Fluke

Whales. Hawaii lingo. Boats. Marine Biology and Scientific method. Nautical political-awareness. Reunited lovers. Fictitious whale human hybrids... This book has it all.

Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings is an extremely funny novel centered around Nate the polite, Canadian, marine-biologist.  Nate is in Hawaii studying humpback whales, most specifically why they sing. I love whales, which is what attracted me to this book, and I unwittingly learned a lot about them.

As with all of Christopher Moore's novels (that I have read so far), the book starts with a logical and engrossing story. Once the majority of the characters have been thoroughly introduced and we learn fascinating little tidbits about them, the plot twists arrive in full force. I think this is one of Moore's best works.  It reminds me a lot of Coyote Blue in that it has wonderfully fleshed out (and likable!) characters, an excellent plot, a good amount of randomness all backed up by a heavy dose of research and some serious underlying themes.  I seriously considered going back to school to attain a degree in Marine Biology for at least a month after reading this.

Fluke introduces us to cetacean behavioral researchers, cooky Hawaiians, Naval "researchers", and researchers who will make the data show anything that the highest bidder wants.