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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.
Genre: Mystery
"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.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"An engaging sojourn illuminated by prose as bright and clear as the Baja sun. A plot driven by characters whose motives are as murky and treacherous as stormy gulf waters." - Mario Acevedo
"Untamed Shore is a masterpiece. I loved this book, and can’t get Viridiana out of my head. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s characters are unforgettable and no one and nothing is quite what they seem. I devoured this like one of Viridiana’s sharks. Truly a stunning work." - Amina Akhtar
"Untamed Shore is both transporting and transfixing. 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 by a writer with a fresh vision and a powerful voice." - Julia Dahl
"Silvia Moreno-Garcia's UNTAMED SHORE is a treat: the first thriller from a seasoned writer. This is a superb hybrid that's part classic whodunit, part sad love story, and part smart, pulpy noir packed with smiling snakes, a touch of mythology, and a strong female lead that's caught between her immediate reality and her dreams of escape, all inside the hermetic, oppressive hell of small-town gossip and oldfangled morality. This is a novel about greed, murder, and snowballing peccadilloes that moves forward with the power and grace of a shark. Don't miss it." - Gabino Iglesias
"A sense of inevitable dread builds from seemingly innocuous events in this masterful crime debut from Silvia Moreno-Garcia. The period detail is fantastic, the Mexican setting vibrant and fresh, and the noir is as murky as seawater after a shark feeding frenzy. I loved it!" - Lavie Tidhar
"Untamed Shore is a masterpiece. I loved this book, and can’t get Viridiana out of my head. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s characters are unforgettable and no one and nothing is quite what they seem. I devoured this like one of Viridiana’s sharks. Truly a stunning work." - Amina Akhtar
"Untamed Shore is both transporting and transfixing. 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 by a writer with a fresh vision and a powerful voice." - Julia Dahl
"Silvia Moreno-Garcia's UNTAMED SHORE is a treat: the first thriller from a seasoned writer. This is a superb hybrid that's part classic whodunit, part sad love story, and part smart, pulpy noir packed with smiling snakes, a touch of mythology, and a strong female lead that's caught between her immediate reality and her dreams of escape, all inside the hermetic, oppressive hell of small-town gossip and oldfangled morality. This is a novel about greed, murder, and snowballing peccadilloes that moves forward with the power and grace of a shark. Don't miss it." - Gabino Iglesias
"A sense of inevitable dread builds from seemingly innocuous events in this masterful crime debut from Silvia Moreno-Garcia. The period detail is fantastic, the Mexican setting vibrant and fresh, and the noir is as murky as seawater after a shark feeding frenzy. I loved it!" - Lavie Tidhar
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