Genre:
American Fiction, Horror, Suspense, Thriller

Summary:
A great white shark terrorizes the small seaside community of Amity in this frightening story of nature gone awry.

When a woman’s body is found half eaten on the shore one morning by police chief Martin Brody, he must decide whether or not to close the beaches. Against his own discretion, and amidst mounting pressure from the mayor and local businesses, Brody re-opens the beaches just as the tourist season is kicking off.

Brody is quick to discover his error. He is soon entrenched in a local scandal and a fevered manhunt for the shark that threatens to destroy Amity.

My Thoughts:
I was surprised when a friend told me that Jaws was in fact a book before it was ever a movie. Written only a year before the release of Jaws the movie (1975), Peter Benchley‘s horror novel soon rose to the top of the bestseller lists, while the film became the highest grossing movie in history up to that point.

Jaws is best described as an oldie but a goody! I was skeptical at first about reading the novel. I thought I already basically knew the plot, but there’s actually a lot more to it than a man eating fish.

Benchley uses the shark as an allegory, subtly suggesting that the shark is in fact an evil, sentient creature sent to Amity to teach its citizens a lesson. Definitely creepy. I’m glad I read this book during the winter when I won’t be planning on going swimming anytime soon!

Borrow Jaws from your local Vaughan Library today!