The Wreck of the Mary Deare

The battered hulk of a huge ship looms out of the stinging spray of a furious gale. Only one man, half-mad, remains aboard, working without sleep or sustenance to save her from sinking. But this man is no hero, and this ship was not meant to be saved.

Hammond Innes (1913-1998) was a compulsive writer and traveller. He wrote over 30 books - thrillers with sturdy, plain-speaking British heroes at the centre; ordinary men caught up in impossible events. Innes journeyed all over the world, working as a journalist, whaler, soldier, but primarily sailing the high seas and racing in his yacht the Mary Deare. He turned all of his adventures into stories, and many of them were bestsellers.