"Clucked" showcases the type of originality that defies genre classifications. It's about grief, justice, love, and purpose, while also being a rip-roaring high seas adventure. That it succeeds on all of these levels is a testament to just how remarkably skilled Troy Hollan is as a novelist. Highly recommended!

Matt and his dog Hank attempt to sail away from heartbreak on his sloop, the Lonesome Dove. But Matt's wife Julie died a wrongful death, and there must be retribution for the chicken company's negligence, or there will be no closure. Matt's seagoing Odyssey takes him into the Gullah Geechee corridor along the lower Atlantic (happenstance that guarantees the story's colorful, quirky characters). I loved this endlessly inventive novel. Matt's story is, by turns, tragic, surprising, hysterically funny, and emotionally rewarding, which is to say that the author brilliantly captures the elements that make up an unexpected life. Set sail for friendship, romance, and a quarter of a million chickens.

Clucked by Troy Hollan is a compelling adventure novel that explores a man’s grief and redemption on a sailing journey through the Gulf Coast. Matt, who recently suffered the wrongful death of his wife, leaves on his boat, the Lonesome Dove, accompanied by his furry friend Hank. From the beginning, Matt is a likable character and draws the reader in. Hollan skillfully portrays Matt’s relationships in an intricate and authentic way, which enhances the narrative. Through amusing bouts of good and bad luck, the reader is committed to his journey as Matt seeks peace after having lived a tragedy.
Although the novel revolves around the sailing world, the reader does not need to be familiar with the topic to follow along. The story begins with Matt’s introspective journey and increases in pace as he is faced with an opportunity to confront Colonel Clyde Clawson, a man who inflicted pain on people’s lives, including Matt’s. A chance meeting with a kind man named Tiny in a boatyard leads to Thanksgiving in the Gullah Geechee country, where newfound connections and alliances form, weaving the story together. Clucked dives into larger societal issues such as capitalism, greed, social justice, and even animal rights, providing readers with a thought-provoking narrative. The slow revelation of the unsavory activities that Colonel Clyde Clawson indulges in could be disturbing for some. I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in a well-written sea-bound adventure novel detailed with depth and action.

Sublime Line: “With its quirky characters and amusing mishaps, this compelling adventure novel takes readers on a journey for justice while touching on profound societal issues.”

A nautical comic adventure with a bereaved man and his dog hitting the high seas in order to find a way to live again.

Traumatized by his wife’s death in an accident caused by a truck driver asleep at the wheel, Matt seeks justice from the truck’s owner: the Clawson Chicken Corporation. Up against the might of Colonel Clyde Clawson, a chicken nugget tycoon, Matt finds his case dismissed out of hand. With nothing left, Matt decides to take his dog on a round-the-world voyage in his vintage boat, Lonesome Dove. It’s the trip he and his wife had always dreamed of, but things don’t go quite as he had hoped. After a series of nautical mishaps, Matt finds himself all alone at sea. Forced to sail the intercoastal waterway to get his boat repaired at Bullfrog’s Boatyard, Matt is taken in by a man whose tragic story mirrors his own. As the dark secrets of the Clawson Chicken Corporation begin to be revealed, the two men vow to fight back. This is a story of lost love, looking for a way back, and the power of friendship. It is also a tale of corporate greed and environmental exploitation.

Troy Hollan’s CLUCKED (A Quirky Nautical Tale of Adventure, Misadventure and Justice Served) is a very well-written novel that finely balances pathos with comedy. The early moments as Matt adjusts to his loss and embarks on his perhaps-foolhardy plan are beautifully timed: tragi-comic, yet also very moving. Matt’s sailing ability owes more to instructional videos than experience. Not long after he has entertained himself (and his dog) with a revolting-sounding Spam meal, serenading his cooking with the Monty Python theme song, he finds he has barely survived a terrible storm: “For a second, he thought he might no longer be alive, and that he and his little boat might have passed on up to heaven.” It is only the stench from the dog mess, torn from its baggies and now strewn around the deck, that brings him to his senses.

As the story progresses and the cast of characters becomes ever more idiosyncratic, Hollan ramps up the humor. There are many laugh out loud moments, but the writer is skilled enough to ensure that, when needed, there is an edge of darkness. Colonel Clyde Clawson is a well-crafted villain. His monstrous outlook is partly explained by an intriguing back story, yet his secret laboratories and wicked factory farms hit hard. The villainy may be almost-cartoonish at times, but it works within Hollan’s finely-tuned world. Indeed it could be read as an exaggerated allegory for contemporary society and what is actually on the end of everybody’s fork. Hollan’s hero heads out to heal himself, but soon uncovers more than he might have expected. With secrets and surprises aplenty, it’s a pleasure to sail with him onboard the Lonesome Dove.

