What do you think?
Rate this book
Nearshore
“Nearshore is the best novel of homegrown nuclear terrorism yet written, chillingly credible, terrifying, and all too plausible.”
— Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb
“An exceptionally thoughtful literary thriller. In the depth and breadth of its story, in the lyricism of its prose, Nearshore will surely establish Steve Hawk as a writer to be reckoned with.”
— Kem Nunn, author of Tapping the Source, Dogs of Winter, and Tijuana Straits
“Engrossing, graceful, and transporting, this is a terrific—if terrifying—tale of near apocalypse.”
— Publisher’s Weekly
Daybreak, West Virginia: A “small” nuclear bomb detonates beside an Appalachia highway. The weapon’s explosive yield is meager, the death count blessedly low. And yet—it is history’s first act of nuclear terrorism, and it threatens to tilt the world beyond reckoning.
Months later, surfer and lifeguard Jamie Palmer is patrolling his domain, a treacherous stretch of wild California coast, when he responds to a mysterious nearshore boating accident that has jettisoned two people overboard. The victims turn out to be Palmer’s best friend—a brilliant, renegade Stanford University professor—and the man’s teenage son, Luca. The professor drowns, Luca survives—leaving Palmer the boy’s guardian.
Soon after, Chelsea Wu, a math prodigy and doctoral student, confides to Palmer that she and the professor unearthed a link between a Silicon Valley megacorporation, its sociopathic billionaire founder, and the nuke in West Virginia. When a second device is detonated, this unlikely team—the surfer, the orphan, and the math whiz—must persuade investigators that the bombmakers are not only homegrown, but also hiding in plain sight.
An immersive and disturbingly plausible debut, Nearshore delivers a mix of literary suspense and coastal noir. Moving with the speed of a barreling wave, Nearshore also explores deeper clashes: isolation versus community and family, Silicon Valley versus humanity, words versus action, land versus sea.
— Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb
“An exceptionally thoughtful literary thriller. In the depth and breadth of its story, in the lyricism of its prose, Nearshore will surely establish Steve Hawk as a writer to be reckoned with.”
— Kem Nunn, author of Tapping the Source, Dogs of Winter, and Tijuana Straits
“Engrossing, graceful, and transporting, this is a terrific—if terrifying—tale of near apocalypse.”
— Publisher’s Weekly
Daybreak, West Virginia: A “small” nuclear bomb detonates beside an Appalachia highway. The weapon’s explosive yield is meager, the death count blessedly low. And yet—it is history’s first act of nuclear terrorism, and it threatens to tilt the world beyond reckoning.
Months later, surfer and lifeguard Jamie Palmer is patrolling his domain, a treacherous stretch of wild California coast, when he responds to a mysterious nearshore boating accident that has jettisoned two people overboard. The victims turn out to be Palmer’s best friend—a brilliant, renegade Stanford University professor—and the man’s teenage son, Luca. The professor drowns, Luca survives—leaving Palmer the boy’s guardian.
Soon after, Chelsea Wu, a math prodigy and doctoral student, confides to Palmer that she and the professor unearthed a link between a Silicon Valley megacorporation, its sociopathic billionaire founder, and the nuke in West Virginia. When a second device is detonated, this unlikely team—the surfer, the orphan, and the math whiz—must persuade investigators that the bombmakers are not only homegrown, but also hiding in plain sight.
An immersive and disturbingly plausible debut, Nearshore delivers a mix of literary suspense and coastal noir. Moving with the speed of a barreling wave, Nearshore also explores deeper clashes: isolation versus community and family, Silicon Valley versus humanity, words versus action, land versus sea.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published August 18, 2026
About the author
Steve Hawk
3 books29 followersSteve Hawk began his writing career as a newspaper reporter. He would go on to spent eight years as editor of Surfer magazine, six years as executive editor of Sierra (the magazine of the Sierra Club), and five years as editor of Stanford Business magazine.
He also worked as a writer and consultant on the fictional HBO series John From Cincinnati. He is the author of Waves, a coffee-table book about the aesthetics and physics of ocean waves, and recently ghost-wrote a book (due out in the summer of 2027) for his brother, Tony, that celebrates the history and culture of skateboarding.
He has been surfing for nearly 60 years, and is one of a one of a handful of people to have ridden waves on all seven continents. He lives with his family near Half Moon Bay, California, where he spends as much time as possible frolicking in the ocean. Nearshore is his first novel.
He also worked as a writer and consultant on the fictional HBO series John From Cincinnati. He is the author of Waves, a coffee-table book about the aesthetics and physics of ocean waves, and recently ghost-wrote a book (due out in the summer of 2027) for his brother, Tony, that celebrates the history and culture of skateboarding.
He has been surfing for nearly 60 years, and is one of a one of a handful of people to have ridden waves on all seven continents. He lives with his family near Half Moon Bay, California, where he spends as much time as possible frolicking in the ocean. Nearshore is his first novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
August 21, 2026
Did some people really built an atomic bomb and detonated it somewhere in West Virginia? And if so, who are these people and what are their plans? No demands were made and nothing points to a threat from overseas.
Jamie Palmer is a life guard who was a champion surfer once. He’s not given up on surfing but he needs to have a job now he’s older and not as famous as he once was. One day he spots the small yacht of his best friend, Bonnard, at sea but obviously in distress. That is… Palmer, with help from the coast guard, manage to safe on of the two people who were on the boat. Luca is fourteen and the son of Alex Bonnard, famous scientist. Palmer takes Luca in and also meets Chelsea Wu, Bonnard’s doctoral student. She admits to Palmer that she and Bonnard are working on some very special projects, one of which has to do with communication in large companies. She believes something fishy is going on at a large conglomerate of logistics companies.
What I like about this story was the fact that the author weaves a conspiracy story between the story of Palmer and Bonnard, who spent all their free time surfing. I’m not a surfer but I could almost smell the sea and hear the waves. It was interesting to learn something about surfing and what it means to people sometimes. On the other hand there’s the conspiracy story that follows some strange and angry and above all filthy rich people with quite disturbing ideas.
There is some background information that sometimes took the pace out of the story, and the ending was ok but not spectacular. All in all a solid four stars.
Thanks to Viking and Edelweiss for this review copy.
Jamie Palmer is a life guard who was a champion surfer once. He’s not given up on surfing but he needs to have a job now he’s older and not as famous as he once was. One day he spots the small yacht of his best friend, Bonnard, at sea but obviously in distress. That is… Palmer, with help from the coast guard, manage to safe on of the two people who were on the boat. Luca is fourteen and the son of Alex Bonnard, famous scientist. Palmer takes Luca in and also meets Chelsea Wu, Bonnard’s doctoral student. She admits to Palmer that she and Bonnard are working on some very special projects, one of which has to do with communication in large companies. She believes something fishy is going on at a large conglomerate of logistics companies.
What I like about this story was the fact that the author weaves a conspiracy story between the story of Palmer and Bonnard, who spent all their free time surfing. I’m not a surfer but I could almost smell the sea and hear the waves. It was interesting to learn something about surfing and what it means to people sometimes. On the other hand there’s the conspiracy story that follows some strange and angry and above all filthy rich people with quite disturbing ideas.
There is some background information that sometimes took the pace out of the story, and the ending was ok but not spectacular. All in all a solid four stars.
Thanks to Viking and Edelweiss for this review copy.
