The Peter Benchley Collection

 

Three exciting novels of danger and adventure

 

Peter Benchley took the reading world by storm with the publication of Jaws, the first of his megathrillers that not only kept readers on the edge of their seats (and away from the water), but also were regularly turned into blockbuster movies. Here are three of his most memorable.

 

Jaws A great white shark terrorizes a Long Island beach community. One of the scariest, most thrilling novels ever written.

 

Beast Benchley returns to the rollercoaster excitement of his first novel, only this time the villain is a giant squid threatening the island of Bermuda.

 

The Girl of the Sea of Cortez Benchley’s most well-reviewed book. A fable about man's complicated relationship with the sea, highlighting the author’s dedication to protecting the marine environment—while still telling a corker of a story.

Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) After graduating from Harvard in 1961, Peter Benchley worked as a reporter for The Washington Post, then as an editor at Newsweek and a speechwriter in the White House. Jaws was his first novel and became a bestseller. It was followed by seven other novels, the nonfiction Shark Trouble, and dozens of magazine articles and television documentaries about the sea. In addition to writing, he worked full-time as a marine conservationist, speaking to audiences around the world and preparing and appearing in many short films for aquariums and museums. Peter Benchley died in 2006.

 

 

Reader’s Digest Condensed Books service has been satisfying readers for over 60 years. Launched in 1951, the series was originally a spinoff of the popular fiction supplements to Reader’s Digest Magazine. It quickly became a bestselling phenomenon standing on its own, publishing continuously since its launch, presently issuing six volumes annually, each volume containing four complete books. Now we are collecting the best among the hundreds of authors and thousands of titles we have used, each volume containing three titles by one author, modern classics by modern masters.