The Dogs of Winter

by Kem Nunn

Heart Attacks is California's last secret spot - the premier mysto surf haunt, the stuff of rumor and legend. The rumors say you must cross Indian land to get there. They tell of hostile locals and shark-infested waters where waves in excess of thirty feet break a mile from shore. For down-and-out photographer Jack Fletcher, the chance to shoot these waves in the company of surfing legend Drew Harmon offers the promise of new beginnings. But Drew is not alone in the northern reaches of the state. His young wife, Kendra, lives there with him. Obsessed with the unsolved murder of a local girl, Kendra has embarked upon a quest of her own, a search for truth - however dark that truth may prove to be. The Dogs of Winter is a portrait of two men and an appealing yet troubled young woman set against an unforgettable background of stark and violent beauty.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Noir, Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Adventure

370 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Kem Nunn (born 1948) is an American fiction novelist, surfer, magazine and television writer from California. His novels have been described as "surf-noir" for their dark themes, political overtones and surf settings. He is the author of five novels, including his seminal surf novel Tapping the Source. He received an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Irvine.

He has collaborated with producer David Milch on the HBO Western drama series Deadwood. Milch and Nunn co-created the HBO series John from Cincinnati, a surfing series set in Imperial Beach, California which premiered on June 10, 2007. He has also written for season 5 of Sons of Anarchy.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kem Nunn writes extraordinary and complex California Noir set in the world of surfing, reminscent of the movie, Point Break. The Dogs of Winter is a phrase generally reserved for huge waves generated by winter storms. Heart Attacks is the last Californian mytho surfing premier spot, a place that no-one is sure even exists. It is said to cross sacred ceremonial Indian land, populated by hostile Indians, amidst shark infested seas, where monster waves break a little distance from the shore. Humaliwu is the Indian strip of land of tragedy and Indian lore. Famous old Viking surfing legend, Drew Harmon, a recluse of many years, proposes to unveil the remote and desolate Heart Attacks place and a ride on the waves to the editor of the prime surfing magazine, Michael Peters, but insists that the photographer has to be the down and out Jack Fletcher. Fletcher is now a struggling wedding photographer, divorced with one daughter, desperate for a commission that will reignite the heyday of his illustrious past. He, along with two young stars of the surfing world today, Robbie Jones and Sonny Martin, are in search of a story of big waves and outlaws that makes history and headlines. The reality is to be far removed from Fletcher's expectations, in what turns out to be more a journey into the past, rather than that of place, and marked by tragedy and horror.

Harmon turns out to be a man who spends time carving big boards from wood, living in a trailer with his strange and beautiful wife, Kendra and seemingly short of funds, taking risks with little care for the consequences. His body is heavily scarred from a shark bite, a man of apparently deep philosophical thought, engaging in spiritual communion with the sea and land that he knows like the back of his hand. Fletcher is unsure why Harmon is engaging in this venture, it seems so out of character with the man he used to know. As events spin out of control, the group set off for Heart Attacks amidst a raging and febrile atmosphere in a Indian community looking for vengeance, with little understanding of the dangers awaiting them. The beautiful and strange Kendra is obsessed with the murder of Amanda Jaffey, convinced the convicted Marvus Dove who hanged himself is not guilty. Drew and Kendra live in Jaffey's trailer, and Kendra is dressing in Amanda's clothes and physically changing her appearance to resemble her. Travis McCade, drawn to Kendra and responsible for managing the difficult conflicts between the different Indian tribes, finds himself out of his depth as matters escalate, confronted by life threatening circumstances. In a story of spells, black magic, Indian Heedees, sexual abuse, rape, a dedication to an obsession for surfing that mirrors that of a junkie on a drug run, there is an exploration into the heart of maleness and the darkness within that borders on insanity.