August 20, 2026
“Nearshore” is a high-stakes, tech-centric novel about nuclear terrorism on U.S. soil. Set mostly in and around Northern California and its beaches, it stars Jamie Palmer, a California State Park lifeguard who’s also a champion surfer. When his best friend and surfing buddy, Stanford linguistics professor Alexander Bonnard, dies in a boating accident, Jamie takes on the care of his adopted son, Luca (something of a prodigy), and becomes romantically involved with Chelsea, one of Bonnard’s Ph.D. students. Together, based on Bonnard’s and Chelsea’s research, the three uncover a plot to destabilize the United States by means of a series of nuclear explosions.
The novel is well-written. The characters are interesting and engaging. The subjects it covers—including the technology and construction of nuclear weapons, computer data centers and server farms, right-wing extremism, and billionaires and the unequal distribution of wealth—are topical and seem well researched. And it has a lot to say about surfing.
I enjoyed reading it and thought I learned something along the way.
The novel is well-written. The characters are interesting and engaging. The subjects it covers—including the technology and construction of nuclear weapons, computer data centers and server farms, right-wing extremism, and billionaires and the unequal distribution of wealth—are topical and seem well researched. And it has a lot to say about surfing.
I enjoyed reading it and thought I learned something along the way.
August 21, 2026
3.5 rounding up to 4
This read like an action movie – a costal-vibe thriller with lots of male characters, political/influential billionaires and the good guys trying to stop the bad guys from creating catastrophe. There was a lot of moving parts throughout the story that sometimes I had trouble keeping up with it, as it was much more plot focused than character focused, which is the point of this story I suppose.
It was gripping in the sense that I wanted to see it all work out, but at times I felt myself forcing myself to keep going because the details became so arduous that I feel like it took away from the overall scope of the story itself.
Thank you to Viking Penguin & NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and my review is left voluntarily.
This read like an action movie – a costal-vibe thriller with lots of male characters, political/influential billionaires and the good guys trying to stop the bad guys from creating catastrophe. There was a lot of moving parts throughout the story that sometimes I had trouble keeping up with it, as it was much more plot focused than character focused, which is the point of this story I suppose.
It was gripping in the sense that I wanted to see it all work out, but at times I felt myself forcing myself to keep going because the details became so arduous that I feel like it took away from the overall scope of the story itself.
Thank you to Viking Penguin & NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and my review is left voluntarily.
August 23, 2026
Nearshore is a complex, contemporary thriller, that had me spellbound from beginning to end! It opens with the detonation of a small nuclear bomb beside a highway in Appalachia. Fortunately, casualties are few, still, it appears to be an act of nuclear terrorism. The story then shifts to California, where lifeguard and surfer Jamie Palmer is called to an accident scene involving the boat belonging to his best friend Bonnard, a fellow surfer and famous scientist. Palmer is able to rescue Bonnard's adopted teenage son, but Bonnard is no longer aboard. Jamie becomes the guardian for Bonnard's son Luca, and is approached by Chelsea Wu, Bonnard's associate regarding his latest research. Had Bonnard discovered something sinister that might have led to his death? Steve Hawk has written a chilling book with a scarily plausible plot, with unimaginable, and terrifying twists. The book is well researched, with excellent character development throughout the book. Palmer, Luca and Chelsea pull together in their grief, and form a bond with each other, as they race to uncover and prevent a sinister plot centered on nuclear destruction. It is a timely, thought-provoking book that I will long remember. Definitely read the author notes at the end. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy. The opinions of this review are my own.
August 24, 2026
This guy is really into surfing
Did Not Finish
August 26, 2026Nothing wrong with it, just wasn't in the mood for this like I thought I was.
August 25, 2026
A thriller about ideologically-driven domestic nuclear terrorism that showed great promise but got bogged down in the second half.
The opening pages were very good. California State Parks Lifeguard Jamie Palmer has a harrowing experience recovering fourteen year old Luca Bonnard from the waters off Tunitas, California, after he and his father, Professor Alexander Bonnard, suffer a tragic boating mishap claiming the father's life.
Professor Bonnard happens to be Palmer's best friend and Luca, his godson. Bonnard's will appoints Palmer as Luca's guardian. Eventually, Palmer also becomes romantically involved with Bonnard's research student, Chelsea Wu. The found family is gradually drawn into a web of intrigue concerning Professor Bonnard's data analytics research into Whetstone, a global supply chain technology company led by billionaire founder Simon Gray, a right-wing idealogue plotting a series of nuclear terror attacks on America, his objective being to incite a fearful America into overthrowing its democratic government.
Our heroes pick up from Bonnard's research, finding a correlation between the timing of the first nuclear detonation and anomalous chatter observed in Whetstone's internal comms. As Bonnard breached his research agreement making these findings, Palmer and Wu are reluctant to involve law enforcement. Meanwhile, Gray's sinister henchman, Brett Asher, discovers Bonnard's unauthorized data access and moves to threaten Wu, seeking to push her off the digital trail.
Gray succeeds with a second detonation, ratcheting up the tension.
I found the set up very interesting, but the second half struggled to sustain consistent dramatic tension until the final few chapters, where the book breaks into thriller-mode. Jamie Palmer is an interesting protagonist - a laconic surfer dude who relies on an awful lot of luck and other peoples' brains in order to slowly clue his way to Gray and Asher. The book is interspersed with Palmer's ruminations on his life and his work. I found these very readable and interesting, helping to round out a quiet and relatively passive protagonist, but when these interjections continued into the second half of the book when the plot should have started racing, I found them intrusive. The plot relies heavily on coincidences, with Palmer's 'super powers' as a beach cop and champion surfer arriving late in the action. Palmer is not a good enough detective to make the mystery of this mystery-thriller flow convincingly.
Nearshore just barely got to three stars for me. It seems to be well-researched, generally well-written and entertaining in parts, but it demonstrates a not so uncommon second act problem - Palmer comes into the second act without personal stakes - he's not fearing for his life, for his soul...and that means the story starts to lumber towards its conclusion.
The opening pages were very good. California State Parks Lifeguard Jamie Palmer has a harrowing experience recovering fourteen year old Luca Bonnard from the waters off Tunitas, California, after he and his father, Professor Alexander Bonnard, suffer a tragic boating mishap claiming the father's life.
Professor Bonnard happens to be Palmer's best friend and Luca, his godson. Bonnard's will appoints Palmer as Luca's guardian. Eventually, Palmer also becomes romantically involved with Bonnard's research student, Chelsea Wu. The found family is gradually drawn into a web of intrigue concerning Professor Bonnard's data analytics research into Whetstone, a global supply chain technology company led by billionaire founder Simon Gray, a right-wing idealogue plotting a series of nuclear terror attacks on America, his objective being to incite a fearful America into overthrowing its democratic government.
Our heroes pick up from Bonnard's research, finding a correlation between the timing of the first nuclear detonation and anomalous chatter observed in Whetstone's internal comms. As Bonnard breached his research agreement making these findings, Palmer and Wu are reluctant to involve law enforcement. Meanwhile, Gray's sinister henchman, Brett Asher, discovers Bonnard's unauthorized data access and moves to threaten Wu, seeking to push her off the digital trail.
Gray succeeds with a second detonation, ratcheting up the tension.
