It is a time-honored convention of the action-and-adventure tale that what the main characters fear the most as the story begins will be what they must face and defeat as the plot progresses. When viewers of The Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) find out that Indiana Jones is afraid of snakes they know that he will encounter more snakes than he could ever imagine even in his worst nightmare. Reef of Death is no exception to this hallowed principle of increasing physical fear through psychological terror. PC McPhee (Peter Collins McPhee) has a "deep-seated fear," "The fear of being eaten alive." Readers may be certain that being eaten alive is a probable fate that will confront our hero. Reef of Death thus features a huge, mysterious fish that lives near a reef, one that answers an "EEEEEEE. EEEE." sound in the water by rising...