“Hands-down . . . the most entertaining and informative shark book I’ve ever read. Written with insight, humor, and great authority.” —Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean

Few animals elicit the same mythical terror as sharks, and yet we know little about these elusive, ancient creatures. Internationally renowned shark researcher John A. Musick and science writer Beverly McMillan bring us along on a thrilling adventure as they track sharks from fossil quarries in Bear Gulch, Montana, to a nurse shark mating lagoon in the Dry Tortugas. By way of Alaska, Japan, the Bimini islands, and the world’s leading shark-research labs, we discover how sharks navigate using electromagnetic signals, have a bloodhound’s sense of smell, are both cold- and warm-blooded, and possess biochemical weapons that someday might help us fend off tumors and microbes.

Excavating the secret lives of sharks from the dark recesses of the oceans, this captivating scientific exploration challenges us to rethink our relationship with sharks, leaving us with the question: Are humans the prey, or the predator?