I found the set up very interesting, but the second half struggled to sustain consistent dramatic tension until the final few chapters, where the book breaks into thriller-mode. Jamie Palmer is an interesting protagonist - a laconic surfer dude who relies on an awful lot of luck and other peoples' brains in order to slowly clue his way to Gray and Asher. The book is interspersed with Palmer's ruminations on his life and his work. I found these very readable and interesting, helping to round out a quiet and relatively passive protagonist, but when these interjections continued into the second half of the book when the plot should have started racing, I found them intrusive. The plot relies heavily on coincidences, with Palmer's 'super powers' as a beach cop and champion surfer arriving late in the action. Palmer is not a good enough detective to make the mystery of this mystery-thriller flow convincingly.
Nearshore just barely got to three stars for me. It seems to be well-researched, generally well-written and entertaining in parts, but it demonstrates a not so uncommon second act problem - Palmer comes into the second act without personal stakes - he's not fearing for his life, for his soul...and that means the story starts to lumber towards its conclusion.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Nearshore
by Steve Hawk feels more like a conspiracy thriller to me since it is focused on protagonists uncovering dangerous plots planned by a powerful organization. It begins with a small nuclear detonation in West Virginia and the attempts to downplay it by the government. However, Stanford Professor Bonnard and his doctoral student Chelsea Wu suspect a darker conspiracy.
Months later, surfer and lifeguard Jamie Palmer is patrolling the California coast south of San Francisco when he responds to a nearshore boating accident that left two people overboard. The victims turn out to be Palmer’s best friend, Bonnard and his son, Luca. Luca is the only survivor. Soon after Chelsea confides to Palmer that she and Bonnard found a link between a Silicon Valley corporation and the device in West Virginia. What will they do and how will it change their lives?
Palmer is protective, observant, and connected to nature; especially the ocean. Chelsea is analytical, intelligent, persistent, and courageous under pressure. Luca is traumatized by the death of his father, vulnerable, smart, and resilient. The antagonist is ambitious, amoral, and calculating.
The author does a great job with atmosphere and setting. His experience has a surfer brought those scenes to life as he described the wave zones and the skills needed to survive the ocean. It felt authentic and the danger come through well in the prose. The book has high-stakes pacing most of the time, but occasionally goes off on tangents with characters remembering the past. Some felt relevant, but others didn’t advance the story. The blending of the surfing and coastal scenes with the high-tech conspiracy thriller aspect was unique and done well. The author did a great job of using the thread of a second device exploding to build suspense. However, the antagonist felt a little too predictable. While the ending wrapped most things up well, there were a couple of loose threads that I wanted fully resolved. Besides the cyber-forensic and investigative scenes, there are subplots of family drama and romance.
Overall, this book is suspenseful and intriguing, with great atmosphere and relatable characters. This is the author’s first fiction novel. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
Viking Penguin, Viking and Steve Hawk provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for August 18 2026.
--------------------
My 3.49 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.
Months later, surfer and lifeguard Jamie Palmer is patrolling the California coast south of San Francisco when he responds to a nearshore boating accident that left two people overboard. The victims turn out to be Palmer’s best friend, Bonnard and his son, Luca. Luca is the only survivor. Soon after Chelsea confides to Palmer that she and Bonnard found a link between a Silicon Valley corporation and the device in West Virginia. What will they do and how will it change their lives?
Palmer is protective, observant, and connected to nature; especially the ocean. Chelsea is analytical, intelligent, persistent, and courageous under pressure. Luca is traumatized by the death of his father, vulnerable, smart, and resilient. The antagonist is ambitious, amoral, and calculating.
The author does a great job with atmosphere and setting. His experience has a surfer brought those scenes to life as he described the wave zones and the skills needed to survive the ocean. It felt authentic and the danger come through well in the prose. The book has high-stakes pacing most of the time, but occasionally goes off on tangents with characters remembering the past. Some felt relevant, but others didn’t advance the story. The blending of the surfing and coastal scenes with the high-tech conspiracy thriller aspect was unique and done well. The author did a great job of using the thread of a second device exploding to build suspense. However, the antagonist felt a little too predictable. While the ending wrapped most things up well, there were a couple of loose threads that I wanted fully resolved. Besides the cyber-forensic and investigative scenes, there are subplots of family drama and romance.
Overall, this book is suspenseful and intriguing, with great atmosphere and relatable characters. This is the author’s first fiction novel. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
Viking Penguin, Viking and Steve Hawk provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for August 18 2026.
--------------------
My 3.49 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.
August 18, 2026
This was quite a ride! I went into Nearshore not really knowing what to expect, and I ended up completely caught up in the story.
The book starts with a small nuclear bomb going off in West Virginia, and from there things just keep getting more complicated. We follow Jamie Palmer, a former surfer turned lifeguard, who gets pulled into a much bigger and more dangerous situation after his best friend dies in a suspicious boating accident. Add in his friend's teenage son Luca and a brilliant math student named Chelsea, and you have a very unlikely group trying to figure out what is really going on.
I really liked the characters in this one, especially Jamie. He's definitely not your typical thriller hero, which made him feel more real to me. I also enjoyed the relationship that develops between him and Luca. There is a lot more going on here than just trying to stop a terrorist plot. There are themes of family, friendship, greed, power, and what happens when people with way too much money and influence decide they can do whatever they want.
The California coastline was another favorite part for me. Steve Hawk really brings the setting to life, and you can tell he knows and loves the ocean. The descriptions gave the story a different feel than your typical political or terrorism thriller.
There were a few times when the story got a little technical for me, but overall I thought the pacing kept things moving. And the idea behind the story is honestly pretty terrifying because it feels just believable enough to make you think, Could something like this actually happen?
For a debut novel, I thought this was really impressive. It's suspenseful, a little scary, and has some great characters at the center of a very big problem.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Viking Penquin for the ARC.
The book starts with a small nuclear bomb going off in West Virginia, and from there things just keep getting more complicated. We follow Jamie Palmer, a former surfer turned lifeguard, who gets pulled into a much bigger and more dangerous situation after his best friend dies in a suspicious boating accident. Add in his friend's teenage son Luca and a brilliant math student named Chelsea, and you have a very unlikely group trying to figure out what is really going on.
I really liked the characters in this one, especially Jamie. He's definitely not your typical thriller hero, which made him feel more real to me. I also enjoyed the relationship that develops between him and Luca. There is a lot more going on here than just trying to stop a terrorist plot. There are themes of family, friendship, greed, power, and what happens when people with way too much money and influence decide they can do whatever they want.
The California coastline was another favorite part for me. Steve Hawk really brings the setting to life, and you can tell he knows and loves the ocean. The descriptions gave the story a different feel than your typical political or terrorism thriller.
There were a few times when the story got a little technical for me, but overall I thought the pacing kept things moving. And the idea behind the story is honestly pretty terrifying because it feels just believable enough to make you think, Could something like this actually happen?
For a debut novel, I thought this was really impressive. It's suspenseful, a little scary, and has some great characters at the center of a very big problem.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Viking Penquin for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you NetGalley and Viking Penguin for a chance to review Nearshore
by Steve Hawk
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A small nuclear device detonates in rural West Virginia, and the government rushes to call it an accident. But Stanford professor Alex "Boneyard" Bonnard and his doctoral student Chelsea Wu have spent months buried in corporate data, and they've found something that tells a different story. Before they can act on it, Boneyard dies in a suspicious accident off the Northern California coast. His teenage son Luca barely makes it out alive. And Chelsea has no one left to turn to except Jamie Palmer, Boneyard's best friend, a former pro surfer now working as a lifeguard — a man whose world was waves, until it wasn't anymore.
