Genre: Non fiction.
Hooked deals with the story of Patagonian toothfish aka. Chilean sea bass. The main plotline in the book deals with a chase between the Australian patrol boat, Southern Supporter and Viarsa, a boat they suspected of pirating toothfish.
This plotline is well written and the author manages to convey a sense of excitement and a little bit of thrill to the chase. Keep in mind, the chase is basically one boat chasing another for period of months, so don't expect too much action.
Interwoven with the chase are several other threads. In one he explores the commercial discovery of the fish and how it ended up being such a popular fish in the US. Another thread attempts to gives us some background on a couple of fishermen on the Viarsa and how they got into fishing for toothfish. Yet another thread deals with some of the conservatory efforts done for the Patagonian toothfish. These threads and a few other fit in well with the book.
The final half of the book has a couple of narratives that don't quite gel with the book, one deals with the arrest of a American businessman dealing with toothfish. The other focuses quite a bit on a conservationist Daniel Pauly, including giving us details on his upbringing. The book is not large enough to give enforcement and conservation efforts any justice and these 2 seem to be a attempt to pad the book a bit.
The book itself is a light quick read. Since this is a non fiction book, I suspect a lot of people might not like the ending and will find it anti-climatic. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend this to others.
Rating: 4 / 5, Recommended, a good light read.
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