The author of The Winter of Frankie Machine ("another instant classic" —Lee Child) is back with a razor-sharp novel as cool and unbridled as its California surfer heroes, as heart-stopping as a wave none of them sees coming.

Boone Daniels lives to surf. Every morning he's out in the break off Pacific Beach with the other members of The Dawn Patrol: four men and one woman as single-minded about surfing as he is. Or nearly. They have "real j-o-b-s"; Boone works as a PI just enough to keep himself in fish tacos and wet suits — and in the water whenever the waves are "epic macking crunchy."

But Boone is also obsessed with the unsolved case of a young girl named Rain who was abducted back when he was on the San Diego police force. He blames himself — just as almost everyone in the department does — for not being able to save her. Now, when he can't say no to a gorgeous, bossy lawyer who wants his help investigating an insurance scam, he's unexpectedly staring at a chance to make some amends — and take some revenge — for Rain's disappearance. It might mean missing the most colossal waves he's liable to encounter (not to mention putting The Dawn Patrol in serious harm's way as he tangles with the local thuggery), but this investigation is about to give him a wilder ride than any he's ever imagined.

Harrowing and funny, righteous and outrageous, The Dawn Patrol is epic macking crunchy from start to finish.

"Ex-cop turned PI Boone Daniels lives to surf, as do the rest of the Dawn Patrol, who gather every morning on the beach just north of San Diego, Calif. — Hang Twelve, Dave the Love God, Johnny Banzai, High Tide and Sunny Day — in this terrific thriller from Winslow (The Power of the Dog). Boone works his PI job just enough to keep his near idyllic life afloat, but before Winslow's done with him and he's back on his board, he'll have weathered some heavy seas and taken some perilous falls. Dan Silver, owner of Silver Dan's strip club, may have burned down his own warehouse to collect on the insurance money. When the insurance company hires beautiful lady lawyer Petra Hall to sue Silver, she turns to Boone to do the detective work. If all this sounds mildly comic, it is, but it's also dark, violent and plenty serious as Winslow keeps raising the stakes, as well as the waves, for all involved. Author tour. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

“The Dawn Patrol might be the best summertime crime novel ever . . . A classic . . . If you haven’t read Winslow yet, get to it. He’s epic macking good, bra.”

San Francisco Chronicle

“A thrill ride all the way . . . Filled with action and humor, good guys who win our hearts, and bad guys we’ll never forget, it’s one of the most entertaining beach books of this–or any other–summer.”

New Orleans Times-Picayune

“Colossally cool . . . Grab your board, plant it nose-first in the sand, lean back and catch a ride on what may be this summer’s zinc-slathered-nose read . . . The Dawn Patrol captures the essence of Southern California itself: forecast sunny and clear, with an undertow of darkness.”

San Antonio Express-News

“Don Winslow writes tough . . . The Dawn Patrol pounds its story forward like a relentless surf . . . The novel makes Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer adventures seem like a middle school Christmas play.”

Cleveland Plain Dealer

The author of "The Winter of Frankie Machine" is back with a razor-sharp novel as cool as its California surfer heroes, and as heart-stopping as a wave none of them sees coming.

Don Winslow is a former private investigator and consultant. He lives in Southern California.