First published 2002
In July 1916, a lone Great White shark abandons deep ocean waters and moves toward the New Jersey coastline. The United States has not yet entered World War I. Ocean swimming has just become fashionable among the wealthy leisure class who flock to Jersey Shore resorts. Americans have never experienced shark attacks on swimmers before. The predator strikes first near Beach Haven and Spring Lake, then moves inland to a farming community eleven miles from shore. Five attacks follow in rapid succession. Mass hysteria grips the public. The most extensive shark hunt in American history begins. Capuzzo follows key figures including Herman Oelrichs, a millionaire who bets a shark cannot match a man, and ichthyologist John Treadwell Nichols, who must stop a creature science barely understands. The author recreates each attack in vivid detail, from the first victim, son of a Philadelphia physician, to a farm boy who feels the shark's sandpaper skin in Matawan Creek. The summer reveals the limits of human power against nature during an era of unprecedented prosperity and technological innovation.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, american-history
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: based-on-true-events, man-vs-nature
Setting: New Jersey, Beach Haven, Spring Lake, Matawan Creek
Period: 1916
Hardcover · Bertelsmann, München