Kem Nunn excels in his atmospheric rich descriptions of the remote Californian location, of the land and sea, of surfing, whilst burrowing into the psyche of Harmon, an ageing man unwilling to settle for the legacy of his past, still looking to create history by documenting the ultimate ride on the big waves at the elusive Heart Attacks. It becomes understandable that Harmon chooses Fletcher as the man to photograph this, Fletcher too is a man with much to prove, he gets the madness and inner need that drives the surfer, and their connected history underpins their present. Each man makes sense to the other as their journey comes to an end. I found this an immersive and superb read, exploring the relationship between the surfer and nature's elements, the process of ageing, finding it heartbreaking, yet redemptive, amidst the tragic fallouts that are almost inevitable. This is brilliant and complicated storytelling from Nunn, where the myth of Heart Attacks remains intact. This is not for those looking for a fast paced, action led read, this has to be savoured to get the best from it. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Oldcastle Books for an ARC.

[Jayakrishnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the settings in Kem Nunn’s novels. The small towns across the Mojave Desert in Unassigned territory. The devastated landscape of Tijuana in Tijuana Straits. And now in The Dogs of Winter, the remote, hostile, mystical and inaccessible surfing spots of California. The settings are so important in Nunn’s novels that I have often wondered whether Nunn cares for his characters. Or does he simply want to describe to us these obscure and eerie places where very few humans venture into? It is not that the characters are uninteresting. They just seem secondary. Nunn’s descriptions of the monstrous waves that seem to have lives of their own and the wild landscapes that lead to these remote and dangerous beaches overshadows the human drama being played out on these landscapes. The book is worth reading only for the descriptions of sublime waves and beaches.

The Dogs of Winter is a carefully plotted novel. Fletcher, a down and out ex-surfer and photographer, struggling with alimony bills is given an assignment to photograph the legendary Drew Harmon while he surfs on an obscure stretch of California beach known as Heart Attacks, well known for its giant waves and sharks. With two young surfers in tow, Fletcher heads to Heart Attacks. But soon they butt heads with the natives from a local Indian reservation. A couple of sub-plots involving Harmon’s mysterious wife who believes an entity is trying to get in touch with her and a mixed blood policeman who tries to make peace between the different Indian tribes and the new arrivals converge with the main plot.

The characters in The Dogs of Winter are ones that could never fit into square society. Once, I was about to enter a boat to Ponnumthurathu (a remote island in Varkala). An Israeli couple arrived on a small scooter and they had an argument with the boatman because they wanted him to carry their belongings on his boat (he refused) while they swam across to the island. While I sat in the moving boat, I saw the couple swim to the island which was quite faraway. I was pleasantly surprised by their daring. Like them, you might see the characters from The Dogs of Winter on a stretch of road while you’re going about a boring daily chore and you might stare at them with longing, looking for some similarity between you and them, before they disappear to do whatever rousing activity that is their life. You might on another occasion when you’re bored, wonder what happened to those swimming Israelis or the people with surf boards that you encountered on the road.

These people have dodged the insidious attractions of normal life and carved out a path for themselves that is tough but exciting and might not have a happy ending. “Everyone must decide for himself whether it is better to have a brief but more intensely felt existence or to live a long and ordinary life”, said Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Or as Hunter.S.Thompson said - “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”. Nunn’s characters are the craziest. Whether it is the religious cult and the brother-sister duo hiding an alien artefact in Unassigned Territory or the surfers in search of 30-foot waves in The Dogs of Winter, they are more outcast than the most outcast characters in American literature or cinema.

Some of the biblical and mystical Indian stuff went over my head. But those are few and far between. The book works better when it is about the exciting life of these surfers that involves travelling across hostile landscapes and mounting 30-foot waves. It does not work that well as a thriller.

I have rated all three Kem Nunn novels that I have read a 3 on 5. It is not because he is an average writer. But the mix of genres do not always work. I have never really cared for Nunn’s plots after a certain point. The parts are better than the whole. The settings and characters are simply great. Who else writes thrillers set in the surfing world that are awash with supernatural elements?

[J. Kent Messum · Rating 4 out of 5]

When someone mentions a 'thriller' novel, I'll wager that a book about California surfers doesn't spring to mind. Well, hold on to your surfboards, because Kem Nunn can show you a dark side to riding waves you never knew existed.

