Part novel and part biography of an eco-adventurer, Guido Rahr had an inauspicious start in life. Not interested in school, he spent most of his time with snakes and lizards. Easily distracted from his studies, he never quite made the grade in college either. But he was passionate about snakes, and eventually about fly fishing. Once his family passion for fly fishing became his addiction, he was fascinated by wild salmon and their wily ways. Finding them endangered inspired him to pursue more education so he could help save them. It's a fast-paced fantastic story of one man's life-long pursuit of the natural world. Told more in biography style than novel style, it makes sense that a book about a man of few words would have little dialogue. If you love the outdoors, this real-life hero will inspire and compel you to read on. I love seeing what passions drive people, and this book does not disappoint.

What an incredible book! “Stronghold" follows the author's cousin, Guido Rarh, in his quest to save the world’s at-risk wild salmon. Guido, while in his youth a bit of a misfit, was a gifted student of both human and animal nature. This gift was not simply magic, however, but was built on his infinite study of structures and systems. And while at first, he was only in his element in nature he soon realized to protect the fragile eco-systems he cherished he would have to learn to navigate systems such as Government and Corporate bureaucracy. The author captures the balance of intensity, honesty, and intuition Guido brings to every problem he tackled in his journey to protect his world of salmon. It is an amazing story of passion and vision, and the author does an incredible job of bringing the reader along the entire journey. I absolutely recommend this book not only for the story it tells of Guido but the story of a fragile eco-system and one hope of saving such endangered systems. I was honored to receive a free advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

Even though I'm not into fly-fishing, I found myself quite interested in this novel. The novel starts out telling us about the author's cousin, Guido Rahr, a rather isolated person who preferred catching snakes and lizards to socializing with his peers. He's a mediocre student, suffers from math dyslexia, and more or less finishes high school at a private school near Sedona where he's basically spends his time away from the classroom. he becomes obsessive about fly-fishing and lands a job on a weekly television show teaching others about the sport while he's a college student. He learns that he is quite able to connect with people when talking about lizards, snakes, fishing, and becomes obsessed to save the last great salmon rivers in the world.,

Tucker Malarkey reconnects with Guido after they are both married and raising children in Oregon. She starts to travel with Guido to Russia on fishing expeditions in remote areas, knowing these adventures will eventually become a part of this book. At times, the pace slows down with a barrage of facts, but then we're back on the river, or with Guido's frustrated wife, lamenting how she's raising three sons alone while he's out trying to save the salmon. I hadn't thought so much about salmon until reading this and it truly is a shame we are losing so many rivers to developers.