by Kem Nunn
In this California novel about surfers and a motorcycle gang, an innocent young man from a small town arrives in a seaside community to look for his sister. He has the names of three men on a piece of paper—his only clue to what may have happened to her. Sex is casual and kinky. The group's violence is truly shocking; all the beatings and grotesque mutilations are painfully graphic. It is a problem, though, that the characters are so shallow and drugged out. None of them seems to have ever read a book. They see only pornographic or surfing movies. They are all hedonists, looking for quick bliss. Presumably this is an accurate view of life on the beach in California. The author is a 36-year-old surfer, painter and student who is studying for a master's degree at the U of California at Irvine. This is his first novel. (Delacorte, $14.95)
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