Fletcher, a down-on-his-luck photographer, receives an unexpected call from a surfing magazine he once worked for (and blew his future chances with), telling him he can get back to business if he'll take two young pro surfers up to a remote part of the California coast and meet a former wave legend named Drew Harmon who has become a mysterious recluse. Harmon claims to have discovered 'Heart Attacks', the fabled promised land, a place in the wilderness where the country's biggest waves hit the shores. Harmon is presenting a one-time offer to guide a group to experience and capture the magic for themselves.

For Fletcher, it seems like a perfectly timed gift from God. But as soon as he shows up, things aren't all what they seem. Harmon is an angry and elusive man. His young wife is a strange girl too, a damaged soul obsessed with the murder of local woman. It turns out Heart Attacks is a two day trek through thick forest and harsh coastline, crossing forbidden Indian land and shark-infested waters. The prospect becomes more unappealing as aspects of the locale and its inhabitants soon reveal themselves. A preliminary local surf to get everyone's feet wet ends in tragedy, setting off a chain of events that are as violent as they are ugly, forcing the surfers to move out of harm's way and into the unknown. The results are unconventional, but terrifying nonetheless.

Kem Nunn is a terrific writer who explores the obsessive mind and brutal backwoods with a keen eye and sharp sense of situational evil. His prose is compelling and crisp, slowly building dread among the bleak beautiful backdrop of California wilderness. It's the work of a craftsman. Only a few niggling habits of his bugged me throughout the book, my only reason for deducting a star from an otherwise five-star title. 'The Dogs Of Winter' is an excellent novel that shows you what a literary thriller can be when it doesn't follow the same tired old tropes and subject matter as so many other books. I'm already looking forward to checking out two of his other novels that were recently recommended, 'Tapping The Source' and 'Pomona Queen'.

If you haven't already, put Kem Nunn on your list of worthwhile talents to check out.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

The word original is bandied about much too often in the fiction world, but The Dogs of Winter is nothing if not wholly unique and that is exactly what attracted me to it. Although I have no interest or knowledge of surfing I could definitely see why the brutal setting of the sea, with all of its power, would be beautiful, scenic surroundings in which to base this novel. His novels have been described as "surf-noir" for their dark themes, political overtones and surf settings. His description of the sea, the waves and nature, in general, are stunning, but there is also an exploration of some heavier themes such as nature vs mankind.

The pacing is slow and steady allowing you to savour every moment and every word, and the dual narrative is interesting with the two entertaining and actually merging towards the back end of the novel. It encompasses a wide range of issues within its pages - vulnerability, witchcraft, the supernatural, sexual impropriety, Indian culture and a surfer's turbulent relationship with the waves. With complex and captivating storytelling, Nunn created an atmosphere I was sad to be parted from. Immersive and intricate in equal measure, this is a character-driven story where the natural elements serve as one of the major characters, but there is also a philosophical depth to it that appealed to me.

Many thanks to No Exit Press for an ARC.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are all human plans vanity in the face of nature and the twisted ways of life? Nunn seems to ask this question, focusing on fame, money, spirituality, revenge, and heroism showing them as faint comfort when it comes down. Compared with Straw Dogs and Deliverance this excellently plotted and characterized tale of foolishness, revenge, and violence set in the surreal beauty of the unforgiving wilderness of Northern California and Southern Oregon also treads ground similar to Denis Johnson’s Already Dead though much less fuzzy and David Lynch like(but not by much, some spooky stuff is in this book). Nunn writes with authority here.

[Scott Foshee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moody, dark and misty, full of rain, cynicism, murderous waves, shady deals gone bad, deeply flawed characters and the redemptive power of surfing, "The Dogs of Winter" is the second in author Kem Nunn's surf noir California surf trilogy.

"The Dogs of Winter" finds broken down surf photographer Jack Fletcher hooked on booze and pills and living in a ratty hole in Huntington Beach, California. He is divorced, estranged from his daughter, and by his own admission is "no longer cool." He then gets a fateful call from the publisher of a surfing magazine. He is asked to take pictures of a legendary "mysto" surf spot in Northern California that has never been photographed. The spot is named Heart Attacks, near the Devil's Hoof on the westernmost point of land in California. The man making the request is legendary surfer Drew Harmon, who mysteriously dropped out of the surfing scene years ago and disappeared somewhere near the Oregon border.