What follows is a conspiracy thriller that wears its literary ambitions openly and earns them. Hawk builds tension with a toggling structure, moving between Jamie, Chelsea, and Luca as they piece together something none of them are equipped to face alone. The pacing is relentless, but the characters breathe. Luca in particular feels fully real, not a prop for adult grief but a person navigating his own. And the Northern California coast is rendered with the specificity of someone who has spent a lifetime reading the water. The setting doesn't just frame the story. It presses into it.
What makes Nearshore linger is what it asks underneath the plot. About the families we build from wreckage. About the moral weight of knowing something and choosing whether to act. About greed so colossal it warps reality. This is a novel that trusts its readers, gives them atmosphere and urgency and consequence in equal measure, and delivers an ending that feels both inevitable and earned.
A spectacular debut, I look forward to getting this on Audio
by Steve Hawk
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A small nuclear device detonates in rural West Virginia, and the government rushes to call it an accident. But Stanford professor Alex "Boneyard" Bonnard and his doctoral student Chelsea Wu have spent months buried in corporate data, and they've found something that tells a different story. Before they can act on it, Boneyard dies in a suspicious accident off the Northern California coast. His teenage son Luca barely makes it out alive. And Chelsea has no one left to turn to except Jamie Palmer, Boneyard's best friend, a former pro surfer now working as a lifeguard — a man whose world was waves, until it wasn't anymore.
What follows is a conspiracy thriller that wears its literary ambitions openly and earns them. Hawk builds tension with a toggling structure, moving between Jamie, Chelsea, and Luca as they piece together something none of them are equipped to face alone. The pacing is relentless, but the characters breathe. Luca in particular feels fully real, not a prop for adult grief but a person navigating his own. And the Northern California coast is rendered with the specificity of someone who has spent a lifetime reading the water. The setting doesn't just frame the story. It presses into it.
What makes Nearshore linger is what it asks underneath the plot. About the families we build from wreckage. About the moral weight of knowing something and choosing whether to act. About greed so colossal it warps reality. This is a novel that trusts its readers, gives them atmosphere and urgency and consequence in equal measure, and delivers an ending that feels both inevitable and earned.
A spectacular debut, I look forward to getting this on Audio
August 18, 2026
Nearshore is an incredibly captivating debut from brother of Tony Hawk, Steve Hawk. From the moment you pick up this book you are transported into the raw, gritty world of surfers on the California coast.
Jamie Palmer is a skilled lifeguard with a troubled past that makes him question things that others may overlook. When Palmer responds to a boat accident that ejected his lifelong best friend, Bonnard, and son, he has to grapple with the domino effect this ensues.
Doctoral student Chelsea Wu is pulled into this domino fall when she hears the news about her professor Bonnards passing. In the wake of his death, Bonnard leaves Chelsea mysterious coded information that may have connections with the particle bomb that recently terrorized American soil.
For fans of Project Hail Mary, World War II buffs, and surfers alike, this book paints a scarily plausible portrait of what civilians could face if the most powerful people in America chose to use their money to gain ultimate control.
This novel brilliantly captured the true villainy that billionaires have and how close we could be to a present day civil war.
I wish that we could have learned more about Chelsea in this book because she was such a brilliant character that added so much to the plot without too much exploration. 100-200 more pages would have perfectly wrapped this book up for me. I loved the setting, characters, and stakes and I didn’t want to leave them so soon.
Overall, I adored this book and its genre-bending storytelling. I was immersed in the waves with these complex characters while questioning how far we are from fiction becoming a reality.
Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher for the early copy!
Jamie Palmer is a skilled lifeguard with a troubled past that makes him question things that others may overlook. When Palmer responds to a boat accident that ejected his lifelong best friend, Bonnard, and son, he has to grapple with the domino effect this ensues.
Doctoral student Chelsea Wu is pulled into this domino fall when she hears the news about her professor Bonnards passing. In the wake of his death, Bonnard leaves Chelsea mysterious coded information that may have connections with the particle bomb that recently terrorized American soil.
For fans of Project Hail Mary, World War II buffs, and surfers alike, this book paints a scarily plausible portrait of what civilians could face if the most powerful people in America chose to use their money to gain ultimate control.
This novel brilliantly captured the true villainy that billionaires have and how close we could be to a present day civil war.
I wish that we could have learned more about Chelsea in this book because she was such a brilliant character that added so much to the plot without too much exploration. 100-200 more pages would have perfectly wrapped this book up for me. I loved the setting, characters, and stakes and I didn’t want to leave them so soon.
Overall, I adored this book and its genre-bending storytelling. I was immersed in the waves with these complex characters while questioning how far we are from fiction becoming a reality.
Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher for the early copy!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Review of uncorrected eBook file
Twelve men joined together to build the bomb.
In an act of nuclear terrorism, it was detonated on an empty stretch of Interstate 77 in West Virginia. It claimed two lives.
When Jamie Palmer spots a Whaler spinning in place outside the surf at Tunitas, he heads for the harbor where the WaveRunner was fueled and ready to go. He heads toward the boat and discovers it is named “Bone Machine” and belongs to his best friend, Professor Alexander Bonnard. He and his fourteen-year-old son, Luca, had been aboard.
Both Jamie and the Coast Guard begin searching the water for the two. Jamie finds Luca clinging to a buoy and brings him to the beach. Alex did not survive. And when the professor’s doctoral student tells Jamie what they’d discovered, Jamie realizes there’s much more to this “accident” than anyone had suspected.
Who caused the accident? And why was the professor targeted?
=========
Believable characters and a strong sense of place anchor this gripping thriller. Tension mounts as the investigation into the conspiracy reveals a connection between the nuclear attack and a powerful technology group. Corporate power, a sociopathic billionaire, and domestic terrorism all play a part in this intriguing tale that is both captivating and terrifying.
The only disappointment here is the author’s unnecessary overuse of a particularly offensive expletive which is likely to be off-putting for many readers. This lowers the rating for the book.
I received a free copy of this eBook from Viking Penguin / Viking and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.
#Nearshore #NetGalley
Twelve men joined together to build the bomb.
In an act of nuclear terrorism, it was detonated on an empty stretch of Interstate 77 in West Virginia. It claimed two lives.
When Jamie Palmer spots a Whaler spinning in place outside the surf at Tunitas, he heads for the harbor where the WaveRunner was fueled and ready to go. He heads toward the boat and discovers it is named “Bone Machine” and belongs to his best friend, Professor Alexander Bonnard. He and his fourteen-year-old son, Luca, had been aboard.
Both Jamie and the Coast Guard begin searching the water for the two. Jamie finds Luca clinging to a buoy and brings him to the beach. Alex did not survive. And when the professor’s doctoral student tells Jamie what they’d discovered, Jamie realizes there’s much more to this “accident” than anyone had suspected.
Who caused the accident? And why was the professor targeted?
=========
Believable characters and a strong sense of place anchor this gripping thriller. Tension mounts as the investigation into the conspiracy reveals a connection between the nuclear attack and a powerful technology group. Corporate power, a sociopathic billionaire, and domestic terrorism all play a part in this intriguing tale that is both captivating and terrifying.
The only disappointment here is the author’s unnecessary overuse of a particularly offensive expletive which is likely to be off-putting for many readers. This lowers the rating for the book.
I received a free copy of this eBook from Viking Penguin / Viking and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.
