The Shark
Out now uk & Australia, June 2026 us
A SERIAL KILLER STALKING THE SHORELINE.
TWO GIRLS IN OVER THEIR HEADS.
‘I was going to make him take me and it would be the last thing I ever did.’
Every monster has a weakness.
At the height of Australian summer, a serial killer known as The Shark stalks a coastal suburb, hunting young female swimmers.
Afraid and furious at the failure of the police to protect them, two women fight back. Raych is grieving someone she’d have died to save, while Carmen hides her own disturbing connection to the murders.
In desperation, they form an uneasy alliance. And when another girl vanishes, they take matters into their own hands — by kidnapping the prime suspect. But as their interrogation spirals, horrifying truths surface on both sides.
The clock is ticking to save the missing girl. And in their quest for justice, Raych and Carmen face the darkest question of all: have they caught a monster — or become one?
‘I’m not one of those girls. I swim because Piper did. I swim to be close to her. I swim to make him want me.’
‘I was going to make him take me and it would be the last thing I ever did. He was going to tell me to my face what he’d done with her.’
‘I was going to make him take me and it would be the last thing I ever did. He was going to tell me to my face what he’d done with her.’
Praise for The Shark
‘A taut and unpredictable thriller. Combines Perth’s two great fears – sharks and serial killers – to telling effect. Emma Styles has created two totally original protagonists’
CHRIS HAMMER, author of LEGACY
‘Styles delivers jolts aplenty with her pitch-black plunge into wounded psyches and the costs of revenge. It’s a gut-wrenching ride worth taking’
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
‘Vividly written and darkly atmospheric, The Shark takes the serial killer novel apart and puts it back together again with a compulsively gripping twist. A terrific serial killer thriller’
VASEEM KHAN, author of THE GIRL IN CELL A
‘Uniquely Australian and packed with atmosphere, The Shark follows Raych and Carmen, both affected by loss and guilt, as they track down a serial killer in their community. Bursting with tension, this is riveting reading’
SAM HOLLAND, author of THE COUNTDOWN KILLER
‘Emma has perfected the art of creating kick-ass female characters that you can’t help but love. A hugely original and sometimes shocking tale of friendship and revenge’
EMMA CHRISTIE, author of WATCH YOUR BACK.
‘The Shark is a uniquely crafted mystery set in Western Australia… While grounded in suspense, the novel tackles feelings of loss, guilt, sexuality and gender, ultimately making it both a thrilling and emotional read’
THE SOUTH SYDNEY HERALD
‘A ferociously intense, white-knuckle thriller… Emma’s a shining star of Australian crime fiction, she’s subversive and unflinching… a propulsive and utterly compelling story’
PETER PAPATHANASIOU, author of THE BOLTHOLE
‘Blindingly tense and perfectly nuanced… upending serial killer tropes and taking the reader on a terrifying ride… A thriller with serious depth – you won’t read anything else like this in 2026’
HEATHER CRITCHLOW, author of UNBURIED
‘No one does girl power like Emma Styles. In The Shark she takes the serial-killer novel apart, dragging it, kicking and screaming, into a tale of discovery and redemption’
TREVOR WOOD, author of THE SILENT KILLER
‘Thelma and Louise – turbocharged. My heart was racing from the first page to the last of this tense and stylish Australian thriller’
ELISSA SOAVE, author of COMMON GROUND
The Beach
‘Across the street was dark flat ocean and towering pines. The beach stretched widescreen, the cloud peeled away in a curtain.’
The Deep
‘Carmen and me, we were choosing the shark. My little variation on choosing the bear – in the ocean instead of the woods.’
The Dark
‘No one can understand how the killer gets away with it, in a place like this where everyone knows everyone else.’
The Beach
‘Across the street was dark flat ocean and towering pines. The beach stretched widescreen, the cloud peeled away in a curtain.’
The Deep
‘Carmen and me, we were choosing the shark. My little variation on choosing the bear – in the ocean instead of the woods.’
The Dark
‘No one can understand how the killer gets away with it, in a place like this where everyone knows everyone else.’