Author TJ Hapney

Description/Blurb:

Two Alaskan cold-water surfers sail the Bering Strait in search of the gnarliest waves. A dying Chukchi hunter leaves his village for the desolate Siberian tundra, seeking to prove his usefulness to the wayward youth of his people. When the perfect man-made storm provokes the towering black waves of the Bering, and surges over the frozen Russian wilderness, it throws together old and young, East and West, forcing them to confront their prejudices in a desperate fight for survival.

Review 5 of 5 Stars

I previously reviewed this story from the Tales of Tinfoil anthology. Mr. Bale has launched the story by itself and I liked it enough that I agreed to post a review for it separately. The characters in this story are fantastic. Following is my previous review for anyone that missed it:

I loved this story. The story is told from two perspectives, a man from the U.S. and an old Chukchi hunter. This story is about so much more than the conspiracy theory that shapes it. The characters are vibrant and real. This is a story of different cultures, language barriers, fear, compassion and bonding together to help one another even when we don’t understand. I could have read an entire book based upon the characters that Mr. Bale created. This was a beautiful story. I read a lot of stories, but this one truly touched my heart. The language barrier between the characters led to misunderstandings and somewhat harsh judgments, but it was interesting to see the characters move toward understanding and having compassion for one another as the story progressed. I’d add this story to the must read list and am looking forward to checking out some of Mr. Bale’s other work.