Untamed Shore - by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Paperback)

About the Book

"Baja California, 1979. Viridiana spends her days watching the dead sharks piled beside the seashore, as the fishermen pull their nets. There is nothing else to do, nothing else to watch, under the harsh sun. She's bored. Terribly bored. Yet her head is filled with dreams of Hollywood films, of romance, of a future beyond the drab town where her only option is to marry and have children. Three wealthy American tourists arrive for the summer, and Viridiana is magnetized. She immediately becomes entwined in the glamorous foreigners' lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from the promise of a humdrum future. When one of them dies, Viridiana lies to protect her friends. Soon enough, someone's asking questions, and Viridiana has some of her own about the identity of her new acquaintances. Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naèive young woman who is quickly being tangled in a web of deceit."--Publisher description.

Book Synopsis

In this dark coming-of-age noir, a "Patricia Highsmith-like tale of grifts and con artists" (Crime Time), a young woman becomes embroiled in a web of lies and deceit--with potentially deadly consequences--from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night

"Untamed Shore is a fever dream of a thriller, a coming-of-age tale set amidst disturbing and dangerous circumstances."--Book Page

Baja California, 1979: Viridiana spends her days under the harsh sun, watching the fishermen pulling in their nets and the dead sharks piled beside the seashore. Her head is filled with dreams of romance, travel, and a future beyond this drab town where her only option is to marry and have children.

When a wealthy American writer arrives with his wife and brother-in-law, Viridiana jumps at the offer of a job as his assistant, and she's soon entangled in the glamorous foreigners' lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from her humdrum existence. When one of them dies, Viridiana, eager to protect her new friends, lies--but soon enough, someone's asking questions. It's not long before Viridiana has questions of her own about the identities of her new acquaintances.

Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naïve young woman unwittingly entangled in a net of deceit.

Review Quotes

"The Great Gatsby meets Night of the Iguana in this elegantly spare and darkly twisted story of undercurrents, deception, and colliding cultures. Rich in atmosphere and sinister in tone . . . a haunting lesson in the dangers of desire and the illusion of glamour and how dreams can be devoured by deceit."―Hank Phillippi Ryan, author of The Murder List

"Set in a small Baja town in the seedy 1970s, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's latest takes us into a world soaked in sunshine and secrets, where everyone is working an angle and the looming sense of menace builds with nearly each page-turn. A shrewd, exciting thriller."―Julia Dahl, author of the award-winning Rebekah Roberts series

About the Author

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of the novels The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Velvet Was the Night, Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, and a bunch of other books. She has also edited several anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu's Daughters). She has been nominated for the Locus Award for her work as an editor and has won the British Fantasy Award and the Locus Award for her work as a novelist.