Tapping the Source

by Kem Nunn

If you aren't already familiar with Kem Nunn's 1984 novel Tapping the Source, or if the idea of a "classic surfing novel" makes you either chuckle or shudder, be prepared to realign your literary biases. This is not a story of gilded surfers and sun-bleached blonds, of insouciant days and moonlit nights on the beach; instead, Nunn has crafted a darkly pensive meditation on solitude and desire. Ike Tucker is the quintessential loner, trapped by both circumstance and inclination in a California desert town, abandoned first by his mother and then by his sister, Ellen, who fled, in turn, toward the promise of the coast. His awareness of his own alienation, rendered in prose that is always elegant and often poignant, is

As he listened the train sounds grew faint and disappeared and someone shut off the music so there was just the silence, that special kind of silence that comes to the desert, and he knew that if he waited there would come a time, stars fading, slim band of light creeping on the horizon, when the silence would grow until it was unbearable, until it was as if the land itself were about to break it, to give up some secret of its own.

The secret, though, comes not from the desert but from the sea. Propelled by a mysterious rumor of his sister's murder, Ike enters the surfing mecca of Huntington Beach, whose bright façade conceals shadowy violence and joyless violation. Wistfully intent on understanding the men who might have killed his sister, Ike abandons himself to the hypnotic allure of the "The tide was low and the waves turned crisp black faces toward the shore while trails of mist rose from their feathering lips in the golden sun." Nunn's language effortlessly reflects Ike's desires and fears; the novel spirals gracefully into the young man's eventual immersion in the surfing culture and riffs on the terrifying ease with which that immersion becomes overwhelming. Although a murder may lie at the heart of the narrative, the novel is far more an exploration of character than of suspect and motive--and that exploration is infinitely rewarding. --Kelly Flynn

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Noir, Thriller, Audiobook, Novels

Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Kem Nunn (born 1948) is an American fiction novelist, surfer, magazine and television writer from California. His novels have been described as "surf-noir" for their dark themes, political overtones and surf settings. He is the author of five novels, including his seminal surf novel Tapping the Source. He received an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Irvine.

He has collaborated with producer David Milch on the HBO Western drama series Deadwood. Milch and Nunn co-created the HBO series John from Cincinnati, a surfing series set in Imperial Beach, California which premiered on June 10, 2007. He has also written for season 5 of Sons of Anarchy.

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

POINT BREAK


”Point Break”: Keanu Reeves/Johnny Utah e Patrick Swayze/Bodhi. Il primo è un agente FBI infiltrato, il primo più va avanti e meno sa recitare (e non che partisse da vette eccelse), il secondo mi manca (1952 – 2009). Sono i due protagonisti, amici e antagonisti, l’uno a caccia dell’altro, del magnifico film diretto dall’ottima Kathryn Bigelow nel 1991. Il romanzo di Kem Nunn è servito da fonte d’ispirazione per il film, che è comunque molto diverso.

Ike Tucker non ha ancora l’età per entrare in un bar, per bere alcolici in luogo pubblico. Ma questo non lo ferma e decide comunque di partire a cercare la sorella Ellen che è andata via senza salutare due anni prima.
Ike ha saputo che era arrivata a Hungtinton Beach, quel posto sull’oceano a sud di Los Angeles soprannominato Surf City, aveva fatto amicizia con tre surfisti, con i quali è partita per un viaggio in Messico senza mai tornare indietro. Lei, i tre surfers invece sì.
Ike lascia a casa, nel deserto, la sua amata Harley Davidson – è un mago con moto e motori – prende il Greyhound e dopo diverse ore arriva sull’oceano, a Surf City.
Un posto ovviamente pieno di gente che fa surf e negozi che vendono tavole e attrezzatura da surf e gente che guarda gli altri fare il surf dal lungo pontile che s’incunea nell’oceano e gente che parla e commenta il surf.
Ma è anche un posto di gente che si muove su ruote e rotelle: i marciapiedi sono invasi da gente che si muove su pattini e skateboard. E le strade, gli incroci, i parcheggi son invasi da motociclisti (Kem Nunn ha sceneggiato 7 episodi della serie Sons of Anarchy).
È proprio un biker – quello che sembra il capo della gang di motociclisti, il più tosto e il più selvaggio – il primo amico che Ike si fa a Surf City, lui che con le moto, specie se Harley, è un mago.
Preston – questo è il nome del nerboruto motociclista– è stato anche un fantastico surfer, amico proprio dei tre che Ike sta cercando perché sono andati in Messico con sua sorella, ma sono tornati indietro senza di lei. E man mano si apprende che Preston è stato in Vietnam, e poi in prigione, che prima aveva sogni e progetti, adesso non più. Ma conoscere il ragazzino – tra lui e Ike passano almeno una decina d’anni – sembra accendergli una scintilla.


