NEARSHORE BY STEVE HAWK

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Publication Date: 8/18/2026       //       Black Bird Book Event: 8/20/26

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A churning mix of literary suspense and coastal noir where the clash between land and sea unearths Silicon Valley's darkest secret, and three people must reckon with all that is at stake in an age shadowed by greed, totalitarianism, and nuclear terror.

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.

Steve Hawk is the former editor of Surfer, Sierra, and Stanford Business magazines, and of surfline.com. His first book, Waves, explores the science and aesthetics of ocean waves. He is currently co-writing a book with his brother, Tony Hawk, about the history and culture of skateboarding. He lives near Half Moon Bay, California, where he spends as much time as possible frolicking in the ocean. Nearshore is his first novel.

REVIEWS

"This is an exceptionally thoughtful literary thriller, beautifully rendered against the backdrop of a world its author very clearly knows and loves. 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

"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

"The deadly whirlpool of wealth, amorality, and nuclear terror that animates the plot of Nearshore feels timely in a thousand uncomfortable ways, but author Steve Hawk also gives us an unlikely and unforgettable hero who rises above it all. This is a spectacular debut novel by an extraordinary talent."
--Martin J. Smith, author of Combustion

"A smart, fun, thrilling read. The characters pop and the story moves like a barreling full-speed point wave."
--Matt Warshaw, author of The Encyclopedia of Surfing, The History of Surfing, and Mavericks: The Story of Big-Wave Surfing

"Pure fun from start to finish. As someone who studies nuclear proliferation for a living, I can confirm: This scenario is the real deal, and the bad-guy billionaire is entirely plausible. Terrifying and thrilling in equal measure. Read it."
--Jeffrey Lewis, Distinguished Scholar of Global Security at Middlebury College

"California surf culture has long run adjacent to big American tech.... It has also, always, drawn on the iconography of the American West with its affinity for open space, wild beauty, and loner archetypes. In Nearshore, Steve Hawk assembles these contrasting elements, attaches the fuse of a thriller, and builds a story in the traditions of Cormac McCarthy, Robert Stone, and Kem Nunn to deliver a novel that radiates outward with the speed and force of an atomic blast."
--Alex Wilson, The Surfer's Journal

"Adrenalin-pumping pacing, an ever-changing, stormy setting, and three charismatic, multifaceted protagonists make this a polished and exhilarating first novel from a welcome new voice in literary suspense."
--Booklist (starred review)

"With an ease uncommon among first-time novelists, Hawk... stokes suspense by toggling between the [characters'] increasingly desperate perspectives as they unearth a far-reaching conspiracy, all without sacrificing character development or lyrical descriptions of the scenic California setting. Engrossing, graceful, and transporting, this is a terrific--if terrifying--tale of near apocalypse."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Hawk expertly deconstructs security intelligence . . . this is a strong option for fans of action."
--Library Journal