Searching for Terry Punchout

Name: Searching for Terry Punchout
Brand: Findaway
Availability: InStock
Author: Tyler Hellard
ISBN: 9781778430978

Author: Tyler Hellard

Narrator: Chai Valladares

Unabridged: 5 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: ECW Press

Published: 03/16/2026

Categories: Fiction, Sports, Literary Fiction

Synopsis

A 2026 CBC Canada Reads SelectionShortlisted for the 2019 Amazon Canada First Novel AwardShortlisted for the 2019 Kobo Emerging Writer PrizeGarden State meets King Leary in this slapshot debut novel.Adam Macallister’s sportswriting career is about to end before it begins, but he’s got one last shot—a Sports Illustrated profile about hockey’s most notorious goon, the reclusive Terry Punchout—who also happens to be Adam’s estranged father. Adam returns to Pennington, Nova Scotia, where Terry now lives in the local rink and drives the Zamboni. Going home means drinking with old friends, revisiting neglected relationships, and dealing with lingering feelings about his father and dead mother—and discovering that his friends and family are kinder and more complicated than he ever gave them credit for. Searching for Terry Punchout is a charming and funny tale of hockey, small-town Maritime life, and how, despite our best efforts, nothing can save us from becoming our parents.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dani on January 31, 2026

I'm a New Mexican who has never been to Canada but since I first discovered Canada Reads (thanks to Mattea Roach and my love for Jeopardy) I have been a Canada Reads completionist. Because Searching for Terry Punchout is one of the contenders for this year's (2026) competition, it's a given that I w......more

Goodreads review by J.D. on May 28, 2018

Searching for Terry Punchout is strong and active writing that led me into the world of a character I did not expect to embrace as fully as I did. While I enjoy male writers and fiction about guys, sports have rarely caught my interest. Nevertheless, this book worked well for me, even with its use o......more

Goodreads review by Caroline on October 21, 2023

What a pleasant surprise! Family dramas, small town, old friends, hockey… I mean what more can you ask for. Easy, entertaining read!......more

Goodreads review by Rohin on February 21, 2026

2.5 I certainly enjoyed aspects of this book, such as the likely relatable pattern of people either getting out of town as quickly as possible after high school or never stepping foot outside their house. It was also somewhat heartwarming to see Adam reconnect with his father and the people of his c......more

Goodreads review by Sue on December 05, 2018

"The nicknames cut in dressing rooms bleed into the rest of our lives. For all the romanticizing of hockey in this country, no one ever mentions that in places like Pennington, it's literally responsible for your identity." Adam Macallister is an unemployed sportswriter who left Pennington, the small......more