Sharks Never Sleep, First Hand Encounters With Killers Of The Sea

by Brendan McAloon

Sharks Never Sleep takes you around the world to meet shark-attack survivors, shark lovers and shark hunters, who tell us of the primal fear of being eaten alive by a wild animal, the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one and extraordinary stories of encounters with sharks. In Ballina on the east coast of Australia, Darren Rogers recounts how he tried to save Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara, who was mauled to death by a great white shark. At Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, professional surfer Mick Fanning narrowly escapes the jaws of a great white during the final of one of the world's biggest professional surfing competitions. On the Hawaiian island of Maui, shark-attack survivor Bethany Hamilton heads into monstrous waves to surf, even after having lost her arm to a tiger shark as a 13-year-old junior surfing champion. Sharks Never Sleep explores the world's complex relationship of fear and fascination with sharks – meeting scientists, conservationists and a host of eccentric characters – in these gripping tales of first-hand encounters.

198 pages, Paperback

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed biased thought it would be more factual but lacked facts and counted on a emotional arguement.

[Micheal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covers shark attacks, mainly in Australia, with a few in the US and South Africa. It's really well written, though why anyone gives that deadshit Vic Hislop the time of day I will never know. Who cares what that Neanderthal fuck-knuckle has to say, even for balance. The guy is so unbalanced it's like putting a hippo on a seesaw.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

TLDR; A gripping (if morbid) topic makes this confused book worth the read.

Review:
Despite giving this book a low review I (oddly) do think it is worth reading. The book's strength lies in its captivating and gripping subject matter, which is widely explored. Brendan traverses a diversity of real life stories of shark attack survivors, their friends and families and other relevant perspectives. This material is interesting in its own right.

The downside is, I feel Brendan has failed at making a cohesive book with a clear purpose and structure. The book opens with the story of a fatal shark attack. And from there begins a journey of discovering other gory and not so gory shark attacks. But why? Beyond morbid entertainment, why am I vicariously experiencing these traumatic events?

The blurb reads "...gripping investigation into our complex relationship of fear and fascination with sharks". So the book is an investigation... Right? For that to be true, Brendan would have to be asking questions. But I don't recall him ever doing so in the text. And if the book is an investigation, this is not reflected in the table of contents which divides the books into "parts".

Section titles such as "Part 1" do not tell me what we are investigating. Neither do arbitrary chapter titles such as "A kingdom of fear" or "It began in Ballina". The most informative title has to be "Surfer punches shark". Catchy title sure, but what are we investigating? Why a man violently assaulted an apex predator? I found the book to lack purpose and subsequent structure. Especially the ending.

Rather than beginning with an introduction and an overarching thematic question to kick start the investigation, the book reads as a collection of loosely threaded together stories of shark victims and other stakeholders. So it was really strange when the author revealed, in the last two pages, that he and his wife were witnesses to a domestic terrorist attack in 2017.

He ultimately concludes the book with his revealing that, like the majority of the victims in his book, Brendan really likes surfing. He's terrified of sharks. But "... Life is short... You have to do the things you love." I hate being negative, but this book left me baffled.

[Sportyrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shark attack books are fairly common these days. This one focused on the accounts of survivors or witnesses. The structure of the book was a bit haphazard for me. It started off trying to be like Jaws in describing what the shark could see as it neared it’s prey then moved into the attack and eye witness accounts. Subsequent chapters covered the extremes of conservation vs culling.

The spate of attacks in short periods of time was a main and interesting factor, drawing references from Peter Benchley and others including people who work in fisheries.

There were only a handful of photos provided.

The book was easy to read, addictive even but somehow left you feeling like you wanted more detail.

I would still recommend this to anyone interested in sharks. If there is anything about this type of person, it’s that they read anything to do with sharks so go for it.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually quite balanced even if the first few chapters made my blood boil. I guess you have to give all perspectives even if you don't personally agree with them. Madi is my new heroine.

[Emily Stringer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit pro shark cull for my taste.

[Book Grocer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase Sharks Never Sleep here for just $10!

Explore our complex relationship of fear and fascination with sharks- meeting scientists, conservationalists and others in these gripping tales of first-hand experiences.

Brooke - The Book Grocer

[Samantha India-Anne]

It’s really well written - accurate and decent information and really explores different points of view. Talks mainly about attacks in Australia, South Africa, America and Reunion islands.
I personally am not scared of sharks, just cautious of them, but I’d recommend this for a person who maybe is more scared.

[Delia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, I don’t think I will ever go in the water ever again! Very terrifying stories! ❤️