Boone Daniels is an ex-cop turned PI who lives to surf, as do the rest of the Dawn Patrol who meet each morning on the beach just north of San Diego. In turn humorous and thrilling, the story unfolds as Boone reluctantly takes on a case to find a missing witness in an arson case only to turn up a tangled web of murder and deceit. Gritty, fascinating and delightful. Recommended for all who like their thrillers with a dash of humor. What starts out as a pseudo-comedic caper book (in the vein of, maybe, Elmore Leonard) becomes a rather moving, and unsuspectingly dark, crime drama that analyzes life itself.The first half of the book fleshes out the characters and explains the world they live in (perhaps too much so) ... and remains generally light. The humor is present in both the prose (fluid, not showy) and the dialogue (more forced) and the characters are, for the most part, approaching three dimensions. This first half is low on plot and very low on mystery, but that is kind of the point. This is a unique world ... a surf-bum world ... and one that seems more alive and less convoluted than Thomas Pynchon's roller coaster Inherent Vice which dealt in a very similar setting with a very similar protagonist.The second half of the book takes these light-hearted, pseudo-comedic vignettes and turns them on their head, unleashing a brutally graphic and disturbing mystery involving, but not contained too, sex trafficking and rape. Part of Winslow's point is to show that for every idealized world with 'problems' (like our hero, Boone Daniel's, need to get his case over with so he can ride some waves), there is a darker world underneath where Boone's problems are so inconsequential they should, by all means, be non-existence, relative or not.And that leads to the second half (and, thus, the book's, entire point): life, at some point has to change. The Dawn Patrol, itself both a light-hearted name for a group of beach bums AND a sinister name for a rather digesting group of people, is, at one point, a movie-like unit of witty barbs and expected relationships clashes (not to mention each member having a unique power or characteristic) ... but will eventually become disjointed. But not by melodrama, but by the realities of that dark underworld I mentioned before.No character leaves The Dawn Patrol unscathed and, after reading the first half, you'd probably be surprised to hear that. But brace yourself ... this wave starts out kinda slow and doesn't challenge you much but, when you least expect it, it crashes over your head and sucks you under.
What do You think about La Pattuglia Dell'alba (2010)?
Another winner from Winslow. Looking forward to picking up The Gentlemen's Hour.
—tammyvee
Far better than I expected. The characters are beautifully defined.
—potpourri
personally know the settings - love stories with surfers
—peanutt