With a touch of romance, a hint of heartbreak, and some old-fashioned adventure, Troy Hollan’s CLUCKED (A Quirky Nautical Tale of Adventure, Misadventure and Justice Served) is a real page turner.

Kent Lane for IndieReader

When Matt lost Julie, the love of his life, he sought escape, along with Hank, his old, half-blind rat terrier-chihuahua mix, via a voyage on his old Pearson Vanguard sloop, Lonesome Dove.

The story of Julie’s death due to the negligence of a wealthy chicken magnate, is as maddening as it is heart-rending. Matt is trying desperately to put the bitterness of this behind him, but with little success.

His original plan was to head out from Corpus Christi, the Keys, the Caribbean, and on through the Panama Canal to remote Pacific destinations. Early on, he has some bad luck and has to head to the low country of South Carolina for repairs. This detour provides a fascinating and evocative glimpse into the Gullah/Geechee people’s culture, dialect, lifestyle, and cuisine. He finds common cause with them as they are increasingly threatened by the chicken conglomerate Matt holds responsible for Julie’s death.

Their mutual quest for justice is exquisitely written, evoking the style of Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Lenord. The twists and turns of this adventure are intricate and, at times, hilarious, as Matt (and Hank) free the chickens, and find retribution, hope and new love in a uniquely satisfying denouement. No chickens were harmed in the writing of this book!

What begins as an attempt to escape the heartache following the death of his beloved wife, Matt sets out alone to complete the sailing adventure they had hoped to take together. The last remnant of his shattered family, his old, half-blind dog, Hank at his side, Matt points his nose toward the waves and sets sail. Trying desperately to stay ahead of the pain of grief as if it were a growing storm off the stern, he hopes this trip will soothe his broken heart with enough distractions to loosen the grip of loss. Even in the vastness of the sea, he can’t outrun the giant corporation responsible for Julie’s death. One careless move leaves him with a hole in his boat to match the hole in his heart, and he fears his adventure is about to come to a screeching halt. Instead, the sea has seen fit to bring him together with a family community which has also suffered, maybe not so coincidentally, at the hand of the Clawson Chicken Corporation.

Throughout the book, the reader’s face is misted with salt water—both from the sea, and from tears. Hollan asks his readers to be brave enough to place their eye against the viewfinder to get a hard look at the dark side of the food industry. The heart is tugged in many directions for both the people and the animals who languish in the factory farming industry. Hollan’s friendly style of writing grabs the reader from the very first paragraph and, much the same way Matt secures Hank into his harness, he safely locks you in for the ride. Just like every great adventure tale, each chapter rises and falls like a wave, a vignette in the greater arc of the story. Every word is worth reading—Hollan paints vibrant pictures of a world he sees clearly in his mind, bringing us in without overwhelming us with the invitation. The characters are so well developed, it feels as if Hollan is describing his own friends, and we are invited to share a beer when them all aboard the old sloop. There is much to mourn and celebrate in this novel which perfectly blends a sea-faring adventure with a tasty mystery. And just like the sailboat zigzagging across the water to hold a straight path, Matt and Hank’s hearts finally find their way toward healing.

In his delightful debut novel, Troy Hollan takes readers on a maritime adventure rife with mishaps, humor, and unexpected friendships. To heal his heart after the loss of his beloved wife to an overworked employee of a huge chicken corporation, Matt, and his trusty rat terrier Hank, set sail for what they hope will be a year long adventure. Rookie mistakes and a larger than average dose of bad luck shorten the trip, but enhance their lives with newfound friendship and the immense satisfaction of justice served. Hollan's fast-paced storytelling and attention to detail whisk the reader away on an adventure of a lifetime. A heart-felt tale of love and loss, injustice and redemption, Clucked leaves its readers entirely satisfied and longing for more time with these engaging characters. At times laugh out loud funny, but also heart warming and sincere, this is a debut too engaging to pass up. -Kim McCollum, Author of What Happens in Montana

Clucked by Troy Hollan is a tantalizing blend of redemption, adventure and one man's efforts to deal with loss. Two years after the death of his beloved wife Julie in a car crash, Matt is still reeling from shock. Efforts to bring the evil poultry-pushing Clawson Corporation to justice (their negligent driver was responsible for the fatal crash) have left him broke- financially and emotionally. He decides to set sail with his half-blind rat terrier as his first mate in an effort to heal his broken heart and map out a new future for himself. Along the way, he hatches a plan to make the greedy Colonel Clyde Clawson pay for his evil ways. I highly recommend this poignant and satisfying story.

Hollan’s debut promises ‘quirkiness’—it hits the mark…and goes beyond! ‘Clucked’ is a captivating and offbeat adventure wrapping readers into a journey of self-discovery, redemption, and a quest for justice. Matt, the protagonist, embarks on a voyage of healing and escape after enduring the tragic loss of his wife and a financial battle against the sinister Clawson Chicken Corporation. Hollan weaves a tale filled with both poignant moments and bizarre encounters as Matt sails through life's unpredictable waters.

