A scientist discovers a rare shark in Indonesia and strikes a deal with locals to let it survive. A group of traders huddles around a pile of shark fins on a gleaming white floor in Hong Kong. A Papua New Guinean elder shoves off in a hand-carved canoe to summon a shark with ancient magic. In this eye-opening adventure, which spans the globe, Juliet Eilperin explores why, after millions of years, sharks remain among nature's most awe-inspiring creatures. She also shows the fascinating ways in which humans relate to the ocean's top predator. From the Bahamas, to South Africa, to Shanghai, sharks are still the object of an obsession that may eventually lead to their extinction. This is why film stars go big-game fishing in Miami and why shark's fin soup is a coveted status symbol in China. Yet people and sharks can also exist alongside each other: surfers tolerate their presence and eco-tourists swim with sharks that locals no longer need to hunt.