Oltre incredibili scene di surf, il film mostra incredibili scene di paracadutismo.

Ike è in viaggio per ritrovare sua sorella: ma probabilmente è partito soprattutto per trovare se stesso. E quindi Kem Nunn, al suo esordio narrativo, ci propone un bel romanzo che inaugura un nuovo genere, il cosiddetto surf noir, perché è un noir immerso nel mondo del surf (e dei motociclisti). E ci insegna quasi subito che non è tutto oro quello che luccica: che il mondo del surf non è solo sport e competizione, ma è un ambiente torbido e violento e losco, nel quale spacciare droga è attività frequente, con tutto quello che ne consegue.
Ike deve stare attento: è troppo giovane e inesperto, e sta andando a infilarsi in un covo di serpenti, rischia parecchio: Preston cerca subito di convincerlo ad andarsene, a tornare a casa nel deserto. Ma Ike sente che restare e cercarla è un impegno morale verso sua sorella cui non può, né vuole, sottrarsi.
E quindi, come dicevo, romanzo noir, ma il fascino della conquista delle onde più alte ha il sapore di un traguardo ben più metaforico, e sotto la trama del noir d’azione si intravede un solido, doloroso e spietato romanzo di formazione.



Quand’è che s’è capito che il sogno americano è una bufala pubblicitaria, quand’è che s’è sgonfiato mostrando la cruda realtà?
Qui, siamo agli inizi degli anni Ottanta e di tempo e circostanze per segnare la fine del grande miraggio c’è e ci sono state. Perfino i surfisti rivelano la loro vera anima così diversa da quella sbandierata sulle prime: sole, sale, sport, vita sana…?
Ma nell’unico immenso fallimento, nella lunga interminabile caduta senza possibilità di risalita, a ben guardare ci sono interstizi, momenti, occasioni per afferrare ancora qualcosa e tenerla stretta. Se la collettività ha perso la speranza, forse, c’è ancora una possibilità per il singolo individuo.


Esiste un remake con lo stesso titolo, è del 2015. Trattasi di film evitabile, pallidissima copia dell’originale.

[Delee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my youth I used to listen to The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean sing about Southern California- the beautiful girls and boys, the surf, the sand...sun sun sun...fun fun fun. Everyone was smiling...everyone was friendly...no one had a care in the world.

This novel is NOT The Beach Boys or Jan and Dean's version of The Huntington Beach surf culture...far from it. While they were STILL singing Surfin' Safari and Surf City -during the 70s and 80s- serial killers and rapists were using the beaches as hunting grounds, skinheads, biker gangs and clueless runaways were settling in for the long haul, and there were plenty of drugs drugs drugs. TAPPING THE SOURCE is THAT version.



18-year-old Ike Tucker has never strayed far from the dead-end desert town of San Acro. Not that he has any real ties to the place- His mother fled loooooooooong ago leaving him and his sister Ellen in the care of her zealot mother and less than warm and fuzzy brother- Gordon. And Ellen took off two years ago without a goodbye- her whereabouts unknown to him...

...Until a friend of Ellen's tracks Ike down- The young surfer says he knows where she was just a short time ago- but fears she is in danger or already dead. He leaves Ike with a location and the names of the men she was last seen with before she disappeared. Hound Adams, Terry Jacobs and Frank Baker.



With only those clues Ike grabs his life savings- and heads off for the last place Ellen was seen- Huntington Beach Ca. His plan- blend in as much as possible, and get close to the locals. So he checks into a cheap hotel, cuts off his jeans, buys a board, and heads to the beach to try his hand at surfing. At first things don't go as well as he hoped, and when he gets punched in the face for not following the proper surfer etiquette- Ike thinks maybe he is going to need a new plan.



