Shark Attack!

Unfortunate Wall Street banker Krishna Thompson, 36, is the most recent victim. He lost a leg last weekend and became a casualty in the seemingly ongoing war with sharks this summer. The incident was the third attack to be prominent in the media, and the second truly serious shark attack in a month.

On July 6, Jessie Arbogast, 8, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, had his right arm ripped off by a 7-foot bull shark at Gulf Islands National Seashore in northwest Florida. Jessie remains in what doctors describe as a light coma, though his arm was re-attached and there is hope that he will recover.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, huh? Well perhaps you should stay on the beach and plunge into a good read. Avoid the aquatic man-eaters! We at Booksense.com will help by suggesting these good reads:

Jaws
by Peter Benchley
This is the book that started everything. Most people can't even hear the word "shark" without thinking of this story and the John Williams music from the Spielberg film adaptation of the book.When three people are killed by a great white shark in three different incidents, the police chief of the resort town Amity is forced to take action. This novel is as spine-tingling as the famous picture, and has nothing to do with lame efforts like "Jaws 3 in 3-D" or God help us, "Jaws 4." (What were they thinking?)

In Harm's Way
by Doug Stanton
This book is by turns compelling, informative, shocking, and well-written throughout. Stanton, an excellent storyteller, describes the circumstances of a terrible naval disaster, the worst in U.S. history: the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in the last days of World War II. Sharks figure prominently in this tale, unfortunately -- and it is interesting to note that the character of Captain Quint in the movie "Jaws" is a fictional survivor of the sinking.

Read Stanton's essay in our VIP section!

Close to Shore
by Michael Capuzzo
Remember when we had two of everything in the movies? Such as two global annihilation films ("Armageddon" and "Deep Impact"), or two geothermic destruction movies ("Dante's Peak" and "Volcano")? Well, in book-land, the same thing is happening with the true-life story of shark attack in New Jersey during the summer of 1916. The brand-new book Close to Shore describes how, that frightening summer, a lone great white shark terrorized the New Jersey shoreline and a farming community 11 miles inland, attacking five people and igniting the most extensive shark hunt in history. This story is also told by the new book Twelve Days of Terror [below].

Read an excerpt!

Twelve Days of Terror
by Richard Fernicola, M.D.
The newly published Twelve Days of Terror examines the wave of shark attacks along the New Jersey coast in July, 1916 -- a wave that left four swimmers dead and a fifth seriously injured. Twelve Days speculates on the number and type of sharks involved in the attacks, as well.

The Jaws of Death
by Xavier Maniguet
The cover of this book warns that it contains disturbing photographs, and it surely does. The weak-stomached should steer clear of this volume, which contains photographic evidence of the results of shark attacks (and other predator behavior, like attack by land mammals, and alligators or crocodiles). Yet for the curious, this well-researched book (originally published in French) brings forth the greatest body of evidence of the violent meeting of man and beast at the edge of the sea.

A Sheltering Sky
by Paul Bowles
There are few solid truths in the world, but one truth is that no one ever got attacked by a shark in the North African desert. Escape there is total and foolproof, if sharks are the only thing you are running from. Unfortunately for the married couple and male hanger-on in Paul Bowle's A Sheltering Sky, the desiccated atmosphere of their refuge does not eliminate predators with black, lifeless eyes and pearly white teeth. Bowles' immortal story reveals human beings with a savagery every bit as ancient as that found within the shark family. Read Cherie Nutting's Yesterday's Perfume for a good idea of what Paul Bowles' life in the desert was...free from shark attack, not free from attack.

The Fourth Hand
by John Irving
In John Irving's latest offering, the narrator suffers the loss of a limb to a wild beast. It is not a shark that takes Patrick Wallingford's right hand, but that hardly matters. In Irving's inimitable prose, the hero Wallingford faces a host of adversaries. He fights for his limb, his dignity, and his humanity, again and again. Only John Irving could serve up this kind of warm, cruel meditation.

Read an excerpt!