Publication Date: August 26, 2025
Amid the gangland wars of Prohibition, one fisherman’s long-shot play to secure his family’s future brings disaster to everyone he loves. Based partly on family lore, Matt Riordan’s follow-up to The North Line is for readers of Jeannette Wall’s Hang the Moon and S.A. Cosby’s All the Sinners Bleed. Eld should’ve known better. Hell, he did know better. But watching lesser men hit big paydays—men who didn’t fight in Europe—grew unbearable. So, when the opportunity arises, he reaches for a little something extra for his family, and even more for himself. With Prohibition expiring in a matter of months, his turn from fisherman to rumrunner was supposed to be temporary. It seemed the perfect plan. Even Maggie, Eld’s normally sensible wife, is on board. Things don’t go to plan. Amid the region’s players battle to capture the biggest piece of a shrinking pie, Eld’s tiny family operation is caught in the crossfire. One bitterly cold night packing whiskey across Lake Huron costs Eld dearly, and his family even more. Hunted by gangsters and squeezed by the Depression, Eld, Maggie, and the children are scattered: Eld to Canada on a doomed quest, Maggie and her daughter forced into finding sanctuary in a faith more cult than religion. When they finally reunite, they may not even recognize each other as the same people who crossed their fingers and threw the dice for a shot at a better life.
One decision can alter the course of a family’s life, proving that risks don’t always come with rewards.
Author Matt Riordan delivers a fascinating storyline coupled with flawed characters in While the Getting is Good. The story starts a bit slow, but the pace soon picks up.
Eldridge, known as Eld in the story, barely ekes out enough to support his family of four as a fisherman on Lake Huron. Not only is it during the Great Depression, but Prohibition is still a few months from ending.
The decision to run whiskey from Canada serves as a pivotal point in the story. Not only are gangsters involved, but it also opens the door to a disastrous set of events. In the aftermath, Maggie and their daughter must make their own way to safety and an uncertain future.
While the Getting is Good centers around a man who gambles his family’s future with unexpected results.
Matt Riordan grew up in Michigan but spent his early twenties working on commercial fishing boats in Alaska. After college, Matt drifted from commercial fishing through a variety of jobs before landing in law school. He then became a litigator in New York City, where he practiced for twenty years. He now lives with his family in Australia.
