The Coast
Ever since English settlers first reached North Carolina's coast in
1585, the area has been an abundant source for myth and legend. Pirates,
shipwrecks, Civil War naval battles, and German submarines all figure
in the rich history of the region. Often defined by the scenic Outer
Banks and their distinctive lighthouses, the North Carolina coast is
the setting for many recent novels, including popular works by Karen
Robards and Nicholas Sparks, the Civil War novels of William Trotter,
and the final novel by Tim McLaurin.
Ellyn Bache, Riggs Park. New York: Harlequin Next,
2005.
When Barbara is diagnosed with cancer, she calls on her lifelong best
friend Marilyn for support. Marilyn has problems of her own, but pushes
these aside rushes to Washington, D.C. Together the two women explore
their friendship and their past, uncovering along the way secrets from
their childhood together in the Washington suburb of Riggs Park. Although
most of the novel is set in the Washington area, it begins and ends at
Marilyn’s home in Wrightsville Beach.
Doris Betts. The River to Pickle Beach. New York: Harper & Row,
1972.
In the turbulent summer of 1968, Jack and Bebe Sellars take over the
management of Pickerel Beach on the North Carolina coast. Hoping for
a peaceful, easy summer, their plans are disrupted by the arrival of
several difficult people, including a violent, racist former Army buddy
of Jack's. The story, though written in third-person, is told from the
alternating viewpoints of Bebe and Jack, with the events of the summer
triggering memories of their past together. Throughout the novel, the
racial violence and volatile national political struggles never seem
far from the surface.
Wanda Canada. Cape Fear Murders. Wilmington, N.C.: Coastal Carolina Press, 2003.
Carroll Davenport, a local developer who has an unlucky habit of getting drawn into murder investigations, is back on the case when she finds North Carolina State Senator William Burriss III murdered alongside his mistress. The killers may or may not have ties to Carroll's mafioso late husband. With the help of Ben Satterwhite, an FBI agent and possible love interest, Carroll chases criminals all over Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach in this sequel to Canada's 2001 novel Island Murders. Wanda Canada. Island Murders. Wilmington, N.C.: Coastal Carolina Press, 2001.
Figure Eight Island, the exclusive resort community near Wilmington, seems an unlikely place for a crime wave, but dead bodies are showing up all over the island. The first suspect is Carroll Davenport, a local developer who has had a few too many friends and relatives who died violent deaths. But Carroll is soon cleared and decides to pursue the case on her own. In the course of investigating the increasingly complicated case, Carroll covers a lot of ground, visiting many sites in the Wilmington area that will be familiar to locals.
Elisa L. Carbone. Storm Warriors. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
Nathan Williams and his grandfather live on Pea Island,
on North Carolina's Outer Banks, in 1895. Nathan is fascinated by the "surfmen," the
African American rescue crew at the United States Life-Saving Station.
Nathan dreams of joining them and spends all of his free time observing
the surfmen and studying their books. Over the course of the novel,
Nathan experiences the harsh injustice of racism, participates in a
daring rescue, and begins to learn that there may be a better life
for him beyond the island. Although written for a younger audience,
this novel gives a wealth of detail about the surfmen based on research
on the real-life rescue crew.
Diane Chamberlain. Her Mother's Shadow. Don Mills, Ont.: MiraBooks, 2004.
Lacey O'Neill grew up in a small community on the Outer Banks, trying
to live up to the memory of her mother, who was murdered when Lacey was
thirteen. Now in her mid-twenties, Lacey is suddenly thrust into a mother's
role, when she agrees to become the guardian of Mackenzie, the daughter
of Lacey's best friend who was killed tragically in a car accident. As
the two struggle to overcome the tragedy and get to know each other,
Lacey finds herself with feelings for both a local man who may be Mackenzie's
father, and the lawyer who has just arrived in town to work on a case.
The novel is set in the fictional coastal town of Kiss River.
Blake Crouch. Locked Doors. New York: St. Martin's, 2005.
Andrew Thomas is hiding out in Alaska, framed for a crime he didn't commit.
But he can't lay low forever. When people close to him start disappearing
and there is a killing spree in his home town of Davidson, N.C., Thomas
is forced out of hiding, certain that one of his old enemies is on the
loose. Thomas returns to North Carolina and chases the bad guys all the
way to a dramatic showdown on Ocracoke Island.
Pamela Duncan. The Big Beautiful. New York: Dial Press,
2007.
The saga from Duncan’s Moon Women continues when Cassandra Moon
skips out on her wedding, leaving her future husband, family and her hometown
behind as she embarks on an journey to the North Carolina coast. Realizing that
she must start her life anew, Cassandra ends up in the beach town of Salter
Path, N.C. where she may have found the love of her life.
