Belgian Flats — Chris Santella

Belgian Flats is the story of Cody, a fly-fishing guide whose career has hit a dead end after a dozen years guiding on a famed western trout stream. Cody's mentor suggests that he take a job as a lodge manager at a prestigious Atlantic salmon lodge in northwestern Russia. The story follows Cody's travels to the Kola Peninsula and his encounters with the characters who filter through -- from philosophizing oligarchs to Samí herdsmen who are not above kidnapping lodge staff to maintain control of their historic lands. There's even a love interest. Belgian Flats provides an offbeat and humorous insider's view of the fly-fishing world that angling aficionados will appreciate.