Jack heads north, picking up two young hot shot surfers on the way for the shoot. When they arrive they find Drew Harmon and his strange wife Kendra living in a trailer formerly inhabited by a young woman who was murdered there. Kendra suspects Drew of having committed the murder, and gradually takes on the murdered girl's appearance, wearing the clothes she left behind and even cutting her hair to look like her in a photograph left behind. The trailer is surrounded by heavy, rainy woods near Native American land, and the locals are none too friendly to outsiders. Nevertheless, Kendra walks the river and coast at night, communing with the spirit of the dead girl.

The first photo shoot at a local spot near the mouth of the river goes bad. The Native American boy hired to take Jack in his boat to get pictures of the huge wave is killed when the motor dies and they swamp. The locals find out, come after the party with guns, and things get nasty.

Drew Harmon refuses to let the dream of Heart Attacks die, however, and he leaves his wife behind in the turmoil to get the magazine shot Jack came for. They climb through the lonely, windswept coastline for days to find the legendary spot, with armed locals in pursuit.

The "Dogs of Winter" is a dark, mysterious, compelling read. It does have flaws. We just get the bare bones of why Kendra is with Drew in the first place. The characters do a lot of trail hiking, up and down the cliffs, back and forth, down and up, etc. that gets a bit tedious. The story as a whole is a bit uneven, but the whole mood of the thing, the "noir" so to speak, holds it all together and keeps it moving. Author Nunn brings the heart and soul of surfing to his work, and if you are not a surfer before reading his books, you will wish you were. I found myself sorry that the book had to end, and have already bought "Tijuana Straits" to continue the search for the last secret surfing spot.

Interesting Info: Nunn completed his first novel "Tapping the Source" (1984) while being mentored by Oakley Hall, author of the cult western "Warlock," and completed his surf trilogy with his 2004 novel "Tijuana Straits." He also worked on the HBO western series "Deadwood" in 2006, wrote for season 5 of "Sons of Anarchy," and co-created the HBO surfing drama "John From Cincinnati," which premiered in 2007.

[Grace swash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kem Nunn writes extraordinary and complex California Noir set in the world of surfing, reminscent of the movie, Point Break. The Dogs of Winter is a phrase generally reserved for huge waves generated by winter storms. Heart Attacks is the last Californian mytho surfing premier spot, a place that no-one is sure even exists. It is said to cross sacred ceremonial Indian land, populated by hostile Indians, amidst shark infested seas, where monster waves break a little distance from the shore. Humaliwu is the Indian strip of land of tragedy and Indian lore. Famous old Viking surfing legend, Drew Harmon, a recluse of many years, proposes to unveil the remote and desolate Heart Attacks place and a ride on the waves to the editor of the prime surfing magazine, Michael Peters, but insists that the photographer has to be the down and out Jack Fletcher. Fletcher is now a struggling wedding photographer, divorced with one daughter, desperate for a commission that will reignite the heyday of his illustrious past. He, along with two young stars of the surfing world today, Robbie Jones and Sonny Martin, are in search of a story of big waves and outlaws that makes history and headlines. The reality is to be far removed from Fletcher's expectations, in what turns out to be more a journey into the past, rather than that of place, and marked by tragedy and horror.

Harmon turns out to be a man who spends time carving big boards from wood, living in a trailer with his strange and beautiful wife, Kendra and seemingly short of funds, taking risks with little care for the consequences. His body is heavily scarred from a shark bite, a man of apparently deep philosophical thought, engaging in spiritual communion with the sea and land that he knows like the back of his hand. Fletcher is unsure why Harmon is engaging in this venture, it seems so out of character with the man he used to know. As events spin out of control, the group set off for Heart Attacks amidst a raging and febrile atmosphere in a Indian community looking for vengeance, with little understanding of the dangers awaiting them. The beautiful and strange Kendra is obsessed with the murder of Amanda Jaffey, convinced the convicted Marvus Dove who hanged himself is not guilty. Drew and Kendra live in Jaffey's trailer, and Kendra is dressing in Amanda's clothes and physically changing her appearance to resemble her. Travis McCade, drawn to Kendra and responsible for managing the difficult conflicts between the different Indian tribes, finds himself out of his depth as matters escalate, confronted by life threatening circumstances. In a story of spells, black magic, Indian Heedees, sexual abuse, rape, a dedication to an obsession for surfing that mirrors that of a junkie on a drug run, there is an exploration into the heart of maleness and the darkness within that borders on insanity.

