David Norfolk, archaeologist, tragically lost the woman he loved and so he buries his life in the search for the truth about De Cueva's ship which was supposed to have been wrecked on the New South Wales coastline around 1519 - two hundred years prior to Captain Cook. While on a dig, David's team unearths a body; murdered over 50 years before. The mystery of the murdered man is then connected to an old, dying man who lives nearby in a shack. Now the definition of "wrack" in all its seven deadly nuances connects up.

Set in a shack by the beach, the narrator unfolds the subversion, the revenge, the retributive punishment of the old impaired man. David listens to his tale while waiting for vital clues to the wreck. This tale is a dark tale of lust and betrayal between two men who shared the same obsession for a ship wreck and a woman. The cruel twist at the end may or may not be the redemptive moment for David but it surely has the potential.

James Bradley writes in an engaging and elegant style. He informs, reports and observes the history and characters in a clear, restrained voice and yet just below the surface there is a poetic and passionate sense of feeling. Matthew Condon describes the book as "assured" and I think this is a most apt description. The narrative is held together with great control and force from beginning to end, especially with such a difficult theme of what is real and what is ephemeral, as suggested by the image of the unconfirmed buried ship covered by the ever shifting sand dunes.

A great read on many levels.