#Nearshore #NetGalley
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Nearshore by Steve Hawk is a so-so literary novel about homegrown nuclear terrorism.
It starts when a small homemade nuclear device is set off in West Virginia claiming two lives. Then the action flips to the west coast where lifeguard Jamie Palmer responds to a boating accident where the victim turns out to be his good friend Alex “Boneyard” Bonnard, a Stanford University professor, and surviving is Bonnard's teenage son, Luca. As godfather to Luca, Palmer steps in to care for him as a guardian. This is when he meets Chelsea Wu, a doctoral student, who confides to Palmer, along with Luca who also knew what was going on, that she and the professor uncovered a connection between the founder of a Silicon Valley megacorporation with the bomb. Then a second device is detonated in Nevada, claiming eight lives and...
This is a well-written literary thriller which starts out very strong, shows promise, and then, inexplicably, the choice is made to ascribe political elements to the billionaire megalomaniac antagonists and their conspiracy. Yet again I need to caution an author to keep their personal political/social views to themselves as it diminishes the novel. It is well documented where the current violence originates, so no obfuscation is needed. Additionally, FYI, ask any coder, billionaire owners of tech companies are not the ones writing code. They profit off of profit, not anger. Hawk gets an extra star because he can write, but I would not recommend this novel.
Thanks to Penguin for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2026/0...
It starts when a small homemade nuclear device is set off in West Virginia claiming two lives. Then the action flips to the west coast where lifeguard Jamie Palmer responds to a boating accident where the victim turns out to be his good friend Alex “Boneyard” Bonnard, a Stanford University professor, and surviving is Bonnard's teenage son, Luca. As godfather to Luca, Palmer steps in to care for him as a guardian. This is when he meets Chelsea Wu, a doctoral student, who confides to Palmer, along with Luca who also knew what was going on, that she and the professor uncovered a connection between the founder of a Silicon Valley megacorporation with the bomb. Then a second device is detonated in Nevada, claiming eight lives and...
This is a well-written literary thriller which starts out very strong, shows promise, and then, inexplicably, the choice is made to ascribe political elements to the billionaire megalomaniac antagonists and their conspiracy. Yet again I need to caution an author to keep their personal political/social views to themselves as it diminishes the novel. It is well documented where the current violence originates, so no obfuscation is needed. Additionally, FYI, ask any coder, billionaire owners of tech companies are not the ones writing code. They profit off of profit, not anger. Hawk gets an extra star because he can write, but I would not recommend this novel.
Thanks to Penguin for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2026/0...
August 30, 2026
Evil billionaire foiled by surfer dude
This is a variation on the “evil billionaire convinced he is doing something good, despite the human cost”. In this case, secretly setting up an entire, covert nuclear bomb manufacturing chain. The point of detonating these inside the US is to catalyze a renewal in American values, and not, coincidentally, causing repeal of the 22nd amendment to allow his favored president to stay in power indefinitely. But it’s again the amoral sidekick who dispatches the billionaire and decides to use the last, biggest weapon on a major city, rather than detonating it off the coast as a scare tactic.
This is all foiled when a professor and his graduate student notice patterns of communication within the billionaire’s company. The involvement of the California coast rescue guy who is a surfer happens when the professor, his closest friend, is killed. The plot moves along with some twists along the way. There are several places with “surfer terms and references” which are great for surfers reading the book; the rest of us have to stop and look up the terms.
Full props to the author for getting the details of uranium fission “gun” weapons correct, including that the hollow uranium discs were the fired components into the uranium rod targeting the U235 original design of the Hiroshima weapon. But the entire system necessary to generate the U235 and assemble a U235 weapon covertly is a bit of a stretch.
An interesting beach read, as long as you aren’t on a beach just south of San Francisco.
This is a variation on the “evil billionaire convinced he is doing something good, despite the human cost”. In this case, secretly setting up an entire, covert nuclear bomb manufacturing chain. The point of detonating these inside the US is to catalyze a renewal in American values, and not, coincidentally, causing repeal of the 22nd amendment to allow his favored president to stay in power indefinitely. But it’s again the amoral sidekick who dispatches the billionaire and decides to use the last, biggest weapon on a major city, rather than detonating it off the coast as a scare tactic.
This is all foiled when a professor and his graduate student notice patterns of communication within the billionaire’s company. The involvement of the California coast rescue guy who is a surfer happens when the professor, his closest friend, is killed. The plot moves along with some twists along the way. There are several places with “surfer terms and references” which are great for surfers reading the book; the rest of us have to stop and look up the terms.
Full props to the author for getting the details of uranium fission “gun” weapons correct, including that the hollow uranium discs were the fired components into the uranium rod targeting the U235 original design of the Hiroshima weapon. But the entire system necessary to generate the U235 and assemble a U235 weapon covertly is a bit of a stretch.
An interesting beach read, as long as you aren’t on a beach just south of San Francisco.
September 2, 2026
Nearshore delivered exactly what it promised! A healthy mix of “literary suspense and coastal noir,” Nearshore swept me up and didn’t let go until nearly midnight when I finally finished the last little bit.
Following a small nuclear explosion that shocked Americans everywhere, lifeguard Jamie Palmer finds himself called to a boating accident that changes the course of his life. His best friend, Bonnard (a brilliant professor), drowned, and Palmer is now responsible for his teenage son, Luca. At the hospital after the accident, Palmer meets Chelsea Wu, a student of Bonnard’s who reveals that the two of them had uncovered a potentially terrifying secret. The three grieving people join forces to figure out what is happening, and to prevent another, much more devastating explosion.
This was really entertaining! It truly felt like I was immersed in the latest action movie for a lot of it. The story starts off with a bang (literally), and it speeds along solidly for the first half. I did a combination of reading and listening, and I was so invested in the audio while I was working that I had to shut my door to keep people from interrupting. The tension was strong, the stakes were high, and the heroes were easy to root for! My only complaints are that I wanted a little more depth to some of the characters and the second half did lose some steam. I still found this to be a really solid thriller though, and it has me wanting to rewatch some of the Mission Impossible movies!
Thank you so much to Viking for the gifted finished copy of this book!
Following a small nuclear explosion that shocked Americans everywhere, lifeguard Jamie Palmer finds himself called to a boating accident that changes the course of his life. His best friend, Bonnard (a brilliant professor), drowned, and Palmer is now responsible for his teenage son, Luca. At the hospital after the accident, Palmer meets Chelsea Wu, a student of Bonnard’s who reveals that the two of them had uncovered a potentially terrifying secret. The three grieving people join forces to figure out what is happening, and to prevent another, much more devastating explosion.
This was really entertaining! It truly felt like I was immersed in the latest action movie for a lot of it. The story starts off with a bang (literally), and it speeds along solidly for the first half. I did a combination of reading and listening, and I was so invested in the audio while I was working that I had to shut my door to keep people from interrupting. The tension was strong, the stakes were high, and the heroes were easy to root for! My only complaints are that I wanted a little more depth to some of the characters and the second half did lose some steam. I still found this to be a really solid thriller though, and it has me wanting to rewatch some of the Mission Impossible movies!
Thank you so much to Viking for the gifted finished copy of this book!
August 22, 2026
𝑵𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑬 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒘𝒌, a literary, dystopian suspense #gifted to me by @vikingbooks via @netgalley & @prhaudio with Alex McKenna and Robert Petkoff as superb narrators.
