Captain Mullet and the Compass Rose by Joel Ratner

In Captain Mullet and the Compass Rose, wisdom, longing and everyday life shuffle along for a curmudgeonly Navy veteran and a pony-tailed and pierced young man as they contemplate the profound and mundane in a small Florida town. The two meet as bridge-tenders, where the old man, Henry, resents the intrusion of young Eddie into life. Henry is stuck in a life of honor, complaint and routine. Eddie is youthful, free and bold, and challenges Henry at every turn.

Henry and Eddie come in and out of each other’s lives in Rock Key – they gather with friends at the Star Grill where Henry’s love, Rose, waitresses, and Eddie meets and dates Clover. Henry fishes the inlets, comments on the sorry state of the world, and spends quiet moments with best friend Carmine. Slowly, Eddie pries his way past Henry’s defenses, understanding the humanity under the barnacled exterior.

Author Joel Ratner smoothly unfolds the relationships at the heart of this captivating story. With an eye for nuanced detail, Ratner lets the reader come to know Eddie, Henry, and friends naturally, through conversations and glimpsed moments. There’s a sweet, natural pace to the novel until suddenly, and delightfully, it crescendos in dramatic scenes involving a Camaro, high tide, a catamaran, a lighthouse, a naval ship, a bicycle and the drawbridge.

When the dust settles, the characters emerge, redirected and renewed – an exceptional ending for an entertaining novel.

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