‘The Green Room’
by Deborah Turrell Atkinson.

Published by Poisoned Pen Press.

ISBN 1 59058 198 9

This is a book set in the exciting and tumultuous world of competitive surfing. The green room is the nightmarish place beneath the waves where a surfer either gets thrown or dives to escape a potentially dangerous swell. Hawaiian attorney Storm Kayama has spent time there and doesn’t want to go back, so she avoids the big waves on her local beach and instead focuses on building her new law firm with her partner and boyfriend, Ian Hamilton. But when a client’s son invites her to attend a surf contest, she is once more brought face to face with the awesome power of the sea and her memories. Her long-estranged cousin, Nahoa Pi’ilani, is the top seed and, as she becomes reacquainted with him, she learns that in the cut-throat world of competitive surfing it is not only the big waves that present a danger. A young boy delivers a mysterious package to Nahoa, which, on opening, turns out to contain a wooden club encircled with sharks’ teeth. It is an ancient Hawaiian weapon, a lei o man: a call to battle and a threat to life. When her cousin subsequently disappears, Storm has no choice but to risk her own safety to find out what exactly is going on.

The Green Room is full of exotic locations and the thunderous crashing of waves. I found the detailed explanations of surfing techniques and competition rules and regulations a little too much for my taste, but the titbits of ancient Hawaiian lore woven into the plot were fascinating. If you’re not too scared of water, this is a perfect beach read.

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Ruth Wade

Deborah Turrell Atkinson has written one previous novel (which also features Storm Kayama): Primitive Secrets.