Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaws | 1974 | Peter Benchley | Buy |
| 2 | The Deep | 1976 | Peter Benchley | Buy |
| 3 | The Island | 1979 | Peter Benchley | Buy |
| 4 | The Girl of the Sea of Cortez | 1982 | Peter Benchley | Buy |
| 5 | Q clearance | 1986 | Peter Benchley | Buy |
| 6 | Rummies / Lush | 1989 | Peter Benchley | Buy |
| 7 | Beast | 1991 | Peter Benchley | Buy |
| 8 | White Shark / Peter Benchley’s Creature | 1994 | Peter Benchley | Buy |
Peter Benchley’s standalone novels are mostly ocean-themed thrillers. Jaws (1974) started it all with the story of a great white shark terrorizing a Long Island beach community. The Deep (1976) followed a couple who discover treasure and drugs in a shipwreck off Bermuda. The Island (1979) took on modern-day pirates in the Caribbean.
His later fiction branched out somewhat. Q Clearance (1986) is a political satire about a presidential speechwriter, while Rummies (1989) is set in a rehab clinic. Beast (1991) returned to ocean horror with a giant squid attacking the waters off Bermuda, and White Shark (1994) combined marine terror with a World War II experiment gone wrong.