Jaws is a 1974 thriller by American author Peter Benchley. In the novel, a great white shark attacks people in a small resort town. The local police chief leads a voyage to catch and kill the shark to save the town from financial ruin. The novel was a commercial hit and was adapted into a 1975 film which became the highest grossing movie in history at that time. This guide uses an e-book version of the 2005 Random House edition of Jaws.

Content Warning: This book contains descriptions of animal abuse and animal death.

Plot Summary

Amity is a small resort town in Long Island, New York. The town is reliant on the summer tourist trade, when most of the local businesses make the money which will sustain them through the difficult winter months. One evening, a couple drunkenly frolics on the beach. They do not know that a great white shark is swimming nearby. The woman, Christine “Chrissie” Watkins, decides to swim. She runs into the sea and is killed by the shark. When her friend Tom wakes up, he cannot find Chrissie. He returns to his house, wakes his friends, and files a police report.

The police report is taken by Leonard “Len” Hendricks, who decides to call the Amity police chief, Martin Brody. ’The call wakes Brody; before he leaves, he looks at his sleeping wife, Ellen. They have been married many years and they have three sons together, but Brody knows that Ellen is dissatisfied with her life in Amity. She is from a wealthy background, part of the rich summer tourists who visit Amity and fund its survival through the winters. Ellen has recently been trying unsuccessfully to reconnect with her past, but Brody, a lifelong Amity resident, does not know how to help her. He leaves the house, travels to the police station, and—with Hendricks—searches for Chrissie. They find her mangled corpse on the beach.

Brody wants to close the Amity beaches, but Mayor Larry Vaughan intervenes. He insists that they cannot risk losing the lucrative summer trade, especially with the upcoming Fourth of July weekend. Vaughan convinces Brody to work in conjunction with the editor of the local newspaper, Harry Meadows, to keep the shark attack quiet. Brody and Meadows privately speculate about Vaughan’s mysterious business partners.

Several days later, the shark attacks again. A young boy and an old man are killed in separate incidents on the beaches of Amity. Brody hires a fisherman named Ben Gardner to kill the shark, but Gardner disappears from his boat. Brody and Hendricks find damage and bite marks along the hull of the boat; it’s likely Gardner was killed by the shark. Brody struggles with guilt when the young boy’s mother and Gardner’s widow accuse him of causing the deaths. He asks Meadows to delve deeper into Vaughan’s murky past as he attempts to close the beaches again, determined to protect the people even if it costs him his job. Brody is introduced to a shark expert named Matt Hooper, who hails from the nearby oceanographic institute. Hooper is fascinated by the great white shark that’s terrorizing the beaches. Through a twist of fate, Hooper is the younger brother of a man Ellen once dated. Like Ellen, Hooper is from a wealthy background and his family used to vacation in seaside resort towns like Amity. His background causes friction with Brody.

Ellen becomes fascinated by Hooper as a link to a past she has been trying to revisit. She throws a dinner party and invites Hooper. Brody does not enjoy the party. He gets drunk and angers Ellen, who seems to be flirting with Hooper. The next day, Brody goes to work, and Ellen decides to call Hooper. They arrange to meet for lunch, and, after a long conversation, they go to a motel and have sex. Brody suspects his wife of having an affair, but he is too scared to accuse her or Hooper directly. The paranoia festers in his mind and torments him.

After several days without an attack or even a sighting, Vaughan convinces Brody to reopen the beaches. According to Meadows, Vaughan is heavily compromised by his involvement in organized crime. If the house prices in Amity drop, Vaughan stands to lose everything to a local mobster. Vaughan denies the accusations at first, but he becomes increasingly fraught and desperate. Meanwhile, the reopened beaches attract attention. People flock to Amity to see the shark that has now made national news. News reporters film on the beaches and Brody carefully watches the sea. A boy goes swimming and narrowly avoids being killed by the shark. Brody decides that he has no choice but to close the beaches again, regardless of the Fourth of July weekend. Vaughan spirals into alcoholism and threatens to leave Amity.

Brody is desperate for a solution. He agrees to hire a local fisherman named Quint, who has a reputation as a hard, laconic man. Quint charges Brody double the normal day rate for his services. Brody and Hooper join him on the boat to hunt for the shark. The long, dull hours they spend on Quint’s boat cause the three men to turn on each other. Arguments break out. Hooper dislikes Quint's methods, particularly his disregard for any environmental laws. Brody still suspects Hooper of having an affair with Ellen. Quint dislikes Brody because Brody knows nothing about fishing or the sea. They spend two days at sea, but they only encounter small blue sharks.

At the end of the second day, they see the shark that has been terrorizing Amity. They realize just how large this particular shark is and the scale of their task. They try and fail to catch the shark, which bites through the thick lines on which they dangle their bait.

While Brody is at sea, Vaughan visits Ellen. He tells her that he plans to flee Amity and he speculates on the life he might have led if he had married Ellen. The conversation with Vaughan makes Ellen reflect on her life and she realizes that she loves her husband. When he returns home, she embraces him.

The men set out again. This time, Hooper brings a submersible cage which allows him to dive in the water and film the shark. After several failed attempts to harpoon the shark, Hooper gets inside the cage. The shark attacks and kills Hooper. Brody is distraught and wants to stop the chase. Quint refuses to stop. He no longer cares about money, only killing the shark. Much to Ellen’s protests, Quint and Brody set out again the next day. This time, the shark attacks the boat. Quint hits the shark with several harpoons, each attached to an empty barrel designed to float on the surface and exhaust the animal. They track it for several hours, but the shark attacks the boat again, causing it to sink and killing Quint. Brody is thrown into the water. The dying shark swims toward him but, just as it is about to reach him, the shark dies. Brody sees the shark and Quint sinking into the ocean depths together and he begins to swim back to shore.