Cold Storage Alaska by John Straley ****

Cold Storage, Alaska by John Straley is doing to do for Alaska what Carl Hiasson has done for Florida ... celebrate the region's unique cultures with a zany assortment of characters.

Cold Storage, Alaska is a small coastal Alaska community, home to two brothers. Phil, the older, good, brother was an Army Ranger and is now a Physician's Assistant ... the only medical professional in Cold Storage who sometimes tries his hand at veterinary medicine. Clive, the younger, bad, brother went into jail while Phil overseas with the Rangers ... drug deal gone bad. The story starts when Clive is released from prison, grabs a bunch of money from his partner in crime, and heads for home.

Life in Cold Storage is shaped by the environment of the Alaska coast, the precarious existence of fishermen, the isolation that makes travel expensive and inconvenient, and the small town intimacy that causes a 83-year-old women to complain that she is celibate because everyone would know if she had sex ... everyone in town has sex radar.

A fun romp in a land of the midnight sun and self-sufficient independence.

I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway on November 22, 2013. I received the book on December 13, 2013.