Colonel Clyde Clawson's grotesque secrets add a layer of suspense and intrigue to the plot, highlighting the environmental issues and ethical dilemmas surrounding factory farming and lab-grown meat (of a special variety.) Matt, alongside his newfound friends, embarks on a mission to bring down the Clawson corporation and seek justice for its victims. The results read like a Carl Hiassen novel on steroids. If Jimmy Buffet could have read this book he would have observed: "Yes, Matt’s a pirate two hundred years too late."

‘Clucked’ blends humor, adventure, and social commentary, making it a must-read for those who appreciate tales of resilience, unconventional heroes, and the fight for what's right in a world gone awry. But if you’re a reader like me, you’ll mainly remember how kick-ass, 5-star funny it is!

In his poignant, enormously enjoyable debut novel, “Clucked,” author and veteran sloop sailor Troy Hollan opens up a fascinating new world to those of us land-bound souls who’ve never been sailing in “blue water,” as the open sea is called in nautical lingo.

Hollan’s protagonist, Matt, a young man drowning in grief over the death of his wife, leaves his life behind and takes to the sea in an old sailing sloop with only his little terrier Hank as a companion, searching for he knows not what. As Matt sails solo across the Gulf of Mexico from Corpus Christi to the Florida keys, “lost in a sea of bittersweet memories,” vivid descriptions of the rhythm of life in a small boat on the beautiful and perilous ocean make readers feel as if we were on the journey as well.

But, as so often happens in life, Matt’s sea adventure takes an out-of-the-blue turn and becomes a land adventure that will take him – and the reader – deep into Gullah Geechee country among the sea islands off the coast of South Carolina where he will find friendship, healing and – by an amazing chain of events - closure.

Troy Hollan’s Clucked is a fun and fast-paced romp through perilous waters. Matt, still grieving the loss of his wife in a car accident, decides to pack up and sail the world with his rat terrier Hank. Starting from Corpus Christi, Texas, the pair pilot their boat, the Lonesome Dove, to the Florida Keys. Along the way, obstacles and danger threaten their journey, but quick thinking and the kindness of strangers keep them afloat.

Matt and Hank soon end up in the Gullah Geechee region, where they find kinship among new friends. They also find Colonel Clawson, a chicken magnate whose company played a role in Matt’s wife’s accident, has plans more maniacal and nefarious than Matt could imagine. Matt’s quest to find himself on the open seas turns into a quest to find justice and stop the Colonel.

Written with wit, wry humor, and a vast knowledge of sailing, Clucked is filled with memorable characters and surprising twists. Hollan’s debut novel is a celebration of community, friendship, and the triumph of the human spirit.

Troy Hollan's seafaring novel, Clucked, has the singular distinction of making me care about a guy whose life is screwed over by chicken nuggets. It's partly a journey of self-healing as Matt grapples with the untimely (and ethically suspicious) death of his wife, and partly a quest for justice against the poultry producers responsible.

Hollan's story immediately engaged me with its visceral descriptions of Matt's depressed state and its impressively savvy narration of a lonely life at sea. The first half of the novel takes us through Matt's mental and emotional struggles, which he tries to manage by sailing with only his trusted dog, Hank, by his side, on a vessel ironically named the Lonesome Dove. I was pleasantly surprised by how much hope and optimism permeate the novel all the way through. Interestingly, the book sort of transitions from a man vs. self/nature conflict to a man vs. man conflict toward the end. Matt has encounter after encounter with helpful strangers who help rekindle his hope in humanity and in himself, which prepares him for the dangerous chicken company–infiltrating mission that he pursues to obtain closure and peace for himself and to prevent similar tragedies from befalling others.

I was delighted by Hollan's unorthodox mishmash of a man's deeply serious personal crisis and the quirky rollercoaster of reveals that propelled me from about two-thirds of the way through to the end. The catharsis found in Clucked is somehow both comical and profoundly, genuinely rewarding. I would imagine this story might prove helpful for anyone struggling with the death of a loved one. Or anyone interested in learning about boating around the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Keys. Or anyone fascinated by disturbing tales of food industry corruption. Or anyone.

10 crispy nuggets (with buffalo sauce) out of 10!