Kem Nunn excels in his atmospheric rich descriptions of the remote Californian location, of the land and sea, of surfing, whilst burrowing into the psyche of Harmon, an ageing man unwilling to settle for the legacy of his past, still looking to create history by documenting the ultimate ride on the big waves at the elusive Heart Attacks. It becomes understandable that Harmon chooses Fletcher as the man to photograph this, Fletcher too is a man with much to prove, he gets the madness and inner need that drives the surfer, and their connected history underpins their present. Each man makes sense to the other as their journey comes to an end. I found this an immersive and superb read, exploring the relationship between the surfer and nature's elements, the process of ageing, finding it heartbreaking, yet redemptive, amidst the tragic fallouts that are almost inevitable. This is brilliant and complicated storytelling from Nunn, where the myth of Heart Attacks remains intact. This is not for those looking for a fast paced, action led read, this has to be savoured to get the best from it. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Oldcastle Books for an ARC.

[Lonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one. It reminded me of a hybrid of a pair of movies from the 90's: Point Break and Thunder Heart. The guy is a great prose stylist and I love the feel of his stories. they are dark, yet inviting and there is a disarming twinge of sentmentality to the books I've read by him.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Tapping the Source so much, I guess I’m just reading all of Nunn’s novels now.

Set in the much moodier NoCal, this book proves to be the gloomy and brooding counterpart to Tapping the Source. Much more of a focus on the surfing as well.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because Iv enjoyed his book "Tapping the Source" so much, this story was a bit of let down. I felt the whole story was shifting quite slow, often in too much detail.
Felt like I was watching a long and slow movie that you can not wait until you see the end of it.
3 stars.

[Pedro Ramires · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dogs of winter

amazing book! Mr Kem, is an awesome story teller, he describes humans as they are for better or worst!! Surfers are going to love it !

[furious · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. compelling & engrossing. i tore thru most of this while on my own quest for mysto spots along the northern california coast. nunn manages to meld the best elements of modern lit & classic crime/noir. this is a dark road, surely, but such is the road to redemption.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This to me conveyed real feelings of being a surfer... Beautifully written using correct terminology not hokey dude talk... If you are a real surfer you must read this book

[Dlmrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Mfc3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting adventure / "surf noir" tale highlighted by a pretty consistently great (albeit very occasionally overly elaborate) prose style. In one of the blurbs on the paperback copy I read, a reviewer describes the writing as being a cross between Elmore Leonard and Cormac McCarthy. That strikes me as about right, in that the plot (which definitely keeps you reading) seems like something Elmore Leonard might have cooked up, while the descriptive passages have a bit of a Cormac McCarthy feel to them. Is he as good a writer as Cormac McCarthy? No, but very few people are.

SPOILERS FOLLOW: I do however have a couple of qualms about the way one or two of the Native American characters are depicted. It was written in the 90's, so judging it on the basis of the time it came out, perhaps it's not surprising. Helping matters somewhat in this regard is the fact there are a couple of well-written and admirable Native American characters (Travis and Blacklage) that balance out a couple of villainous stereotypically-portrayed Native American characters. Luckily, Blacklage and Travis get more time and attention from Nunn, and one gets the sense that Nunn's heart was in the right place (he describes the death of the Native American boy with a real and quite appropriate sense of tragedy).

