A strong first novel from B.C. journalist and travel writer Iain Lawrence, The Wreckers is immediately gripping, from its opening scene of a shipwreck. John, the 14-year-old narrator, survives the waves only to face another fight for his life. He discovers that he’s landed in a remote Cornwall community that lives off the spoils of shipwrecks. Not content to wait for ships to founder on their treacherous rocks, some of the townsfolk summon ships to their death with beacons, and then murder the survivors. John teams up with Mary, a Cornish girl disgusted by her community’s work, to put an end to the wrecking and save the only other survivor from John’s ship: his father.

Lawrence’s style is always lively and evocative, racing the reader along without ever losing the tang of the sea. From the first page, he establishes a dark mysterious tone to prepare the reader for the macabre events that unfold. Lawrence betrays a relentless fascination with the ghoulish: the bleak timbre of the novel is unleavened by humour or joy. His diction, however, is richly varied and fresh, yet accessible to young adult readers.

The Wreckers is driven by plot and atmosphere: characterization is given secondary importance. At the conclusion, we know little more about John than we did at the beginning. His yen for the seafaring life is unshaken by ships he has seen in distress in the Cornish harbour, but we are not shown why. Mary’s sudden willingness to martyr herself to stop the wrecking also seems insufficiently motivated, as she initially appears to take her community’s way of life for granted. The adult characters form the traditional Gothic cast of enigmatic uncles and sinister priests. Nevertheless, Lawrence has created a totally credible 18th-century setting and a very exciting story.