The intensity of this cover and all I subsequently learned about the transitional space between the sea and land converged to portray the ferocity of humanity's inevitable clash with itself & nature.
Jamie Palmer, a surfer-now-lifeguard has a rescue of his best friend's teen son, Luca, but the loss of Luca's dad, a professor at Stanford. Soon the professor's doctoral student, math genius Chelsea Wu shows up with the links she and the prof made to a "small" nuclear bomb and a sociopathic billionaire in Silicon Valley.
This is truly a terrifyingly possible scenario of demonstrations of ultimate power. It is also a picture of how hard it is to convince people of impending horror. There was a lot to parse from this novel, and though at times it felt a bit information heavy, it also made for an immersive coastal noir. The collision of worldviews ruptures just as deeply as a nature-created cataclysm, probably more.
The audio was a great way to inhabit this novel. Petkoff is a favorite and conveys the gravitas of information while McKenna gives wide vocal ranges with grit. It added a layer I thoroughly enjoyed.
The intensity of this cover and all I subsequently learned about the transitional space between the sea and land converged to portray the ferocity of humanity's inevitable clash with itself & nature.
Jamie Palmer, a surfer-now-lifeguard has a rescue of his best friend's teen son, Luca, but the loss of Luca's dad, a professor at Stanford. Soon the professor's doctoral student, math genius Chelsea Wu shows up with the links she and the prof made to a "small" nuclear bomb and a sociopathic billionaire in Silicon Valley.
This is truly a terrifyingly possible scenario of demonstrations of ultimate power. It is also a picture of how hard it is to convince people of impending horror. There was a lot to parse from this novel, and though at times it felt a bit information heavy, it also made for an immersive coastal noir. The collision of worldviews ruptures just as deeply as a nature-created cataclysm, probably more.
The audio was a great way to inhabit this novel. Petkoff is a favorite and conveys the gravitas of information while McKenna gives wide vocal ranges with grit. It added a layer I thoroughly enjoyed.
August 25, 2026
I received an ARC through"Edelweiss/Severn River" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
The story begins with an unknown group exploding a nuclear bomb in West Virginia. The story picks up with Jamie Palmer, a State lifeguard receiving a notification of a boat that was out of control and asking him to respond. On arriving at the scene, Palmer discovered the boat belonged to his friend Alexander Bonnard, called by Palmer, Boneyard. As it turned out, Boneyard didn't make it and was not found until several days later. Palmer 1st tried to get on the boat, but had no luck and he then went looking for Luca, Boneyard's kid. Palmer was able to rescue him after searching various locations and later became Luca's guardian. Chelsea, a PhD student who was being mentored by Boneyard later meets up with Luca and Palmer and shortly brings up something that she had discovered while working on her thesis project.
Follow the trio along as they try and get the Government's attention about who was potentially responsible for the the WV bomb and one that later exploded in Nevada. Learn who was behind the bombing and what other events they had planned on doing. Read the exciting conclusion and discover how a stop was finally accomplished on this group and who had a hand bringing the group down.
This is definitely a book well worth reading, don't miss out!
The story begins with an unknown group exploding a nuclear bomb in West Virginia. The story picks up with Jamie Palmer, a State lifeguard receiving a notification of a boat that was out of control and asking him to respond. On arriving at the scene, Palmer discovered the boat belonged to his friend Alexander Bonnard, called by Palmer, Boneyard. As it turned out, Boneyard didn't make it and was not found until several days later. Palmer 1st tried to get on the boat, but had no luck and he then went looking for Luca, Boneyard's kid. Palmer was able to rescue him after searching various locations and later became Luca's guardian. Chelsea, a PhD student who was being mentored by Boneyard later meets up with Luca and Palmer and shortly brings up something that she had discovered while working on her thesis project.
Follow the trio along as they try and get the Government's attention about who was potentially responsible for the the WV bomb and one that later exploded in Nevada. Learn who was behind the bombing and what other events they had planned on doing. Read the exciting conclusion and discover how a stop was finally accomplished on this group and who had a hand bringing the group down.
This is definitely a book well worth reading, don't miss out!
August 28, 2026
You'd think a thriller about multiple nukes being dropped on American cities would be, you know....thrilling.
I was hoping this would be a good continuation of the theme after I recently read Biological War: A Scenario, reminiscent of Nuclear War: A Scenario. Unfortunately, it was more of an exploration of NorCal surfer culture than anything else.
Nearshore was more obsessed with using vocab words to describe the ocean and ocean-faring vessels and characters than it was interested in the main plotline. The plot would pick up for a brief moment as we peeked in on the Big Bads developing their nukes and scheming, then immediately fall as we heard a totally unrelated tale from the past from one of the MMC's old surfer buddies. The Good Guys solving the mystery didn't really do much until the back quarter of the book, and even then, the drama was diminished by overly intense descriptions of the ocean and not much else. The motivations of the Big Bads weren't expanded upon enough.
I was hoping this would be a good continuation of the theme after I recently read Biological War: A Scenario, reminiscent of Nuclear War: A Scenario. Unfortunately, it was more of an exploration of NorCal surfer culture than anything else.
Nearshore was more obsessed with using vocab words to describe the ocean and ocean-faring vessels and characters than it was interested in the main plotline. The plot would pick up for a brief moment as we peeked in on the Big Bads developing their nukes and scheming, then immediately fall as we heard a totally unrelated tale from the past from one of the MMC's old surfer buddies. The Good Guys solving the mystery didn't really do much until the back quarter of the book, and even then, the drama was diminished by overly intense descriptions of the ocean and not much else. The motivations of the Big Bads weren't expanded upon enough.
September 6, 2026
I am not a surfer but I enjoyed reading this book. Maybe it's because I lived in the San Francisco area for over 13 years and have spent a lot of time in Hawaii, mostly on the Big Island, which I love! His main character (Palmer) lives south of San Francisco where most of the action happens.
Palmer is a former surfer (ranked 4th in the world when he surfed) now a lifeguard on the coast. These folks guard the coast as well as do serious life saving mostly in the ocean with waves, rip tides and temps that you never want to experience. His best friend dies in a boating accident and he finds himself with a teenage boy he is now responsible for as well as getting into a serious situation when his ward uncovers messages from a billionaire that reveals a nuclear plot to launch a bomb off the pacific coast.
The author cleverly mixes the present action with Palmer talking about past places he and his friends surfed or a rescue he had a problem with handling while trying to solve how to stop a CA. billionaire who has already dropped two low grade nuclear bombs in other states from dropping another one near San Francisco. Palmer, his adopted son and new girlfriend with a few old surfer friends are trying to stop this from happening.
For a new author and his first book, Mr. Hawk has written a very good and intersting story whether you enjoy surfing or not!
Palmer is a former surfer (ranked 4th in the world when he surfed) now a lifeguard on the coast. These folks guard the coast as well as do serious life saving mostly in the ocean with waves, rip tides and temps that you never want to experience. His best friend dies in a boating accident and he finds himself with a teenage boy he is now responsible for as well as getting into a serious situation when his ward uncovers messages from a billionaire that reveals a nuclear plot to launch a bomb off the pacific coast.
The author cleverly mixes the present action with Palmer talking about past places he and his friends surfed or a rescue he had a problem with handling while trying to solve how to stop a CA. billionaire who has already dropped two low grade nuclear bombs in other states from dropping another one near San Francisco. Palmer, his adopted son and new girlfriend with a few old surfer friends are trying to stop this from happening.
