thereby increasing the danger. If you wonder why Alaskan king crab is so costly, this book certainly explains it all.How many times do we have to read that John Hillstrand likes fishing, drinking and women (in that order!)? Why does he fish? Because that’s how he was raised. The Hillstrand brothers are relatively uneducated, and probably not very well-read. Their narrative style seems better suited to a television audience.The brothers, particularly John, seem to spend an inordinate amount of time cursing, fighting, and performing daring rescues at sea (or being rescued or thrown in jail). The story in Time Bandit is framed by John drifting alone in Cook Inlet on the F/V Fishing Fever. He was aboard the Fishing Fever during off-season for crab, and was fishing for salmon when the engine blew up. So-the book starts with John adrift, and ends, quite predictably with his rescue. Obviously he is rescued or there would be no memoir.Personally, I did not find this book particularly appealing. I found the writing to be amateurish and repetitive. The co-writer, Malcolm MacPeherson and the editors should have had more input; maybe then the book would have been a fraction as suspenseful and exciting as fishing the Bering Sea.