Taking off in his sailboat to find a way forward after the death of his wife, Matt encounters so much more on his journey of healing: he discovers the gentle wonders of islands he visits, strangers of disarming kindness and generosity, lasting friendships, an unexpected love, and an exquisitely satisfying stroke of justice. While the novel starts as Matt’s engaging wanderings with his trusty old dog Hank (akin to Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley), Troy Hollan’s Clucked steadily transforms into big-hearted adventure filled with staggering revelations.
From the beginning, the reader feels Matt’s palpable loss from the tragic death of his beloved Julie, who was killed by an asleep-at-the-wheel truck driver for the corrupt Clawson Chicken Corporation. The crimes of the corporate leader Colonel Clawson are legion and multiply over the course of the novel. His lost court battle with that corporate magnate and his two years of mourning Julie’s death push Matt away from his job on the power lines and onto his sloop.
That journey from Corpus Christi through the Gulf of Mexico, in and about Florida, and up the Carolina coast is filled with watery wonders – phosphorescent plankton, cavorting porpoises, and menacing swells. Yet even more memorable are the friendly and helpful strangers along the way, including Kenny and his granddaughter Desiree, the retirees Jim and Clara, and the wild Cajun shrimp Captain, Boudreaux. Indeed, “at every turn, a helping hand had pulled him out of the darkness and back on his feet.”
Following his boat being torn up on a coral reef, Matt limps his vessel through the intercoastal waterway up to Charleston for repairs and is befriended by the fiberglass expert Roy, aka Tiny. That relationship with Tiny – a Gullah whose grand extended family lives out on the Sea Islands – will lead to Matt discovering the two most important things he could use right now: love and revenge. Those two become entwined in the smart and lovely Hannah who has her own troubled history with Colonel Clawson. And boy, that’s when the story delivers many intrigues and thrills.
Without giving away too much, I will say the revelations about Clawson’s lurid production methods and his personal debaucheries are both magnificent yet consistent with all that has preceded. The account by the servant Jenkins is stunner, and the disclosures just get even better from there. Filled with wry humor and satiric moments throughout, the novel deftly develops the theme of how the cruel, profit-hungry insensitivities of large corporations cavalierly harm everyday people, often with tragic results. The crimes of Colonel Clawson serve as an allegory for the lurid corruption of the American Dream.
Hollan’s Clucked serves as an inspiring reminder of the best of the American spirit, one that cries out for redemption. Indeed, this novel with a fun and satisfying read even as it mines our dark past and present.

It’s a difficult case, though, to give a man back his heart.” (John Travolta as the Archangel Michael in the film Michael.)

Clucked is a story on two levels. It’s the story of a man finally choosing to live again, and it’s also the story of the search for justice. In the aftermath of loss, we struggle, and Matt is struggling mightily following the death of his wife, Julie, killed by a trucker who was asleep at the wheel. Her senseless death has taken everything from Matt, and his grief is compounded by the knowledge that a corrupt and extremely evil Chicken Nugget Magnate calling himself Colonel Clawson is to blame. Matt’s lawsuit is tossed out, and now, without the resources to fight any more, he decides to embark on the ocean voyage he and Julie had dreamed of taking together aboard his sailboat, Lonesome Dove.

The Fates have other plans, though, and whether or not they’ve been involved in Matt making a series of errors in judgement, the result is the same. He’s not thinking clearly, and after a dive that should have been uneventful, surfaces to find his boat off in the distance and himself at the mercy of the ocean currents, keeping him from getting back to the boat and Hank, his canine companion and first mate on the voyage. It’s decision time for Matt, and he finally chooses life. Using every bit of his strength and some borrowed from God, Matt makes it back to the boat and Hank. From this point on, his course is set.

We read many stories of women trying to start over after the death of a spouse or lover, and Clucked finally treats the topic from a male point of view. Author Troy Hollan does a masterful job, and we watch as Matt, step by step, once again rejoins life.
His last miscalculation causes serious damage to his boat. Forced to abandon his ocean-going plans, he heads up the Intracoastal Waterway to get the boat repaired. As he waits for repairs to be made, he meets Tiny, the man who will repair the vessel, and his extended family who take Matt under their wing and welcome him to their family. Tiny has also lost his wife in similar circumstances, and together, the two men forge both a friendship and a pact to bring the chicken nugget maker to justice.

As the cast of characters expands, there is the much hoped-for potential love interest, an excellent plan for justice, and some fascinating history.

Hollan is an excellent story teller. His knowledge of the sea and his interest in the history of the Gullah people of South Carolina is fascinating. Highly recommended.

Nicholas Sparks meets Jurassic Park in Troy Hollan’s highly entertaining debut. An engaging blend of nautical adventure, corporate greed, and a fight for justice, CLUCKED whisks you out to sea with Matt, a solitary young sailor with a heart full of sorrow and smoldering anger. In his wandering quest for solace, Matt encounters harrowing maritime challenges, along with breathtaking natural beauty and a laugh-out-loud string of quirky characters. Hardships are overcome and new friendships are forged, but the danger—both physical and emotional—runs as deep as the Gulf of Mexico.