Treasure under water

Press, 18 September 1976, Page 13

Treasure under water

The Deep. By Peter Benchley. Andre Deutsch. 251 pp. N.Z. price $7.80. (Reviewed by Robin Smith)

Treasure from a Spanish galleon wreck on a coral reef off Bermuda, drugs, villains and a big tragic St David islander for a hero — predictable enough stuff for Peter Benchley’s follow-up to “Jaws” to make it light and enjoyable, if a bit flimsy. On a dive on the reef, a honeymooning couple from New York find a small glass ampoule from a war-time wreck. They also come across the remains oi a Spanish piece of eight. Coincidence has thrown two ships up at exactly the same point on the same reef, one in 1715, the other in 1943. The ampoule turns out to contain morphine, and a survivor from the wreck says there are 500,000 ampoules on the reef. The couple set out to recover the drugs and whatever they can find of the Spanish treasure. Cloche, the villain of the piece, is after the drugs, but the couple’s new-found friend, Romer Treece, is determined he shall not. get them- In the race to find the ampoules there are underwater fights, sharks, moray eels, and finally explosives. Also the couple recover some treasure from the Spanish wreck.