Reef of Death

Reef of Death is a 1998 novel by Paul Zindel published by HarperCollins(1998) and Hyperion.

Plot

In the story, a 17 year old boy named Peter Collins McPhee is called by his Uncle Cliff to solve a mystery in Australia. A young Aboriginal girl named Maruul's brother has gone suddenly missing while searching for their tribe's treasure, told of in a riddle. She says there was a terrible screeching sound, and a boat came near just as her brother disappeared. Peter(P.C. for short, also called this because he loves playing computer games) finds that there is a killer creature living in the depths of the reef. The creature attacks and kills his uncle, and the two kids go to Wally Wallygong, a fishing shop owner who is, in fact, Aboriginal. He explains the riddle. Afterwards, they all go to the reef location of the creature and pretend to be attacked by snakes. The strange ship that has been passing by takes them onboard. They attempt to escape and are almost killed. They find out that the captain of the ship has had the treasure all along, and was making the screeching noise, which signaled the creature to attack. She also plans to destroy the treasure. P.C. tricks the creature into eating the captain, and Maruul returns to her village with the treasure.