“Untamed Coast” is the debut novel by Kevin C. Morris. The story occurs along a body of water called the Lisianski Inlet, near the remote, real-life town of Pelican, Alaska.
The Lisianski Inlet is a steep-sided fjord carved out by ancient glaciers between the towering mountains of Chichagof Island and Yakobi Island. Morris, an engineer, pilot, and boater by trade, spent many of his summers on and around the Alaskan coast. During one summer in 2016, he happened upon a mystery that inspired him to write this book.
Gold mining was a significant industry around Pelican back in the 1930s. Morris heard tell of a radio outpost, dubbed Radioville, on one of the thousands of untamed islands in the area. The owner, it was said, used to row out to that shack and relay Morse code messages back and forth between the gold miners and the outside world.
The setup made no sense to Morris, who thought that a relay spot nearer to the mine itself would’ve been the logical choice. The story he came up with was, essentially, his answer to the mystery.
Three Alaskan Tales
“Untamed Coast” moves between three different timelines: 1938, 1982, and 2017.
In the 2017 segments, Marconi Franco is anchored during a storm when he intercepts a faint radio distress message from a woman; the message cuts in and out, mentioning something about a “red roof.” Her voice calling for help in the darkness triggers an immediate association with the last days of his wife, Michelle. He feels an overwhelming guilt and remorse for her death.
Marco contacts the Coast Guard, who say that there are no reports of anyone missing or in distress. They suggest that the call could’ve been an atmospheric skip from a distant transmission.
Marco learns that the missing woman, Crystal Pyke, was reported overboard by her husband and that the red roof likely belongs to an abandoned 1930s radio outpost. Marco searches the area, spots a suspicious, fast-moving unmarked boat, and hears another cryptic radio exchange.
Slowly, what started as a straightforward rescue attempt turns into a deeper mystery.
Gold Digger
In 1938, Joe Baxter operates the isolated Radioville station he built himself on a lonely island near Sitka. However, the whole setup is really part of a gold-smuggling operation to bypass federal laws.
The local mine supervisor, Sam Worlson, skims nuggets from the mine and delivers the gold to Joe. Native prospector Virgil Fellows is the final link in the scheme; his part is to work a fake mine near Sitka, get the stolen gold from Joe, then claim he found it himself in his mine.
The operation isn’t for the faint of heart, as Joe learns when his boat is capsized by a whale one night. His boat is full of stolen gold, almost dragging him down to oblivion. Joe has been secretly taking half of the smuggled gold for himself and his family, which includes a baby on the way.
He knows his actions aren’t going to sit well with his partners. When the operation is suddenly jeopardized, he realizes that the bill is about to come due.
Cruel Sea
The third timeline takes place in 1982. Anya Baron steers the fishing boat owned by her and her husband, Joe, off the Chichagof coast while he fishes for salmon. Joe is a heavy drinker, and he’s frequently violent towards Anya. Hiding the bruises she gets from him is now a frequent habit.
After a brief period of sobriety and apologies at an island cabin, Joe resumes his drinking; unsurprisingly, his old habits resurface. The next day, while Anya is steering the boat in rough swells, she intentionally forces the throttle forward and steers hard in the opposite direction. When she looks back, Joe’s no longer on the deck.
Playing the role of a grieving widow, she goes through her late husband’s papers and discovers that a real estate company wanted to buy their island cabin. Joe, who’d inherited the island from a father he never knew, had turned them down. Anya might be interested in selling, but she’s about to get much more than she bargained for.
Promising Debut
Having a good feel for the Alaskan environment enables Morris to add those authentic touches to “Untamed Coast”—a critical necessity. Exotic settings always benefit immensely from the insights of an author who knows what he’s writing about.
The first few chapters show signs of a newbie writer: Morris’s attempts at imagery and describing Marco’s emotional turmoil are a bit clunky, hampering the initial momentum. When the plot starts to take hold, he wisely lets the action be the main engine for the story and keeps the artistic flair to a minimum.
The plot won’t likely surprise seasoned thriller readers very much. Morris leans a bit too much toward the modern feminist clichés, including the tiresome “girl boss” trope, as Anya evolves from blameless victim to empowered woman without much explanation. The other characters similarly lack much of an arc, which makes the book drag as the story progresses.
In the end, “Untamed Coast” is an overall enjoyable and competent, if safe, thriller with a rich setting. It will be interesting to see what author Morris brings out in the future.
‘Untamed Coast: A Novel’
By Kevin C. Morris
Ballantine Books: Sept. 1, 2026
Hardcover, 304 pages
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