...But his luck seems to change when he meets Preston Marsh- a burned out biker and Vietnam Vet, who used to be one of THE star surfers in the 60s before life beat him down. The two form a bond through their love of bikes and Ike's new found love of surfing. Eventually he trusts him with his story and... Yes...Preston knows Hound Adams- in fact they used to be best friends and business partners back in the day- unfortunately that is all he will say on the matter...



...And Ike realizes that not only is his friendship with Preston NOT going to make it any easier for him to get closer to Hound Adams or to the truth about what really happened to his sister- it may even make things much more dangerous.



TAPPING THE SOURCE was a group-buddy-read for me and four of my GRs gal pals...and it is also a prime example of how people who all get along so well can react so differently to a story- Two looooooooooooved it (one of them being me)- two pretty much hated it...and one couldn't finish. I was shocked...SHOCKED!! But I get it. We can't alllllllll love the same thing. I spent a lot of time while reading- wondering how this book drifted off people's radar over the years? Why isn't everyone reading it? But then I got my answer after comparing notes with my buddies.

Ohhhhhhhhh because everyone isn't meeeeeeeeeeee and doesn't think like me. How sad is that? ;)

[Jayakrishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nunn writes the most arcane characters to ever appear in noir fiction (if his novels can be classified as noir). The religious cult and the brother-sister duo hiding an alien artifact in Unassigned Territory. The surfers in search of 30-foot waves in The Dogs of Winter. Sam Fahey, a once talented surfer out hunting wild dogs and running a worm farm on the dunes of Tijuana in Tijuana Straits. They are more outcast than the most outcast characters in American literature or cinema.

Tapping the Source is about Ike Turner, a young mechanic from San Arco in search of his sister in Huntington Beach. Ike, the small town boy is like a fish out of water on the beaches, among the surfers, bikers and other colorful characters that populate the area. There are some towering larger than life surfer characters like Preston and Hound Adams who act as mentors to the young Ike. The surfing scenes are written with a great deal of love and knowledge. Kem Nunn was a real life surfer. Apparently this novel inspired the movie Point Break.

It is a really touching, meditative and action packed coming of age novel that is also about unfulfilled promise, loneliness and sex. I did not give it five stars because the last 100 pages seemed to be pretty rushed and uninspired. It is at odds with the first 250 pages where the writing is assured. Also, the ending was ridiculous, lol.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skinny sad sack Ike Tucker, not yet 19 years old, takes the Greyhound bus nearly eight hours to Huntington Beach, Calif., to search for his wild runaway sister Ellen, who ran away a year ago. All he has is a crumpled piece of paper with three names and a garbled account of a trip his sister took with those three men to Mexico. Thus, a young man who has lived nowhere but a tiny desert town discovers inner strength and a working knowledge of the ways of the world — including the underworld and the shadowy world of bikers, runaways, and surfer punks.

Not knowing anyone in Huntington Beach when he arrives, Ike nonetheless manages to gradually piece together clues to Ellen’s fate. In the meantime, Ike tries to determine who he can trust — and who he cannot. After a leisurely start, in which author Kem Nunn introduces Ike — and us newbies who are reading Tapping the Source — to the world of surfing, the novel, a National Book Award finalist, turns into a gripping page-turner with more twists and turns than the Pacific Coast highway. To reveal more would be to ruin this five-star book. However, be sure to ride this wave.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Those two guys had something, man. Not just bread. A goddamn lifestyle- that was what it was about then. And those two dumb fuckers had it...but they blew it."

They blew it.

Kem Nunn's first novel (1984) was a strange reading experience. The cover first of all makes it look like my idea of Danish pornography, an impression enhanced by the cryptic phrase "no exit 18 years"- which I could only assume was some non-native speaker's way of saying that no one under the age of 18 was allowed to leave the store with this illicit material. Well, it turns out that the publisher, No Exit Press, was simply commemorating 18 years in the business. So that explains that. But at other times, I found myself glancing over at the cover and thinking that it was one of my Hunter S. Thompson collections- Hunter having been known to lounge on beaches- the cover image of the Hunter doppelganger made more incongruous by the fact that the protagonist of Nunn's novel is not a balding, tough-looking guy in his 40s, but a young kid.

