The Borough Press sinks its teeth into literary novel inspired by character from 'Jaws'

The Borough Press has acquired Quint, a literary novel inspired by the “grizzled seaman of Peter Benchley’s film ‘Jaws’”, by Robert Lautner.

Suzie Dooré, editor at large, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from James Gill at United Agents. Quint will be published in hardback in February 2024, on the 50th anniversary of the release of “Jaws”.

The publisher says: “Quint, played in the film by Robert Shaw, is a cult figure, who famously survived the Second World War sinking of the USS Indianapolis, where almost 1,000 men died in shark-infested seas. The novel follows his life from the aftermath of that incident until his arrival on the island of Amity, and flashes back to the scene of the tragedy in a heart-stopping, vivid first-person narrative.”

Lautner describes Quint as “a character story – a novel about a man, and someone I feel I know.” He continued: “I hope it’s also a tribute to the hundreds of sailors and marines from the USS Indianapolis who lost their lives in the most horrific circumstances imaginable, and a tribute motivated by arguably one of the greatest speeches in cinema. It’s only a four-minute speech but a lot happens in those four minutes.