Reef of Death is one of a series of thrillers that Zindel has recently been writing, and of particular interest to readers of this book is Loch (1994; see separate entry, Vol. 9), another primarily aquatic adventure involving frightening beasts lurking underwater. The plot of Loch deals not with conflict among humans as does much of Reef of Death but rather turns on the fate of plesiosaurs, hungry survivors of the dinosaur ages. In Reef of Death the monster fills a secondary role as one among several sources of chills. In Loch, three young people take on a rapacious research expedition bent on capturing the plesiosaurs dead or alive—more likely dead. Its bloody scenes are at least equal to those in Reef of Death, and its protagonists are as appealing. Loch has the greater literary merit of the two novels, featuring as it does a more...