What is the author's tone in Working on the Edge: Surviving in the World's Most Dangerous Profession: King Crab Fishing on Alaska's High Seas by Spike Walker?

Walker's tone ranges from excitement for a first time fisherman who finally finds a berth on a crab boat to tragic as the author relates the stories of fishermen whose boats sank out from under them, causing the deaths of fellow crewmembers. The tone changes steadily as the book continues with its stories, beginning from the innocent point of view of Spike, a young college graduate who has just arrived in Kodiak Island to seek employment on a crab boat, a profession he knows little about but feels knowledgeable to take on because of his past experiences with logging and oil field work. The tone then changes as the author, Spike, begins to work on the boats and learns that the job is one of the most difficult in the world not only because of the actual work involved, but also because of the real possibility that the boat could sink out from under him at any time.

The tone of this book is both enthusiastic and something of a warning to all those who might hear about crab fishing and think it would be an easy way to make a fast buck. The tone of the book changes with the stories Spike tells and this works well because the tone fits the story being told. The book should begin with excitement because it is biographical in the beginning, telling Spike's story of being a young man eager to enter into a new adventure. However, the book also becomes something of a warning and the tone appropriately changes to underscore this warning. Spike ends his book by telling the reader of forty-two men who died in one year on the Bering Sea. The tone at this point is dark, showing the reader how Spike has grown up and how he is attempting to warn his reader that crab fishing is not for the faint at heart.