Desperation Reef by T. Jefferson Parker ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

In this high-stakes thriller, a big-wave surfer and her sons compete in the same contest that killed her husband many years before.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

July 2024; Forge Books; 978-1250907882
audio, ebook, print (320 pages); thriller

This thriller was a real page-turner for me.  It was set in the surfing world where surfers compete in contests to ride huge waves.  Jen hasn't entered the big-wave surfing competition in 25 years, ever since her husband was killed while competing. Now she's ready to try to overcome her fear and compete again along with her 25-year-old twin sons who are both well known in the surfing world.  Casey is a world-class surfer who bartends at the family restaurant, models surf clothing, and fishes to provide the restaurant with fresh fish.  At the beginning of the novel, he records illegal poachers at sea which puts him in danger with a crime syndicate.  His twin brother Brock, is the founder of a church that helps people and takes chances in natural disasters that other groups won't.  He also opens his church to the homeless no matter their background.  This puts him in danger from a group of people who want to get rid of the immigrants and the homeless. As Jen and her two sons continue to prepare for the big wave competition her fears begin to grow as she worries about her life and the safety of her sons.  

I really enjoyed this book and it had me quickly turning pages to find out the results of the surfing competition.  Along with that, both sons had people that were threatening them and their family as they tried to do work that helped other people.

I always enjoy reading a book that teaches me something new.  As a Midwesterner, I know nothing about surfing -- my knowledge of the subject has probably come from Beach Boys songs.  There was a lot of surfing information in this book -- I found some of it redundant and boring but some of it was very interesting, especially about Mavericks waves and the surfers who compete to surf them.  The massive waves at a beach in California can routinely crest at over 25 ft and top out at over 60 ft.  The videos of the surfers on these massive waves were fantastic and very frightening.   

The author has written 26 novels - including two that won the Edgar Award - but he's still a new author to me.  I enjoyed this book so much that I've just ordered his two award-winning books and am really looking forward to his page-turning suspense stories.

Buy Desperation Reef at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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