Philip Gerard. Cape Fear Rising. Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, 1994.
When Sam Jenks and his wife Gray Ellen move from Chicago to Wilmington,
N.C. in August 1898, they find a city in turmoil. Amidst a vicious, racist
political campaign, a group of white citizens begin to mobilize against
the city's large African American population. Based on the actual events
of the November 1898 Wilmington riot that led to the murder of many African
Americans and the violent overthrow of the city's government, Gerard
dramatizes one of the most significant periods in North Carolina history.
Homer Hickham. The Keeper's Son. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2003.
The tiny, fictional island of Killakeet, on North Carolina's
outer banks, is shaken when German U-Boats appear off the coast in
1941. Coast Guard Lt. Josh Thurlow, the son of the keeper of the lighthouse,
takes it upon himself to protect his home. Leading an ill-equipped
bunch of locals, Thurlow takes to the sea. The novel follows the emotional
struggles of Thurlow and his father and also gives detailed descriptions
of submarine warfare during World War II.
Deborah Homsher. The Rising Shore -- Roanoke. Blue Hull
Press, 2007.
The Rising Shore -- Roanoke, a historical novel, tells the story of
the Lost Colony through the voices of two pioneering women. Elenor Dare is daughter
of the expedition's leader and mother of the first English child born in North
America. Margaret Lawrence is her servant. As members of the earliest English
venture to colonize the North America
(1587), they sail from London, cross the Atlantic, and settle on Roanoke Island.
Elenor longs to explore and paint pictures of Virginia, as her father has done.
Margaret blazes her own path to independence. Both women are sometimes frustrated
by circumstance and tradition, but they move boldly, angling against one another,
to discover and accomplish their dreams.
Michael Grant Jaffe. Whirlwind. New York: Norton, 2004.
Lucas Proudy is a weatherman in the fictional coastal
town of Bentleyville. His career is going nowhere, and his only romantic
prospect -- the bartender at a local strip club -- shows no sign of
returning his affections. Then Hurricane Isabel hits the state. Lucas's
beachfront coverage is shown nationwide and his apparent death is captured
on film. But Lucas survives, emerging from a wrecked building several
days later to find himself an instant celebrity.
Susan S. Kelly. The Last of Something. New York: Pegasus, 2006.
Twenty years after they met in college, three women gather for a reunion
in the fictional coastal town of Dune Ridge. While they wait for their husbands to arrive,
and keep their eye on an approaching hurricane, they tell old stories and discuss their lives.
Dewey Lambdin. What Lies Buried: A Novel of Old Cape Fear. Ithaca, N.Y.: McBooks Press, 2005.
This historical novel, set in and around 18th-century Wilmington,
traces the events around the murder of political leader Harry Tresmayne.
Tim McLaurin. Another Son of Man. Asheboro, N.C.: Down Home Press, 2004.
When Nate dies of cancer in Chapel Hill, a small group
of his friends carry out his final wish by bringing his ashes to his
favorite spot on the North Carolina coast. They run into trouble when
they travel unawares into a coming hurricane. The travelers are saved
by a mysterious man known only as "Son." The novel combines
action, as the would-be pilgrims battle the elements; mystery, as they
try to understand the enigmatic Son; and tragedy, as they remember
the final days of their friend. Another Son of Man was published
posthumously, two years after McLaurin's death in 2002.
B.J. Mountford. Bloodlines of Shackleford Banks. Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, 2004.
Wild ponies have run wild for centuries on the Outer Banks
island of Shackleford Banks. But modern development and diseases have
taken their toll, and each year volunteers gather to roundup the ponies
for a checkup. This year, however, things don't go quite as usual. One
of the horses is missing, and there are signs of foul play. The stakes
quickly escalate when one of the volunteers is murdered. Park Service
worker Roberta "Bert" Lenehan pursues the case, in the course
of which she encounters greedy developers and environmental activists,
and studies the long lineage of the horses.
B.J. Mountford. Sea-Born Women. Winston-Salem,
N.C.: John F. Blair, 2002.
Wanting to start her life anew in a quiet, out-of-the-way
place, Roberta ("Bert") Lenehan takes a job in the coastal
town of Portsmouth, N.C. But peace and quiet never come as she is disturbed
by mysterious noises in the night. When Bert becomes romantically involved
with a younger man, she learns from him about the legend of the "Sea-Born
Woman," whose ghost is supposed to aid sailors but, as many are
beginning to fear, may be involved in recent unsolved murders.
Bill Morris. Saltwater Cowboys. Wilmington: Coastal Carolina Press, 2004.
