This started with such promise…….and then, well, it was downhill all the way. Initially I enjoyed the historic asides about maps and explorers, but then they started to intrude more and more, to the point where I skipped them altogether, and I don’t think it made a spot of difference to the story.
Ah, yes, and then there is the story……again, it started well: an archeological dig unearths a body while searching for a [mythical] shipwreck. But then the ‘romance’ elements start to intrude. I’m using the term ‘romance’ ironically as there is nothing romantic about this book or the relationships therein. And it then descends into a turgid pool of angst, animal like ‘f@#cking’(Bradley’s word, not mine), which is supposed to tell us it’s intense? Yuck! I think Bradley was trying to channel The English Patient, with absolutely no success.
There were occasional pretty turns of phrase, but not enough to save this wreck.
I believe this is an HSC text, which I find a very disturbing!