Desperation Reef by T. Jefferson Parker

Desperation Reef is a hard-hitting compelling piece of crime-fiction. But it’s more than that. It’s also a story about unbreakable family bonds and the instinct for survival in this dangerous world we live in.

It was the perfect marriage: Twenty-six year old John Stonebreaker was a world renowned top-notch surfer, contest winner and champion. He wed his twenty-one year old high school sweetheart, Jen. Jen had looks, brains and superior athletic skill, especially when it came to riding “the waves.” She was the complete package. What an unstoppable world-class surfing team.

But tragedy struck during a big-wave surfing contest, leaving Jen a young widow. Fast-forward 25 years later, and that’s where this thriller really begins.

Jen Stonebreaker, now forty-six, is still haunted by John’s death. Her two twin sons, Casey and Brock are twenty-five, and each one is on a very different path. Casey is a top big-wave surfer, getting ready to compete in a world surf tour. He also fishes at Desperation Reef to supply his mother’s restaurant with fresh catch. Brock is following in his grandfather’s footsteps. He’s a new-age preacher of sorts. He has a rescue mission that assists with natural disasters and welcomes those who are down on their luck.

Everyone in their tight-knit family, including Brock’s wife, are solidly bonded together by one thing: their love of the ocean and surfing. But poachers, pirates and smugglers have a way of making the ocean they dearly love, a very dangerous place – as Casey soon discovers.

Casey’s dark encounter with poachers on the water becomes a threat to his entire family – and things get ugly fast. Blackmail and threats of arson have every family member rattled. The timing couldn’t be worse for Jen who is desperately battling her own demons. For the first time since John’s untimely death, she’s competing in a women’s high-profile surfing contest. She’s training like never before.

And while Casey tries his best to manage the situation, his brother, Brock, also in training for the same surfing contest, has his hands full with a militant hate group who despises his mission.

This fast-paced twisty thriller centers around the world of surfing, an unbreakable family, their quest to do what’s right and to be the best that each of them can be. Who will live and who will die? Who really is the enemy on the high seas? These are questions readers will keep asking themselves.

Desperation Reef by T. Jefferson Parker is a reminder the deadliest sharks aren’t in the water!

A copy of this book and cover photo were provided by Forge/Tor Publishing Group