Dogs of Winter

Kem Nunn's earlier surfing novel Tapping the Source was nominated for an American Book Award. In The Dogs of Winter, he draws again on the eternal legends and tall tales of surfers. Jack Fletcher is a pill-popping photographer on the skids who is lucky to get the assignment of photographing the aging surfing legend Drew Harmon and two young pros at the Heart Attacks in Northern California--an appropriately difficult-to-reach and shark-infested "mysto spot" reputed to have 30-foot waves. Not all dangers lurk in the ocean, however. The local Indians are unfriendly to outsiders and to each other; Harmon's young wife is obsessed with Indian witchcraft and a murdered local girl; and Harmon cloaks his own demons in laconic surfer-deity mystique. The hapless Fletcher and a local tribal council worker named Travis McCade desperately try to avert the curl of disaster that builds and breaks in this heavily atmospheric novel. --Amazon.com

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A superb book! - Rated
This is a really superb book: as well is being a terrific can't-put-it-down thriller, it's poetic, dark, informative and just a great read. Highly recommended.

Surfing into the Heart of Darkness. - Rated
Definitely worth a squizz. I'm reading this book for the second time and i still can't put it down. A fast paced, exhilarating ride thru the Northern Californian wilderness and into the darker side of the human psyche. Forget about teenybopper surf literature - the author has taken a mature insight to his surfing experience and carved out a dark, disturbing tale of self destruction and lost youth. A gripping thriller that will definitely appeal to surfers (as well as the less enlighted).

Like 'Big Wednesday' it has that sense of surfing mystisism - Rated
The book is far from being a cheesy surf tale, although it does incorporate some of the cliched characters which at some point or another have featured in surfing history. I have been reluctant to recommend to non surfers, but on second reading and reviews from friends....I strongly suggest having a read.

Surfers! Don't be put off be the dodgy title! - Rated
This is a gnarly book and well written from a surf perspective. Its set in a part of California that i've never seen.....wild coastal dropout zone. If you ever wanted to know what happened to champion surfers and mag.photographers after they have peaked look at this as an example. This Kem Nunn has a wicked view on the 3 s's that'll be surf sex and spiritual forces....though this is not as warped as his other book.

A must read for every surfer. - Rated
This novel is a must read for every surfer who has taken a surf trip in search of their personal limits. It will remind you that you never know your limits until they are pushed, whether personal, emotional or physical. Kem Nunn expertly conveys the "feeling" of pushing your limits in search of them. During the summertime, when there is not a wave in the ocean, this book will get you stoked for the cold, hard winter surf.

Ps. Please e-mail me if you have a copy of Tapping the Source you would like to sell or loan.