The residents of a small maritime community in Down East Carteret County are surprised when
sea turtles began showing up in places as odd as a hotel jacuzzi and the mayor's truck.
Dodge Lawson, who operates a sort of marine salvage service when he's not fishing,
has the job of hauling the turtles back out to sea. Dodge becomes embroiled in the turtle
mystery, which seems to be the work of environmental activists. Much of this funny novel is
given to the story of the honest and genuine Down Easters who are simply trying to save
their community from an onslaught of agressive developers and inconsiderate recreational
fishermen, while being harrassed by a documentary filmmaker who pokes his nose into
everything, and the never-ending parade of university researchers studying the local dialect.
David Payne. Early from the Dance. New York: Doubleday, 2003.
Adam Jenrette, a successful artist in New York, has just suffered a breakdown and returned
home to Killdeer, N.C., a fictional town on the Outer Banks. Things there don't exactly get any
easier. Adam runs into Jane McRae, with whom he had spent a memorable summer when they were both
eighteen. Adam and Jane find that they are still emotional about the suicide of a common friend
from Killdeer. Together they reminisce about that long-ago summer and reflect on how choices they
made then have echoed throughout their lives.
David Payne. Gravesend Light. New York: Doubleday, 2000.
Joe Madden is a professor at Duke who has come to the Outer Banks to study the inhabitants
of a small fishing village. Joe moves into his family's home on the fictional island of Little
Roanoke, and soon after begins an affair with Day Shaughnessy, a doctor at the local hospital.
The narrative alternates between Joe's voice and Day's, describing the evolution of their
relationship, and Joe's research. The citizens of Little Roanoke play a prominent role in the
novel as Joe tries to understand the unique way of life on the Outer Banks.
Karen Robards. Beachcomber. New York, Atria
Books, 2003.
Christy Petrino sought a simple vacation at Ocracoke Island
after breaking up with her mobster boyfriend. But when somebody makes
an attempt on her life, she must figure out whether the New Jersey mob
or an Outer Banks serial killer (nicknamed "The Beachcomber")
is out to get her. This romantic suspense novel teams Christy with FBI
agent Luke Rand. Those familiar with Ocracoke may raise an eyebrow at
Robards's description of "cliffs on the island, tall rocky cliffs
leaning out over the ocean . . . ."
Sarah Shaber. The Professor Simon Shaw Mysteries.
Simon Said. New York: St. Martin's, 1997.
Snipe Hunt. New York: St. Martin's, 2000.
The Fugitive King. New York: St. Martin's, 2002.
The Bug Funeral. New York: St. Martin's, 2004.
Simon Shaw is a professor of history at historic (but fictional)
Kenan College in downtown Raleigh. Dr. Shaw's specialty is historical
anthropology, and this leads to his being called into action in each
novel to investigate a long-unsolved crime. Although Simon lives and
works in contemporary Raleigh, his adventures often take him to other
parts of the state. In Snipe Hunt Simon digs into North Carolina's
maritime history while on vacation at the Outer Banks, while in The
Fugitive King he looks into a crime in his hometown of Boone.
Nicholas Sparks. The Guardian. New York: Warner Books, 2004.
Julie Berenson is only twenty-five when her husband dies
of a brain tumor and she struggles to decide how to go on with her
life. As the novel progresses, Julie begins to date again, but one
of the men she encounters becomes too possessive too quickly and when
somebody begins stalking her, she fears that it's him. The "guardian" is
a Great Dane puppy, a posthumous gift from her late husband. The novel
is set in the coastal town of Swansboro.
Mariah Stewart.
Final Truth. New York: Random House, 2006.
Regan Landry is a journalist working on a profile of Lester Ray Barnes, who had just
been released from death row after it was learned that he was convicted on faulty evidence. Now, long after
Landry begins her profile, Barnes disappears at the same time a string of grisly crimes are committed on the
Outer Banks. Landry teams up with an FBI officer and they travel to the North Carolina coast to investigate.
William R. Trotter. The Sands of Pride (New
York: Avalon, 2002) and The Fires of Pride (New York: Carrol & Graf,
2003).
In these two novels, Trotter dramatizes many of the important
events and individuals in coastal North Carolina during the Civil War. The
Sands of Pride is set in Wilmington during 1861 to 1863 when
the port city was the center of Confederate blockade-running efforts. The
Fires of Pride of pride continues the story through the end of
the war, with a long section on the Union assault on Fort Fisher. Trotter
is able to trace several narratives throughout the chaos of battle,
with many of his characters based on actual people. Trotter is the
author of a multi-volume history of the Civil War in North Carolina,
and can be counted in these novels to provide accurate depictions of
events, and careful attention to historic detail.
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