Steve Hawk Makes His Literary Surfing Thriller Debut with ‘Nearshore’

Surfing meets Silicon Valley mega corporations meets a near apocalypse (sound like a perfect recipe for a summer blockbuster film) in the new novel Nearshore by Steve Hawk. The description of the book begins, intriguingly, in West Virginia, where a “small” nuclear bomb detonates beside an Appalachian 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 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 as the boy’s guardian.

“Soon after, Chelsea Wu, a math prodigy and doctoral student, confides in 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.”

I mean, seriously, can’t you see the movie poster? 

Publishers Weekly described Nearshore as “Engrossing, graceful, and transporting, this is a terrific — if terrifying — tale of near apocalypse.”  

 The brother of skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, Steve is also the former editor of Surfer, Sierra, and Stanford Business magazines, and ofsurfline.com. His first book, Waves, explores the science and aesthetics of ocean waves. He is currently co-writing a book with his brother Tony about the history and culture of skateboarding.

Steve Hawk will discuss his new novel with award-winning hometown favorite filmmaker Chris Malloy at Chaucer’s Books on Sunday, September 27, at 4 p.m. Click here for more information.