For a new author and his first book, Mr. Hawk has written a very good and intersting story whether you enjoy surfing or not!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I will be a bit partial, but this is exactly the kind of book I'm interested in so there's no surprise that I devoured 'Nearshore' in a sitting.
A nuclear bomb detonates near a quaint town in Appalachia, which resulted in two deaths. Yet, the country is abuzz with worry as to its origin for nuclear terrorism.
In a series of events, we get to meet Jamie Palmer: a lifeguard who receives a call to rescue two victims in a mysterious boating accident. He soon realizes that his best friend, Alex "Boneyard" Bonnard, didn't survive the accident but his son, Luca, did.
After the tragedy, Chelsea Wu, a doctoral student who worked closely with Professor Bonnard, meets with Jamie and shares a shocking discovery. In their research, Wu believes there is a connection between a local Silicon Valley corporation and the first bombing.
I think this novel does a great job of weaving in the reality of billionaires utilizing their power unethically in this 'fictional' America presented in the story. I also really enjoy the found family/unlikely dynamic trio taking down this corporation/evil entity. It's a good mix of literary fiction with suspense, and I had an enjoyable time with this one.
A nuclear bomb detonates near a quaint town in Appalachia, which resulted in two deaths. Yet, the country is abuzz with worry as to its origin for nuclear terrorism.
In a series of events, we get to meet Jamie Palmer: a lifeguard who receives a call to rescue two victims in a mysterious boating accident. He soon realizes that his best friend, Alex "Boneyard" Bonnard, didn't survive the accident but his son, Luca, did.
After the tragedy, Chelsea Wu, a doctoral student who worked closely with Professor Bonnard, meets with Jamie and shares a shocking discovery. In their research, Wu believes there is a connection between a local Silicon Valley corporation and the first bombing.
I think this novel does a great job of weaving in the reality of billionaires utilizing their power unethically in this 'fictional' America presented in the story. I also really enjoy the found family/unlikely dynamic trio taking down this corporation/evil entity. It's a good mix of literary fiction with suspense, and I had an enjoyable time with this one.
August 18, 2026
“Sharks don’t worry me. There’s nothing crooked or slick behind what they do. They’re just hungry and they don’t hide it. They come right at you. But billionaires writing codes that worm through the personal lives of every person with a phone? Making sure we all stay angry and glued to our screens sho they can quietly cash in on the rage? That’s the scary s$#&.”
Palmer is a famous surfer turned lifeguard on Northern California’s beaches. When his professor best friend dies leaving a son behind, Palmer becomes his guardian. Chelsea, a grad student meets Palmer at the hospital and they begin to discuss her work. Meanwhile, a nuclear bomb was detonated in West Virginia leaving the country to scramble to find out who is doing it. Through a series of anonymized Slack messages, Chelsea has uncovers a conspiracy within one of the nation’s largest companies run by a tech genius.
This book caught me by surprise. It is both thought provoking and a fun suspenseful read. I enjoyed learning about surfing and surprisingly the building of nuclear weapons. The mystery/suspense was a bit predictable; however, I really enjoyed my time with this one.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.
Palmer is a famous surfer turned lifeguard on Northern California’s beaches. When his professor best friend dies leaving a son behind, Palmer becomes his guardian. Chelsea, a grad student meets Palmer at the hospital and they begin to discuss her work. Meanwhile, a nuclear bomb was detonated in West Virginia leaving the country to scramble to find out who is doing it. Through a series of anonymized Slack messages, Chelsea has uncovers a conspiracy within one of the nation’s largest companies run by a tech genius.
This book caught me by surprise. It is both thought provoking and a fun suspenseful read. I enjoyed learning about surfing and surprisingly the building of nuclear weapons. The mystery/suspense was a bit predictable; however, I really enjoyed my time with this one.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.
August 29, 2026
This a contemporary thriller with quite a complex plot! At the start of the book, a small nuclear bomb has been detonated on a remote highway in the Appalachian Mountains. Although causalities are few, it appears it may be an act of nuclear terrorism. The plot shifts to California, where Jamie Palmer, lifeguard and surfer, is called to an accident scene that involves the boat belonging to his best friend Bonnard and his son. Palmer is able to rescue Bonnard's adopted teenage son, Luca, but there is no trace of Bonnard, fellow surfer and renowned scientist. Jamie becomes the guardian for Luca, and is approached by Bonnard's assistant, Chelsea Wu, regarding his latest research. Could Bonnard have discovered something that led to his death? Palmer, Luca and Chelsea come together in their grief to bond with each other and rush to uncover and prevent a sinister plot focused on nuclear destruction. This is a chilling book, with a frightening, plausible plot that has terrifying twists. It is well researched, with good character development that kept my attention from the first page to the last. My wife did receive an advance copy of the book, and I am glad she did. The opinions of this review are my own.
September 6, 2026
Thank you to #VikingPenguin and #NetGalley for the digital ARC of #Nearshore. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
This is an interesting and frightening debut thriller about domestic terrorism and the unlikely heroes who uncover the plan.
Jamie Palmer is a state park lifeguard who responds to water/boat emergencies along the Northern California coast. After his best friend, data scientist Alex, is killed in a boating accident, Jamie becomes guardian to Alex's teen son, Luca. Turns out that Alex's research has found a strange correlation between tech giant Whetstone and a recent nuclear explosion in West Virginia. With help from Chelsea, Alex's PhD student, and some other law enforcement friends, the trio race to stop domestic terrorists from detonating a large nuclear bomb near San Francisco to ignite another civil war.
This is a well written, well researched novel that feels a little too plausible to not be terrifying. The Silicon Valley billionaire as villain and the right-wing extremism feels current. There are lots of surfing references, using very specific terms that aren't well known outside surf culture. I found it interesting and I learned a lot, but it pulled me out of the story at times because I need to google stuff.
This is an interesting and frightening debut thriller about domestic terrorism and the unlikely heroes who uncover the plan.
Jamie Palmer is a state park lifeguard who responds to water/boat emergencies along the Northern California coast. After his best friend, data scientist Alex, is killed in a boating accident, Jamie becomes guardian to Alex's teen son, Luca. Turns out that Alex's research has found a strange correlation between tech giant Whetstone and a recent nuclear explosion in West Virginia. With help from Chelsea, Alex's PhD student, and some other law enforcement friends, the trio race to stop domestic terrorists from detonating a large nuclear bomb near San Francisco to ignite another civil war.
This is a well written, well researched novel that feels a little too plausible to not be terrifying. The Silicon Valley billionaire as villain and the right-wing extremism feels current. There are lots of surfing references, using very specific terms that aren't well known outside surf culture. I found it interesting and I learned a lot, but it pulled me out of the story at times because I need to google stuff.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A well paced thriller that blends surfing (yes, surfing) with a crazed plan to use small scale nuclear weapons in a bid for political power. Palmer's best friend Bonnard, a brilliant Stanford professor who studied the use of language, is killed in an odd accident while out on his boat with his son Luca, who Palmer finds on the beach and then takes it. Bonnard's Phd student Chelsea Wang comes to Palmer with her concerns about a megacorporation, one which has a stranglehold of sorts on the supply chain. At the same time, a small nuke has gone off in West Virginia and then there's Nevada and something more being planned. This switches between the nuclear section and Palmer, Luca, and Chelsea trying to convince others that something is very wrong. It's well plotted enough that I was able to dismiss the instalove between Palmer and Chelsea (didn't need it). Know that there's a lot about surfing (I knew nothing before about waves). The purpose of the conspiracy is sadly topical and the execution of it concerning. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is a real page turner.