Okay, I'm not sure what No Exit Press was thinking, but rest assured that this book isn't a collection of Hunter's letters, and that Danish pornography is still (presumably) safely confined to Denmark. So how to describe it? People might be tempted to call it a coming-of-age story, or a story of self-actualization- and there's a quality to it that invites such generalizations- but I thought of it primarily as a story of initiation. There's the young protagonist Ike's initiation, for example, into the surfing subculture of Huntington Beach, the same subculture into which his older sister may have disappeared. But we also eventually learn that two of the shadowy and more experienced characters Ike gets involved with, Preston Marsh and Hound Adams, former buddies and business partners now mysteriously estranged, went through their own initiation- a similar progression from relative innocence to corruption.

There's a blurb from Robert Stone on my copy, and Nunn's prose did in fact remind me of Stone's- a solid B, without blowing me away. Many of the descriptive passages in particular seemed to have a few more words than necessary, undermining the poetic resonance that they were reaching for a little too obviously. The dialogue I liked much better, precise and seemingly authentic, both to the characters and to their place and time (which for Nunn I think was just the present day). I got a real kick out of the lingo- the way people used to use "trip", for example, to mean someone's new hobby or way of thinking. Ike? He's on that surfing trip, man. Yeah, you know, getting up every morning at dawn.

The MFA influence seemed strong, making itself felt in those descriptive passages as well as in some of the archetypal beats of the plot. The influence felt to me like a double-edged sword. Was it well-structured, or too conventionally structured? Was the language poetic and moving, or studied and sterile? I often had the feeling that a wild and unrepentant B-movie was trying to break out, and that Nunn kept reigning the wildness back in. Even the batshit and unexpected (by me, at least) climax that almost threw the book into an entirely different genre (and shed some light on the part of the author page that said Nunn's subsequent novel, Unassigned Territory, had been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award), and which involves what I can only describe as a Satanic orgy, felt strangely anodyne, bloodless and sexless, the madness suggested by a man wearing a necklace of human skulls tucked comfortably into a few paragraphs and not rendered very vividly.

That said, I found it pretty gripping as a mystery, and respected its absence of easy explanations. I also thought the book's elegiac quality was authentic and very moving. As in the post-Vietnam novels of Robert Stone and Newton Thornburg, there's this great sense of loss. This feeling that paradise was within our grasp, but we missed it somehow. Preston and Hound had their surf shop and their lifestyle and even some bread, but they blew it. Tapping the Source inspired the movie Point Break, which I'm not sure I would've picked up on, considering how different the stories are. But one thing they do have in common is the sincerity of their characters' quests for transcendent experience. Both stories warn that that pursuit can have a real dark side, but both also allow us to empathize with it.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nunn’s coming of age novel which transcends the limitation of that genre with an unusually likeable protagonist, an interesting mystery, and a setting in a decaying milieu of bikers, surfers, drugs, orgies, punk rock, orgies, porn, ritual murder, and a sense of palpable evil. Each character brings its own set of quirks and contradictions and you never stop guessing what is going on until the very end. An incredible debut and even if you don’t care about surfing(though Nunn very much does and you share his passion as you read) but want to read a modern example of California noir at its most sun bleached and debauched find Nunn.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, I just want to say I have the world's greatest, loveliest goodreads friends. They are smart and classy ladies with great taste in books who respect differing opinions with grace. These gals loved this book and gave it five stars and glowing reviews. Those are the reviews you should probably be reading. This one is from a tired stay-at-home mama who has admittedly odd taste in literature. Anyway, here's my review:

I didn't like this. I couldn't get myself to care about these characters and the surfing scenes went on and on and I'm just not that interested. I found I was zoning out a lot and had to keep going back in the narration and listening to it again. It started pretty strong for me, but as soon as Ike meets up with Preston, things just slowed way down. At least for me. But super DUPER props to this narrator, who was sooooo perfect for this type of thing. This was NOT a poorly written book. On the contrary. It was well written and not corny. A bit too much 'language' for my taste and I do hate,hate,hate the use of the 'N' word, it's just something that really bothers me A LOT. This is not historical fiction or anything, so I really can't see why Mr. Nunn felt like throwing that in there. But I digress. If this is your thing, you'd probably dig it. The writing was pretty solid. It just wasn't for me. But it seems to be for everyone else, so hey, Audible is super great about returns and it is a very summer-type of book, so go ahead: give it a go :)

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genuine, top class, first rate novel. 5*.

