Hooked

by: Jane May

Published by: Kensington Publishing Corp

Reviewed by Alex McGilvery

Hooked is a modern retelling of an old tale. Jane May beings it to life with abandon and style. Woody is the assistant dock master at an exclusive Miami Yacht Club. He falls in love with the Romanian Madalina, who is a waitress at the club, but he has competition in Todd Hollinshead a wealthy and spoiled club regular. Woody gets help with his love life from an unlikely source–a tuna who talks Woody into letting him go in exchange for fulfilling Woody’s every need.

“All you need to do is ask.” Is the tuna’s line. Woody asks, the tuna delivers, and suddenly life is getting very complicated for Woody. Soon his life is being turned upside down, and he learns that getting everything he wants might just destroy him.

Jane May has penned a romp through our modern consumer sensibilities. Woody is an engaging character, and he is accompanied through the story by other quirky and unusual people. Even knowing the fairy tale from which she took her plot, the book is an enjoyable read. I found Woody’s relationship to Madalina to be a bit fixated on his sexual reactions, but that didn’t detract from the story.

Jane May skillfully traps Woody with his own desires. She uses the story to nudge the reader to think about the consumer culture and whether our desires are leading us down a similar path. She doesn’t try to hammer the point home, but lets the story amuse the reader.

I found Hooked to be a fun and engaging read, but it is a book for adults given the nature of Woody’s attraction to Madalina.

Armchair Interviews says: Most enjoyable story—with a message and lots of cultural questions.

Author’s Web site: http://www.JaneMayBooks.com