Becca Reviews: The Glass Eel by J. J. Viertel

As I wrote in my Goodreads review right after finishing the book, 'wow wow wow'. This book is RICH in setting, characters, philosophy, mystery, nature, everything! Anything this book touches on, it does well.

Am I a sucker for a bit of Maine fiction? YES. I have a friend who lives in Maine, and I've been there twice in the last couple of years, and I've loved it. The Maine references to specific brands, drinks, and supermarkets had me totally hooked.

Aside from that, this is an incredibly well-written thriller. From the father-son duo, Jack and Josh Viertel, comes writing that is beautiful and feels almost like reading poetry rather than a mystery thriller.

We meet Jeanette King, whose ex-husband, Simon, seems to be in a sticky situation and is nowhere to be found. They live on Caterpillar Island off of Maine (not sure if it's real) and, like many of the locals, make their living from fishing, crab picking, and generally living off the sea and the 'vacationers' or people 'from away'. As a crab picker and seller herself, and with her ex-husband being a fisherman, Jeanette is familiar with the trade. So, when she finds 'the Jeanette', Simon's boat, floating without anyone on it and a hold full of glass eels, she knows something fishy is going on (sorry).

Jeanette has experienced tragedy and heartache, is barely scraping by working three jobs, but is always willing to stand up for people and try to do what's right. There is so much included in these 350ish pages. The author duo includes fascinating and considered commentary on Indigenous people and specifically their claims to, or more accurately, stewardship of, the land and sea. The novel explores the idea of the land stolen from the Indigenous people (namely Passamaquoddy people), and the continuation of this theme as second-home owners buy up property in Maine, pricing out a lot of locals. (What can we really expect from a state whose motto is Vacationland!) The story finishes on thought-provoking and touching sentiments about individuals' rightful place in the world.

One of the final lines in the book reads: ‘As the eel wove into the sea it would not be possible to distinguish the extent to which its progress was owed to its own exertion or to the current.’ OH, so we're talking about fate, destiny, and the point of life...just the small, casual topics.

The author duo writes these incredible macro chapters that focus on a crab, s lobster, and an eel. They again feel poetic and allegorical. To me, they felt like buffers between parts 1, 2, and 3. This is an astonishing debut novel, and the authors have clearly already mastered the art of 'show, don't tell', as demonstrated both through the sea creature hyper zoomed in chapters, and the description of mysterious figures before we're introduced to them. Never are we told 'there was a tall evil man', but we're shown how he treats the crab, his outward showing of spite and rage, and his lack of respect for nature.

The authors skilfully include a chapter that really stands out. It focuses on two characters we have never met before, and we don't meet them again. At first, we have no context for their place in the story or who they are. There are only a few pages to paint their picture and weave them into the narrative, but they become a vital, humorous, and quite gory plot device that I thought about long after finishing the book.

The narrative provides organised crime, murder, forensics, backstories, heartbreak, humour (Keith is totally hilarious), and an exploration of the essence of being human. The characters have such depth and are so realised that I can only assume the authors drew on real people in their lives to write them.

I need this book adapted into a series immediately. Directors can get in touch with me. I already have the cast planned out:

Jeanette - Carrie-Anne Moss Simon - Mel Gibson

Joe - Barry Keoghan

Jesse - Omar Metwally

I could actually go on talking about this novel forever. Keep your eyes peeled for an author Q&A coming soon!

Fancy reading more about how funky eels are? https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/25/where-do-eels-come-from

Buy the novel here - https://jjviertel.com/

Goodreads link - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228216299-the-glass-eel

Read: 23/08/2025

Published: 09/09/2025

Price: £19.96 (GBP) (Hardback)