[La Librería de Íñigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todo lo que no sea calificar a esta novela como extraordinaria, sería cometer una injusticia. Qué pedazo de novela

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting contrast to Don Winslow's The Dawn Patrol in the small world of surf noir. Winslow's book is a little too cartoonish, with characters that could have come out of a USA Network series c. 1994 (Hey, remember Pacific Blue?). This one seems a little ponderous. That's probably a reflection of style. Thirty years ago you could have your characters self-interrogate themselves as a way of mapping for the reader the development in both character and plot. But now it seems sorta silly for characters to stop mid-action to ask very important questions such as .... What could it mean? For those interested in how style has had to become more streamlined and less internal to exist in a LOL/ROFLMAO world, it makes you wonder. Didn't it ever seem sort of fake to them? How could they not know it wouldn't age well? Why would one not appreciate how it feels like a contrivance? And while we're at it: To be or not to be?

That said, there's a level of surf mysticism that sorta fun here and as close to what surf noir should be as any other novel trying to fit into this subgenre. Tapping the Source, of course, refers to the ability to connect into the Godhead of one's potential while slicing a wave. At least, it seems to mean that until deep in the novel it's revealed that TTS actually means something quite different ... something that speaks to the fall into cynicism and corruption that surf culture underwent as it was commercialized on the one hand and corrupted on the other by the Mansonization of youth in the late sixties. And so we have the suitably sleazy Milo Trax, a figure of exploitation. Then there's the naive child, Ike, looking for a lost sister. And somewhere in the middle the Abel and Cain of brahdom, Prez and Hound. One felt such guilt for going to the dark side he went to Vietnam as punishment. The other threw himself into the corruption. Which mentor will Ike choose? Will he ever find his lost sister? And will he ever become a good surfer? And just how many fucking question marks are in this book anyway?

No, seriously, it's entertaining. I read it while trapped for a day in an airport. It's more substantial than Dawn Patrol and has many unremarked upon similarities to Robert Stone's Dog Soldiers, especially in the climactic scene that many people here feel costs the storyline its credibility. I'll be reading more Nunn to see how he developed and how his perceptions of surf culture have changed since this cult fave boogied upon the board of readers' oceanic hearts.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A page-turner noir tale of a surfing/bike town with troubled people. To tell more would tell the plot, and that is something that I don't want to do. A very good novel.

[Kandice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I didn't see that coming!!!! 2.5 stars...

Eighteen year old, Ike Tucker is on a mission to find out what happened to his sister, Ellen, who up and left their desert home. After being tipped off, he heads to Huntington Beach, CA. with nothing more than a few hundred bucks and the names of 3 men who were intimately connected with Ellen. Ike is cautious and befriends some local surfers, keeping his motives at bay. Over time, he begins putting pieces of the puzzle together or so he thinks…

I read this along with some other GR ladies whom I deeply respect and enjoy. We were pretty much divided; 2 loved it, 2 didn’t love it, and 1 abandoned it. The book was well-written, but the story wasn’t my “wave”. I would, however, recommend Tapping the Source as a summer read for a book club. It is sure to create some interesting discussions. The entertainer in me would suggest hosting your meeting on the beach :-)

Later Dudes!

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate using the word "gritty" in relation to books, particularly in this case where it seems to be the default reviewers' adjective, along with "noir" and "sun-bleached."

But gritty she be. This is a gritty, dirty, greasy novel. If it were an object poem it would be cigarette butts, surf wax, warm Mountain Dew, hot sand and lubricated engine parts. Mmm. Lots of drugs, fistfights, yucky sex, culty violence, male bonding, formative mystical experiences, lost youth. It didn't leave me feeling good, but it was honest, uncontrived.

The whole "surf-noir" tag is totally weird, though, since I don't think there's anything noir about it. Ike's just a kid looking for his sister.

[Shek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is touted as the best ever surfing novel, or a pre-eminent example of "surf noir", and I'm pretty sure it's the only novel I've read that fits easily into either category. They don't tell you this, but it's also a great example of a novel that's running along fine and then suddenly plunges off a cliff. I mean, what the hell was that with the [spoiler]? And the [major spoiler]? That didn't even make any sense! A poorly explained tangent into the realm of [spoiler] aside, it's a fine, well-put-together piece of genre fiction.

