One storyline develops in 1942, when Igor Ismailov, the son of Russian emigrants, left the university and entered the US Naval Aviation as a pilot. He takes part in the famous Battle of the Coral Sea. His fighter was shot down. He spends several days in the ocean. He is washed up on a coral island. Here he meets the Italian researcher Cleo Mandini. After some time, a secret is revealed to him: the locals worship a god - a giant shark, whose name is Rickem-bo or “Guarding the Shore”. Second storyline. This is 1947. After leaving the navy, Igor Ismailov teaches at the University of Berkeley. He learns from newspapers about cases of disappearances of people and ships off the coast of California. Soon his friend George Gabor disappears. Not long after this, Gabor admitted to Ismailov that he had been feeling under surveillance lately. He doesn't know who exactly is watching him. The FBI has its own interest in the red writer, because the “Witch Hunt” initiated by Senator McCarthy is in full swing in the country. But on the other hand, Gabor has recently become disillusioned with Stalinist socialism, and says he wants to talk about it frankly in his new book. He receives threats. After the disappearance of his friend Gabor on the ferry "Fast Georg", Ismailov begins his own investigation into the mysterious disappearances on the coast. He seeks a meeting with the famous professor, shark specialist Higgins, who believes that all the recent disappearances of people and ships are associated with the appearance in these waters of a giant white shark - megalodon. But after Igor fails to get on the professor’s expedition, he hires the most famous shark hunter on the entire West Coast, nicknamed Jeff. At the same time, a criminal intrigue is swirling around Ismailov. ATTENTION: the work has an age limit of 16+ When creating the cover, I was inspired by the image proposed by the author.