Purgatory Beach

by Edward J. McFadden III

When the sea turns against its champions, only the boldest dare ride its fury.

The Funnel is the gnarliest break in North America. It’s where fame whispers on the salty breeze, and surfers gamble with death to claim their glory. Only hardcore riders are welcome—posers need not apply. Here, skill, moxie, and money rule. But this season, an unnatural fog creeps over the Pacific, thick with the reek of decay, and the ocean churns with something far worse than the usual risks hiding beneath the surface.

Fallen surf legend Gerard Noll is grappling with life beyond his pro career while The Funnel Big Wave Competition, his lifeline for Liigei Too, teeters on the brink of cancellation as a series of unusual events disrupt the calm of Purgatory Beach. The blue void stirs, concealing creatures of the deep hungry for flesh, and Gerard is caught between saving lives and facing the relentless tide threatening to wash away everything he holds dear.

To survive, he must summon his lost courage and rediscover what once made him a champion. Will Gerard conquer the terror in the tide, or will Purgatory Beach earn its name?

From the author of Wolves of the Sea, Drop Off, The Breach, and Terror Lake comes a new sea monster thriller that blends relentless suspense, visceral fear, and the raw, untamed spirit of surfing.

190 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 10, 2025

About the author

Ed cut his teeth reading John Christopher, Tolkien, Poe, Brooks and Zelazny, and graduated to Joe Haldeman, Allen Steele, Arthur C. Clark and Jack Vance. For the last twenty years he’s done a deep dive on apocalyptic fiction, and he really enjoyed learning at the feet of Elmore Leonard, Philip K. Dick, Lawrence Block, Ray Bradbury, Carl Hiaasen, Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, and F. Paul Wilson. His recent publications include Hell Creek, Too Much Grit, The Cryptid Club, Keepers of the Flame, Quick Sands, Sandbagged, Dogs Get Ten Lives, Barracuda Swarm, Dinosaur Red, Drop Off, and Jurassic Ark. His sea thrillers, The Breach and Shadow of the Abyss were Amazon #1 Best Sellers and the audio version of The Breach was a #1 Hot New Release. His other novels include Throwback, Sea Tremors, Primeval Valley, AWAKE, The Black Death of Babylon, and HOAXERS. He lives on Long Island with his wife Dawn, and their daughter Samantha.

Reviews

[Ami Morrison]

Originally published on the book blog Creature From the Book Lagoon.

*Trigger Warning: Dog death

Welp. This one was…. not exactly what I was expecting!! 😮

Let’s just jump right on in to the review, huh? This book is a bit boring. D: I’m not even sure how it is possible to have a boring creature feature story?? How does that happen??

There are a few things that made this story a bit of a yawn. First of all, there is a LOT of surf talk. Not just terms, but also surf activities- like watching waves, keeping an eye on weather, etc. The author clearly researched surf culture, which is great, but it was just a lot and hard to get into.

Something else that left me feeling underwhelmed with Purgatory Beach is that the story feels like it takes a LONG time to really get going. And once the story does pick up, it feels like the author, while trying to give us lots of sea monsters all at once, never really gives any one sea creature enough time to shine. The creatures are so cool!! Sadly it feels unsatisfactory because I wanted MORE of them and it feels like when only get a little bit of them.

And last but not least, the ending is way too low key. Again, it feels like not enough time is given to the final confrontation. AGAIN I was left wanting more from the author.

The story does have a decent amount of carnage though. 😀 I loved the assortment of the sea creatures we do see, and seeing them go wild was so much fun!! 😀 I just wish we had more of the creatures and more creature carnage.

Purgatory Beach is ok. There is too much surf talk and too little creature action. The whole story feels too slow. :\ I normally enjoy this authors work, but this one just didn’t click with me. Saaaaaaddddddd!!!

[Bee]

DNF @ 50%

I feel like I was catfished by the cover. I planned to read this book as part of my annual sharkweek, shark book read-a-thon and this book really isn't about sharks. I made it about half way and there were scenes involving dogs, bees, whales, orca, tuna, mackerel sand lances, crabs and mussels. and finally one quick scene with a shark. I am really disappointed, but also the synopsis didn't say it WAS a shark book, but the cover kind of really does. Catfished, I tell ya! (There were no catfish in this story so far as I read, but there was every other sort of creature.)

I could have gotten past the whole it's not a shark book, but does have a shark scene in it thing if the book wasn't also incredibly slow and boring. As other reviews mention there is a TON of surf talk in this one. Much of the first 50% is just the MC talking about, stressing about, setting up and planning a surf competition which was just rather dull.

It felt like there were a lot of unnecessary scenes and flashbacks too, which didn't help with the pacing. At one point you get to read the same scene play out in its entirety by two different characters and that was right about the time I gave up on this book. I already felt like it took too long to get going, I definitely didn't want to read the same scene twice.

While this one was clearly not for me, I think for someone who's interested in a slow-burn surfing focused book with blood-thirsty sea creatures it's worth having a go.

[Matt Egan]

Surprisingly good creature feature

Purgatory Beach is the story of the fallout from a strain of chronic wasting disease infecting sea life around the world, but focuses almost entirely on Purgatory Beach. The writing is good with the exception of a single minor typo. The characters, descriptions of both environments, ships and infected creatures is vivid. 4/5 stars, recommended for fans of creature horror!

[Thomas Hobbs]

This was a good story but I have 1 issue, the cover doesn't match the story. I jumped into this thinking it was another Jaws book. In reality, it was a story about a zombie virus in the pacific infecting all marine life. Yes there was a shark or two, but there were two rather large octopus attacks that dwarves the shark attack.

[Katie Elizabeth]

Not my cup.of tea

Just didnt keep my interested. I ended up skimming most of this book. It was repetitive and spent most of the time in descriptions that didnt propel the story or at least keep my interests.

[Sarah]

A creature feature story set at a popular surfing spot during a major contest. I found the book to be quite slow and boring, full of endless surfer speak. Took me ages to finish and the ending felt a bit underwhelming.

[Molly Finley]

Great book

If you have a nervous disposition don't read this book. It is fast paced and if you don't pay attention you will find yourself out of air. I had to keep telling myself to breathe, and it's just a book over and over. It leaves you to wonder, what if!!!!

[Grace Hutson-Miller]

Ok

Basically, this book is sea creatures that have contracted CWD (chronic wasting disease) and go nutty. It's also about some wave riders who ignore those trying to protect them.

[Donna Lee Vannoy Zeringue]

Great story

I love the story. It lost me at times, but I like the way it ended,it's a great lead in to the next book .