[Marisolera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chico de pueblo llega a la costa de California en busca de su hermana desaparecida y se queda impactado por el mundo del surf, las drogas y las fiestas. Se hace amigo de un motero macarra y lo de la búsqueda de la hermana queda un poco en segundo plano mientras surfea, folla y se droga. Hay una historia de fondo q solo conocemos al final, y una fuga un tanto de McGyver.

En este libro se basa la película "Le llamaba Bodhi", aunque a mí no me lo parece. Me parece q deja las cosas a medio cocer, que no remata.

[chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, his suitcase checked at the bus depot because it was still too early to look for a room, he stood at the rail of the Huntington Beach pier and found it hard to believe that he had actually come. But he had.

If you are looking for a book about surf culture's easy-going way of life, accompanied with music by The Beach Boys, sun-bleached hair, tanned skin and no bad vibes, bruh all day, every day, Tapping the Source isn't it.

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Huntington Beach, California has a small town feel to it. For most people it's just a stop along the way to a better life, wherever that may be. There are (of course) the surfers, but also bikers, drifters, drug dealers, Vietnam war veterans, punks and teenage runaways living in seedy apartment complexes, trying to get by.
Overall there isn't much going on within the story itself, but for some reason I still couldn't stop turning the pages. It was fun exploring these streets and beaches and getting to know various groups of shady people with Ike Tucker, an eighteen year old desert town hick - sort of - looking for his missing sister when he isn't sidetracked by sex, drugs and the surf which happens pretty much all the time.

My biggest problem was the ending. Not because it was weird (reading it, don't forget that this part of California was still in recovery from the aftermath of the Mansion Family even in 1984 when this book was first published) but because it felt rushed. Before the story just stumbled along and all of a sudden almost out of nowhere crazy shit starts happening and that's it.

But like I said, it was fun, nonetheless. And to someone who was never even near an ocean or a surf board before, the descriptions about surfing, the water and the waves not only were beautiful but also felt authentic and approachable - I could almost smell the surfwax.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young men get their initiation into the hip world by bringing young women like lambs to the slaughter to older men; young women get theirs by giving their bodies to older men and then get tossed aside, forgotten, a footnote. Thought most of the prose/writing here was sturdy but unspectacular but Ike bringing the first set of teenaged girls to party with the older surf crew, imagining a young man just like him, taking his sister to the party that leads to her disappearance, realizing he’s doing what was done to her, is one of the best written pieces of fiction (if a tad on the nose) I think I’ve read about masculine initiations rituals and rites of passage buttressing the same patriarchal systems of violence that terrorize our mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives yet feeling stuck on the course of preserving them, their hold inescapable on the imagination of 18 year old boys.

The other portion I found compelling (beyond some cool surf writing) was the corruption of the pure surfing mysticism, the idea that money had come in and ruined Preston and Hound’s relationship with each other and their sport as the sport itself exploded into an iconic figure of culture and a multi-million dollar industry, the naivety and beauty and purity of sport and of being in the ocean corrupted by outside forces looking to make a buck or capitalize on the status symbol until one has no choice but to either give it up or give into it entirely.

Don’t think the ending was shocking direction for it head in but was left wishing it had been a little more visceral, a little more leaning into its sick impulses, rather than using implication and the narrator’s state of mind to leave it in a hazy fog that the reader can’t really fill in gruesome details into.

[Stephen Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

At its core Tapping the Source is a meditation on loneliness. Ike Turner, a kid from California's Inland Empire, comes to Huntington Beach in search of his sister. He quickly becomes caught in Southern California's surfing culture and takes solace among the waves as he learns to surf. There's something pure and true about the ocean in Nunn's novel. However, that purity has been corrupted by a decaying surfing culture.

This corruption of purity is a central theme in the novel. Ike searches throughout the novel for a personal connection with someone that is real, the way it was with his sister before she vanished. This search is mirrored in his connection to the ocean.

Beyond these meditations, Tapping the Source has some pretty colorful characters and a fantastic noir mystery, the kind of story that peels away, like an onion, getting more and more complex.

A lot has been said about the ending, most of it negative. I thought that the ultimate revelation of what was at the core of the mystery was less unexpected than others seem to think. Nunn left a lot of bread crumbs. More importantly, it ties in well with the themes of the novel. Its a weird ending, to be sure, but I guess I just like my noir weird.

Its a great read and a very unique take on the mystery genre. I'm eager to read more Nunn.

