The Malacca Straits have an exquisite place in maritime folklore. Stories of pirates, treasure, battles, deceptions, lost love and shipwrecks abound.
This tale follows Terry, a young oilfield worker, who realizes that an oil field discovered in the Malacca Straits by his employer has somehow been tampered with. The field is situated within an ominous stretch of water guarded by a fearsome mythical beast which, according to local beliefs, must be appeased before human activity can occur. Many strange incidents occur during construction including the gruesome deaths of numerous divers. Terry is made the scapegoat for the company's problems with the field and is fired. In a desperate attempt to clear his name, he sets out with his Indonesian wife, Lestari, to uncover the dark truth. He hopes, against the odds, to clear his name but he could not have known from the outset, how dangerous that would be!

Nigel Smith is William and Annie S. Paton Foundation Professor of Ancient and Modern Literature at Princeton University. His books include A Collection of Ranter Writings (Pluto, 2014), Andrew Marvell: The Chameleon (2010), and Is Milton better than Shakespeare? (2008).