I liked the characterization of Drew Harmon and Jack Fletcher. They seem especially well-drawn , with Nunn effortlessly conveying their life situation (aging dudes trying to relive their surfing glory days one last time - as a middle aged man, I must confess I sympathized a bit with Fletcher!) The character of Kendra Harmon on the other hand seems less well realized, and I couldn't help but feel awful for her and all the horrendous things her character had to endure. But she proves herself a survivor through it all and reveals a certain inner core of strength. I just wish that her character was fleshed out a bit more .

Those qualms aside, I found The Dogs of Winter a very entertaining and enjoyably wild read. Like many of Nunn's other books, it takes place in a surfing milieu, but it's about much much more than just surfing (though Nunn certainly excels at describing the experience of surfing). Its a heady book that combines great action sequences, funny dialogue, and evocatively written descriptions of land and sea alongside a strangely compelling nature-based mysticism. 4.4 out of 5.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photographer Jack Fletcher is recruited by a reclusive acquaintance to go on a journey to find a fabled and dangerous surfing location, with the intention of photographing it. Tragedy happens early on and the small group soon find themselves dealing with a lot more than simply hiking and taking some photos.

Having read Tapping The Source a couple years back and knowing Nunn's "surf-noir" pedigree, I was ready for this one. It's definitely not as lean or propulsive as Tapping The Source, but alot of the things I loved about that book appear here.

For one, I really love the way Kem Nunn writes about the ocean. He manages to use these kind of potboiler plots as an excuse to riff on the majesty of waves and gravitational pull and so on. There's something ever so New Age tree-huggy about it(think Patrick Swayzee's character from Point Break), but this is a milieu he clearly understands and respects.

And I'm always a fan of elevated pulp. As the plot expands and begins to incorporate more elements(accidental deaths, Indian tribal boundaries, revenge, the occult!), there's definitely plenty of that to go around. Nunn manages to make even some of the battier developments ring authentically within his world(like he did in TTS).

But this does feel like a more indulgent work. The first 100 pages or so are a bit deliberate in their pacing. And for the amount of exposition and character development we do get in that time, I'd understand if someone got a little ansty in the early goings. It picks up considerably and in a way I mostly enjoyed. Even if some of the bigger narrative beats seem to land a bit hollow or inconsistently.

Reading this after Tapping The Source is definitely the move. If you like Nunn's obsession with New Age surf hippies, meth heads, and derelicts of assorted stripes, this is a worthy, if slightly bloated return to that world.

Light to decent 8 out of 10

[EmiLa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel "The Dogs of Winter" written by Kem Nunn and published in 1997 tells the story of four men who go on a adventure together to take photographs of them surfing in a hidden reef called heart attacks, which is said to be beautiful, wild and marvelous - but it's location isn't identified.

The novel does indeed include the basics a novel should cover, in my opinion. It has detailed and authentic characters, whose motives and state of mind are undoubtedly comprehensible, it has a varying story line with a pleasant side of cultural differences and conflicts - but what it really holds is detail. An awful lot of detail.
Don't get me wrong, I do indeed see, how the describing a scene can transfer it, moreover: make it come alive, but.. Is it really necessary to sketch an entire setting for about two pages, elaborate each and every microscopic segment - only for the actual scene to pass in about 10 sentences? Do we need to hear absolutely everything about Robbie's abhorrent, abominable piercing?

To sum this up: in my opinion The Dogs of Winter isn't a bad book - it does indeed have potential as a part of literature and I might be able to imagine somebody enjoying this style of writing - but I, personally might as well look at some pictures of beaches or maybe take a trip there myself before reading a novel that describes them and holds a few lines about some story about a bunch of boys on a trip and some mad Indians who kidnap a woman in their bizarre house-car.

[kozo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit, this book hit expectations I hadn’t known I initially had. I knew I’d be going into a “surf noir” but didn’t exactly know what it meant nor do I have an adequate way of describing it. Everything while reading feels as though there is an air to mystery, a looming shadow, something coming this way on the horizon but you don’t exactly know what yet.

I was intrigued by the characters and what their “deal” was, but this is not a book that is character driven. It plot and coincidence driven, meaning I never exactly got much in the ways of who these characters were just a perfunctory why they are there, which in today’s book world felt amazing. I got to focus on what was happening before me and not the events that led up to it.