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard about this book for quite some time. Now I know why.

A great read, it works as a surfing novel, a crime novel and a coming-of-age story. The three come together to create not only an original world, but a story that is both gripping and never predictable.

It allows all the characters to find both the dark and light sides of their humanity. The relationships between characters are immediately complex and real.

I highly recommend TAPPING THE SOURCE. Well-written, insightful, and a blast.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok I see you surf noir 🌊 🖤 3.5 stars

[Alex Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most hyper-specifically targeted towards me things I think i have ever read.

[Numo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7

[Corto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago, and loved it - up until the ending. I couldn’t suspend that much disbelief. However, this was a brilliantly written piece of California-Surf-Noir. It was really gripping, gritty, the characters finely drawn, and the atmosphere that Nunn describes was enveloping. Highly recommend despite its flaws.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling and bleak. A top quality slice of contemporary noir.

[Lance Charnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surf noir has been around about as long as surfing has been in the popular mind -- for one, Ross Macdonald dipped a toe in it in 1962 -- and its current strongest practitioner is Don Winslow, whose works I've reviewed in the past. But Kem Nunn was working this wave before Winslow paddled in, and Tapping the Source is the first of his six widely-spaced novels. It exhibits many of the characteristics of a debut: uniqueness, passion, but also issues with pacing and plot resolution.

A wayward mother dumped Ike, our eighteen-year-old protagonist (it's hard to call him a hero), in a dead-end desert town. He and sister Ellen grew up longing to go elsewhere, which Ellen eventually did, falling off the map in the process. Then news from Out West sends Ike to Surf City USA, looking for the only person in the world whom he really cares for. He finds that all is not Jan and Dean on the edge of the Pacific.

Ike -- quiet, suspicious, shy, self-conscious, naïve -- is vividly drawn. By his nature he's hard to cozy up to, and in many places you'll want to hit him with a clue stick, but that's a function of who he is. He reacts to events in the way you might expect a closed-in kid might, which doesn't always make a lot of sense and isn't always in his best interest. Nunn avoided the trap of making him an investigative adept, natural-born hustler, or quick study; he's a plodder in a milieu that eats up plodders without a thought.

That milieu is the Huntington Beach, California of 1984, before redevelopment and gentrification wiped out the beach slum, erased the jagged edges and made Surf City safe for rich suburbanites. The HB we see through Ike's eyes is a festering pit of losers, druggies, lost children, mad dogs, gangs (motorcycle and otherwise), and the two-bit businesses that feed off them. Nunn's scene-setting is atmospheric and easily visualized, and most of the supporting cast members are clearly defined and true to their types. Preston and Hound -- the yin-and-yang natural forces who try to lay claim on Ike's soul -- are both fully realized characters who could easily carry their own stories.

So why not five stars? As mentioned earlier, Ike is true to his nature, but his nature isn't especially dynamic, and as a result he spends a good deal of time drifting. No doubt a real Ike would do the same, but his lack of drive robs an already prolonged Act II of the energy it needs. You'll guess the supporting cast's secrets much sooner than Ike does, which robs them of their impact. Baddie Milo Drax is much typier than the other major characters; his daddy is Blofeld, and his siblings are all the other slick-entrepreneurs-with-hearts-of-slime that we've seen on TV and in books and films over the past thirty years. While the much-maligned climax makes a certain topical sense -- in 1984, Manson still cast a long shadow over the Southland, and serial killers were all the thing -- if reader comprehension is the author's major goal, it's truly unhelpful to have his POV character stoned as well as generally clueless.

Tapping the Source is a good book that could have been great but for Nunn's rookie mistakes. I hope to read one of his later works to see how he's developed as a writer. This has been called one of the great California crime novels. That may overstate the case, but it's a moody, atmospheric evocation of Southern California surf culture before the developers paved it over. Just expect to respect it more than you enjoy it or are thrilled by it.

[Jack Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read "The Magus" by John Fowles in my early 20s, and ever since that point, I've been looking for books that have that special "Magus feel." You "Magus" readers out there know what I'm talking about, right? That peculiar combination of mystery and menace, beauty and terror, the political and the social and the psychosexual... "Magus feel." You get this addictive, almost shameful sensation from reading that book, like you and John Fowles are committing some sort of perverse criminal act together....

