Riley James’ debut The Chilling was a survival thriller set in the icy wastes of Antarctica. Her follow-up also has elements of survival thriller but this time the action is set in a slightly (only slightly) more hospitable landscape. Once again, James manages to pull readers into the struggle to stay alive in a remote, dangerous location.
The Wreck opens with probably a little too much exposition. A podcast transcript tells part of the story of missing pilot Donovan ‘Van’ Spector. Spector’s Tiger Moth aeroplane disappeared over Bass Strait (the rough seas that lie between the Australian mainland and Tasmania) in 1977 and has never been found. The nature of Van’s final broadcast has led many to believe that he was abducted by aliens particularly as his plane disappeared in an area known as the ‘Bermuda Triangle of the South’. One of those believers is academic Waffle Adams who has made himself an outsider by his advancement of the UFO theory. The narrative will return to this podcast at various points to further flesh out Van’s story and the theories behind his disappearance.
The main narrative picks up in 1997 when Adams and his PhD student Teo Young have a possible lead on the wreckage of Van’s plane, spotted on a small uninhabited island in the Strait. However, disaster strikes the small fishing boat that they have chartered leaving Teo and deckhand Hannah stranded on the island. Teo and Hannah soon find they have to contend with more than just the elements while also hoping they can solve the riddle of Van’s disappearance.
James has already shown in The Chilling that she can deliver an effective survival thriller set in the most inhospitable landscape on Earth. In The Wreck things are slightly easier for Teo and Hannah. The temperatures are above freezing, there is fresh water and animals, and they have a form of shelter. But there are other dangers and readers are likely to still be drawn in by their fight for survival, heightened and complicated by a series of twists, turns and revelations.
The Wreck by Riley James
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