Brits Don't Surf

Sarah Weinman broke the news in October that one of my favorite writers, Don Winslow, is taking on the mantle of the late and much-admired thriller writer known as Trevanian, author of The Eiger Sanction and Shibumi. But at that time, she reported, "Winslow's own publishing status in the US is in a bit of limbo, as The Gentlemen's Hour - the even-better sequel to the amazing The Dawn Patrol - was published in the UK, but there's no US publication date in sight."

That changed last month, when Weinman wrote, "Winslow not only is writing as Trevanian for Grand Central, but his own work will have a new publisher, namely Simon and Schuster... According to Publishers Marketplace, The Gentlemen's Hour won't be published until July 2011, which is a hell of a long way away - but that's because the house has elected to publish Winslow's standalone novel Savages, described as 'a gritty, humorous, and drug-fueled ransom thriller set amidst the Baja Cartel in Laguna Beach, CA.'"

2011 was indeed too long to wait, so I girded my wallet and bought (through Amazon.UK) a copy of The Gentlemen's Hour. Wonderful stuff, and as Weinman said it was even better than the gorgeous The Dawn Patrol. Even if the closest you've ever come to a surfboard is watching a Gidget flick, there's enough action, suspense, sex, love, humor and wisdom in it to get you down to your nearest point break at top speed.

Sadness, too, as surfing San Diego private eye Boone Daniels -- broke, as usual -- takes on a case for a top law firm that has been hired to defend a nasty punk kid charged with killing a local surfing hero. Boone knows he'll be courting outrage from the rest of the Dawn Patrol, a mixed group -- a Japanese cop, a giant Samoan, a lothario lifeguard -- who would rather surf than eat, and who have their own strict moral code. As his closest friendships begin to fray, and he digs deeper into the murkier side of surfing culture, drug czars and corrupt builders and politicians rise out of the Pacific like creatures from a very black lagoon.

The book arrived on Friday. I finished it the next day, pausing only to rest my eyes. I think you'll have the same reaction...