The story itself I would have to describe as inherently ADULT. This is the type of book you’d maybe see your parents reading. It’s not filled with beautiful purple prose or breathtaking characters. Everyone simply is. And for it, i give a 5.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I read it every night and always put it down content. A burned out former surf photographer gets a chance to get back in the game when he is specifically requested to do a photo shoot by a recluse legendary surfer. The characters were believable, the plot moved along, and the end was fitting. It wasn't a book that "I couldn't put down" or I had to tell all of my friends about. It was just a story I was content in reading. It did take a weird dark turn at one point that I don't think was necessary but I wasn't surprised the author did it based on one of his previous works. It was great in description because I really could picture being in NorCal/Oregon border and out in the water. But my overall impression that it was ok. I enjoyed it but wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author, and I've already added samples of his other works, to my tablet! I've always been fascinated by surfing. Not Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello movies, but the real thing. This story contains a mystery, set on remote tribal land in northern California. A legendary surfer lives in that wilderness. Three other surfers from southern California embark on a perilous journey to visit him. This was beautifully written, as well as dark and edgy and like nothing I've ever read before. A friend gave me a bracelet that says "Just one more chapter" on it, and I thought of that every night as I burned the midnight oil to see what would come next in this strange, magical tale!

[Dan Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rex Stout wrote a slew of Nero Wolfe books. All he needed was a mystery gimmick; he had the series gimmicks down cold. So one might say about many series authors.
In Kem Nunn's case, things are a little different. He does not have a series character, as such. As John Wayne is said to have played one character, John Wayne, so we might think Mr. Numm writes the same folks under different names. Perhaps. But he keeps his milieu and finds ways to structure crime stories into the surfing world.
At times this reader finds the back of his mind thinking "Lord Jim" or "Heart of Darkness" or simply Joseph Conrad. My back channel may be off track but it gives kudos to the surfing writer.
Recommended

[Connor FitzGerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lent by a mate, I took it with me on a short business trip to read on the plane/airport and I found the time flying past. It's a story about surfing, about middle age angst, about the search for meaning, all rolled up into a suspense filled page-turner. One of the reviews on the back reads "As if Elmore Leonard and Cormac McCarthy had teamed up to write a surf novel", which feels about right as there's lots of heavy themes and "undiluted" reality. I'm a huge McCarthy fan and I enjoy surfing so there was every reason to expect I was going to enjoy this one, and I did. Will be investigating other novels by this guy.

[E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I love extremely slow books that are dense and full of dread, and I love noir, and I love California wash-outs and losers, but this despite all this overlap with my interests, this novel just dragged.

And while it's really unusual for me to give up on a book if I get halfway through, once I got to the big plot point of Native characters raping a white woman in a super stereotypical, creepy way I was just kinda done. The Native characters were badly-written and badly portrayed.

[James Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark. Searching. Enough. This book is all of these things and more. The story has a sense of magic surrounding it, not in a fantasy sense, but in simple awe of the world that has been created. The plot is slower than some of Nunn's other work, but fits well for the story and the outcome. This is the type of book you end up rereading, not realizing how important parts of it are until you are in the thick of it. The descriptions of the water are as exceptional as they are true to life. Worth the read.

[Ryan Sandoval · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will always read Nunn books because they scratch an itch I haven't found anywhere else, but I'm always left feeling a little empty handed at the endings. I like the ride enough that it doesn't stop me from reading everything else he has that I accept it's just his preferred style to let the story kind of continue past the last page into the void. This is my review.

[Greg Jolley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly colored and wide story. Thank you, Robin and Jamie at Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookshop for suggesting this!

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Spellbinding... hard to put down! An extraordinary book!

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love surfing, I love crime novels. Kem Nunn (that's one hell of a name) moody as a squall in the North Pacific.

[john · Rating 2 out of 5]

The surf noir genre does not reflect well on Native Americans.

[Jesse R Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read most of Kem Nunn's books. I have enjoyed them all, but this is my favorite so far. Great read--could not put it down. Would recommend. Would make an good movie.