September 10, 2026
Checked out this book along with another book called Biological War, but could not finish the other one. I enjoyed this story because it gives you a what if scenario using could-be-real situations, along with fictional characters and several points of view. This book will make you think, it will make you angry, and it has glimpses of goodness and hope in a world that feels super similar to our own. On a personal level, I loved the small, side surf/ocean takes from the lifeguard's mind, while absolutely detesting the billionaire's cynical, methodical, manipulative mind (it was written well... I just hated that billionaire and his henchman :)). Overall I would recommend this book. If anything, it makes for a great discussion on the overall topic, even if you don't particularly like the exact characters or storyline.
A favorite part:
p.101: "...billionaires writing code that worms through the personal lives of every person with a phone? Making sure we all stay angry and glued to our screens so they can quietly cash in on the rage? That's the scary shit."
A favorite part:
p.101: "...billionaires writing code that worms through the personal lives of every person with a phone? Making sure we all stay angry and glued to our screens so they can quietly cash in on the rage? That's the scary shit."
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
ARC
I'd like to thank Viking Penguin, Viking, Edelweiss+, and NetGalley for the chance to give "Nearshore" an early read in return for an honest review.
Y'all, I had such a good time with "Nearshore"! I wasn't sure how too on board I was going to be with a surfing thriller, but I genuinely had such a good time with this one. Palmer was a solid lead character, with Luca and Chelsea also being well-written. While the premise may seem a bit out there, it's easily something that could actually happen within extremist groups, which makes the events horrifying. My only qualm with the novel is the climax, which feels more like a sizzle than a big bang. I wnated so much more out of the end, since the rest of the novel sets it up to be something much larger. That being said, I think this is a great debut for Hawk, and I'm really intrigued to see what else he has up his sleeve.
Be sure to give "Nearshore" a read when it is published on August 18, 2026!
I'd like to thank Viking Penguin, Viking, Edelweiss+, and NetGalley for the chance to give "Nearshore" an early read in return for an honest review.
Y'all, I had such a good time with "Nearshore"! I wasn't sure how too on board I was going to be with a surfing thriller, but I genuinely had such a good time with this one. Palmer was a solid lead character, with Luca and Chelsea also being well-written. While the premise may seem a bit out there, it's easily something that could actually happen within extremist groups, which makes the events horrifying. My only qualm with the novel is the climax, which feels more like a sizzle than a big bang. I wnated so much more out of the end, since the rest of the novel sets it up to be something much larger. That being said, I think this is a great debut for Hawk, and I'm really intrigued to see what else he has up his sleeve.
Be sure to give "Nearshore" a read when it is published on August 18, 2026!
September 5, 2026
3.5 stars
I’ll be honest. I picked up Nearshore mostly because the cover caught my attention (it’s a stunning photograph by photographer Ray Collins). I was also intrigued by the setting since I lived in San Francisco for a few years and familiar with Half Moon Bay.
The premise of homegrown terrorists is timely (and terrifying) given the current political climate.
That said, the book was a little bit of a slog for me at times. There was A LOT of surfing terminology and I found myself stopping to look things up. There were also some detailed sections about bomb making that I could have done without and found myself skimming over.
But despite all of that, I did like the story and the atmospheric writing. The book almost feels like a love letter to surfing, the ocean, and the Northern California coast. And even though some parts dragged for me, I was still interested enough to keep reading to see where the story went.
Definitely not a book I flew through but I’m glad I read it.
I’ll be honest. I picked up Nearshore mostly because the cover caught my attention (it’s a stunning photograph by photographer Ray Collins). I was also intrigued by the setting since I lived in San Francisco for a few years and familiar with Half Moon Bay.
The premise of homegrown terrorists is timely (and terrifying) given the current political climate.
That said, the book was a little bit of a slog for me at times. There was A LOT of surfing terminology and I found myself stopping to look things up. There were also some detailed sections about bomb making that I could have done without and found myself skimming over.
But despite all of that, I did like the story and the atmospheric writing. The book almost feels like a love letter to surfing, the ocean, and the Northern California coast. And even though some parts dragged for me, I was still interested enough to keep reading to see where the story went.
Definitely not a book I flew through but I’m glad I read it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is a good book. However it could be a GREAT book if the author wasn't so choppy!
For instance we learn a lot about surfing.
We do NOT get to learn alot about the main bad guys motivations for creating 3 nuclear bombs. Asher and the billionaire, how did they meet? What was their vision? We get a little bit but not enough to care.
Palmer and Chelsea suddenly are in a relationship. What?
What was the point of even introducing the Luca and Palmers father? they really didn't add anything.
If there had been more back story, this could be the next Robert Ludlum. However, there wasn't anything about the motivations for the characters.
Overall a quick, fast paced thrill book that wasn't fully fleshed out.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.
For instance we learn a lot about surfing.
We do NOT get to learn alot about the main bad guys motivations for creating 3 nuclear bombs. Asher and the billionaire, how did they meet? What was their vision? We get a little bit but not enough to care.
Palmer and Chelsea suddenly are in a relationship. What?
What was the point of even introducing the Luca and Palmers father? they really didn't add anything.
If there had been more back story, this could be the next Robert Ludlum. However, there wasn't anything about the motivations for the characters.
Overall a quick, fast paced thrill book that wasn't fully fleshed out.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Terrific thriller about domestic nuclear terrorism - and west coast surfing. Quite a fascinating combination. Though I have minimal experience with the west coast, law enforcement, or surfing, the writing is so good that I felt like I was really there. The central character is terse, kinda talks like Joe Friday (any of you remember him?), but it doesn't mask his compassion and his love of the Coast.
There is a certain amount of surf jargon, but it just enhances the authenticity of the character and the situation. It even helps when the guy is revealing himself to the woman he has come to love. This not just an action thriller; it is a many-dimensional adventure. "It was as if they were talking in code, but a code you could decipher if you knew the context." Yeah, like that.
There is a certain amount of surf jargon, but it just enhances the authenticity of the character and the situation. It even helps when the guy is revealing himself to the woman he has come to love. This not just an action thriller; it is a many-dimensional adventure. "It was as if they were talking in code, but a code you could decipher if you knew the context." Yeah, like that.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
But courtesy of Goodreads giveaway.
I went into Nearshore not really knowing what to expect, and it ended up being one of those books that kept creeping back into my thoughts whenever I put it down. Instead of relying on constant action, it builds tension by making you question what everyone is hiding. I enjoyed piecing things together, even when my guesses were completely wrong.
There were a couple of sections where I wanted the story to move a little faster, but they also gave me a better feel for the characters and made the payoff at the end more worthwhile. It wasn’t a perfect read for me, but it was definitely one I’ll remember, and I’d happily pick up another Steve Hawke novel.
I went into Nearshore not really knowing what to expect, and it ended up being one of those books that kept creeping back into my thoughts whenever I put it down. Instead of relying on constant action, it builds tension by making you question what everyone is hiding. I enjoyed piecing things together, even when my guesses were completely wrong.
There were a couple of sections where I wanted the story to move a little faster, but they also gave me a better feel for the characters and made the payoff at the end more worthwhile. It wasn’t a perfect read for me, but it was definitely one I’ll remember, and I’d happily pick up another Steve Hawke novel.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews