Beneath the calm aqua waters of the Great Barrier Reef, there is an on-going war of survival. It is a war of survival among the creatures, the life-forms and the coral that make up the reef. It is so threatened it could disappear within 30 years. Above the reef on a small coral cay - Branch Island - two communities come together in an uneasy alliance: a tourist resort and a scientific research station.

Ambitious Blair Towse is appointed assistant manager of the resort with his university graduate wife Jennifer, who finds herself isolated, lonely and forced to confront her childhood fear of the sea. On the surface, the island is all you could wish for: a lush resort, a naturalist's dream, a diver's delight. But Jennifer begins to discover the island holds secrets and dangers.

She befriends an old beachcomber who introduces her to the small band of marine scientists and students at the research station. When world famous oceanographer Maria Belitas arrives, Jennifer learns to see the world - above and below the sea - very differently. Maria teaches her to come to terms with the phobias of her widowed mother as well as her own disintegrating marriage.

But no one - not even investigative journalist Tony Adams - could have prepared Jennifer for the shocking revelations of what is really happening on Branch Island. Or the dramatic confrontation between her mother and her mentor when a family secret rocks and changes Jennifer's life.

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About the Author

Di Morrissey is one of Australia's bestselling international novelists. She trained as a journalist with Australian Consolidated Press and became Women's Editor for The Daily Mail Group in London. She had her own television program in the United States on CBS and was a regular presenter on Australia television. In addition to radio broadcasting, she has written for TV, film and theatre. She is the author of 23 bestselling novels including The Winter Sea and lives in Manning Valley, New South Wales, Australia.

From AudioFile

Di Morrissey's novel celebrates life as it exists in the Great Barrier Reef. Narrator Kate Hood's voice provides an enthusiastic appreciation for the drama that pervades this audiobook when Jennifer's husband takes her to live on an island even though she is terrified of the ocean. Jennifer finds herself drawn to a research station and its staff at the same time that she discovers her marriage is falling apart. The majority of Hood's performance is quite pretty and highly capable. Occasionally, some voices engaged in conversation sound exaggerated and forced as a result of infusing them with too much drama, but, overall, the vocal development of setting and conflict suit the audiobook. Listeners will be interested in what takes place both above and beneath the surface of THE REEF. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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