Based out of a Hawaiian island, Nate Quinn, his partner Clay and research assistant Amy spend their time cataloging and researching humpback whales and their songs. Nate’s mission is to find out why the humpback whales sing.

While out to sea one day Nate has a strange encounter with one of the great creatures. The underside of the whale’s fluke had the word Bite Me! written in foot-high black letters. With no one around to corroborate what Nate saw he can hardly believe it himself but he managed to get at least one photo snapped and he sends the film off for developing.

When Nate gets the pictures come back the incriminating photo is missing and soon there’s more trouble brewing for his team. Their office is wrecked and one of their ships gets stolen and is sunk. This leads him to believe that what he saw was real and someone will stop at nothing to keep that information from getting out.

Next thing you know Nate disappears while out in the water and while his crew thinks he’s lost at sea, Nate goes on the ride of his life and gets pulled into the middle of a strange man vs. the sea struggle for survival.

The first thing that comes to mind when trying to sum up this book is that it’s just plain weird. I read and loved Moore’s book Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal so I was really looking forward to this read. I can’t exactly say that I was disappointed because overall I did like the book but it was a bit of a let down that the writing wasn’t the same caliber as Lamb. In Lamb I was cracking up with every chapter and in Fluke there were a few chuckles but it wasn’t nearly as humorous. What does amaze me is how in the world Moore comes up with these crazy plots. I recommend this one for anyone who loves to read humorous fiction but don’t let this be your first Christopher Moore book. Save that title for Lamb. ( )

I loved this book...it was funny, made me think just enough to not feel like I was reading The Enquirer, and motivated me to become fascinated with whales.

This was my first experience with Christopher Moore, and I must say I love his non-vampire tomes much more than those with vampires.

The characters were believeably far-fetched, it read at a quick pace, and I had a warm fuzzy when I finished. What more could you ask for? ( )

I found this one at a library sale and picked up because it was set in Hawaii. I lived in Hawaii but was traveling at the time. I could tell pretty quickly that there was a spiritual element (normally a turn off for me). The writing was so funny I pressed on often laughing out loud. The spiritual message is there, but it's a palatable one and delivered by wonderful characters. You also learn a little about whales in the process. An da local pidgen, yeah. ( )

The first half of Fluke was amusing, and Christopher Moore actually researched cetacean (marine mammal) biology and mentions a few actual scientists, which is kinda cool to see. But ultimately, the second half of the book dragged the premise down, veering off the wise-alecky humor into some pure fantasy. ( )

Fluke (Or, I Know Why the Wacky Writer Writes) ... o.k. the subtitle is my own addition to the latest reads by Christopher Moore (finished on the wee hours, after awaking at 4 am and being unable to fall back asleep). He's done it again! Like his earlier book "Lamb" inspired a renewed appreciation of Jesus (go figure, the book is written like a cross between Harry Potter and Kevin Smith's "Dogma" but set back 2000 years), Fluke has inspired my appreciation for science. It's strange how fiction and humor can weave inspiration. Once again the coincidence of timing too adds to the mix. My new job at the Wildlife Safari will allow me to breath some life into this inspiration, though not with marine mammals.

The book hits on similar themes as the 4th Star Trek movie (The Voyage Home). Whale songs may have a reason we don't know or understand, but whatever the reason (even if there's no reason), whales are worth keeping around, or as he wrote in an afterward entitled "Conservation" ... "just yell at people randomly to stop killing whales. It could really catch on ... [while at a fast food joint] Would you like fries with that? [you respond] Shut up and stop killing whales!" Maybe it could work? Maybe if teachers who know social studies start taking a greater interest in and appreciation for science ... kind of like me.

"Caring about the condition of our oceans does not make you a psycho, tree-hugging, bleeding-heart liberal, it just makes you smart." Christopher Moore (from "Fluke")

from my facebook notes ( )