Yeah, that's the sensation for which I've been searching for close to a decade now. It's taken me in the direction of all kinds of "literary thrillers," most of which are too frickin literary for their own good (allusions and intertextuality have a weird habit of ruining suspense!). Kem Nunn's "Tapping the Source," known as a foundational text in "surf noir," could've easily been one of these "near miss" experiences. It's not. It's fantastic. It's got MAGUS FEEL!

The book advertises that it was the inspiration for "Point Break." Now, before you say "ha ha," let me first remind you that "Point Break" FUCKING RULES. I probably watch it once a year, and there's only one other movie I can say that about ("my mouth's bleeding, Bert!"). Like "Tapping the Source," "Point Break" really works as both a conventional thriller and a serious interrogation of certain ideas about life, masculinity, and "whoa." And yet, I'd say "Point Break" probably has roughly half the impact of its source material. Kathyrn Bigelow's film is, after all, a Hollywood action movie made at the height of the Reagan-Clinton era... It's got ideas, but it's also got pretty routine ideas about good and evil (Keanu Reeves, the hero, is an FBI agent who used to be a fucking Ohio State quarterback (I live in Columbus: that's as completely heroic as it gets around here); Patrick Swayze, the villain, is a bank robber) and a whole lot of stunts and setpieces that are perfectly filmed but ultimately, you know, "whoa" scenes in an action movie.

"Tapping the Source," which came out of nowhere (Kem Nunn apparently surfed and worked on boats before publishing this, his first novel), is in no such way beholden to formula. It's noir detective hero is not a hotshot cop, but a teenage kid from the sticks: Ike Tucker. His past does not involve sports glory, but rather confusion, poverty, and possible incest. His incursion into the world of surfing does contain moments of sheer gorgeousness, a la "Point Break," but I can't say it made me eager to reach Huntington Beach: the antagonists here, the pack of surfer creeps who Ike tries to get in with, are not the almost cuddly, fun-loving jocks of Bigelow's film. These are truly dangerous, threatening men, as dark and fucked up a cast of villains as I can recall. Young Ike's efforts to navigate their world begin with a sort of "teenage sleuth" fun... And devolve into a mess of drugs and puke and porn and amputation and violence and degradation...

It's a disturbing, haunting slide from extreme highs to deep, punishing lows, this book. In its sharply written but totally unpretentious way, "Tapping the Source" is about the human spirit, I guess. Which is to say, it's got Magus feel. Which is also to say, it's the best book I've read this year... The best book I've read in a good long time.

[Emma Grove · Rating 3 out of 5]

the actual storyline of this book was super interesting but this gets a low rating because of how badly i hated the characters. my god i wanted to push ike in front of a semi. he goes to the beach to search for his sister, who seems to be mostly forgotten about anyway until the last few chapters (as he gets distracted by everything else). also are we just ignoring his disgusting weird perverted attraction to her??

spoilers below:
okay so ike won’t bring michele to hounds because he’s jealous of other guys hitting on her. makes sense. but then he goes around hooking up with all these random girls?? getting drugged up & drunk and banging every chick who walks in? and doesn’t tell michele about any of it. then he physically hurts michele. then he has the nerve to get mad that michele hangs out with hound?? AFTER he’s spent the last months cheating on her every night? okay then. what a hypocritical entitled disgusting person. hated him so much.

preston and morris and hound and everybody else were all insufferable and annoying, at least preston redeemed himself in the end.

the whole cult ritual was so out of left field that it kind of ruined the ending. would’ve liked it more if it was a little toned down and more realistic.

[J. Carroll · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard to believe this was a national book award finalist. The prose is flaccid and sloppy, The characters, especially the women, one-dimensional cliches. As for surfing there is very little of it. The voice is inauthentic and it is clear to me that the author is not of the generation that is protagonist is. As it turns out he's a boomer just like all the other people that ruin everything in America. I stuck with this until the very end, but his action scene was so confusing and stupid that I couldn't get through it all. Do yourself a favor and skip it. This guy is a hack.

[Lenny Husen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best coming of age novel I've ever read. Gritty, extremely well read, themes of murder, corruption, cheap sex, drugs, a boy loses the one person he has ever loved, his sister, and embarks on a quest to find her. Beautifully written, unforgettable. Every teenager and young adult in the USA should read this book.

[Topherjaynes · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the hated it camp. Story meandered and didn’t follow along.