It was Idriess' first novel and was semi-autobiographical, although he invented the love interest at the insistence of the publisher.

[1][2] Jack Burnett decides to go prospecting on an uninhabited island in the Barrier Reef with a friend.

In Cairns, Jack runs into the Japanese smugglers, but manages to escape with the help of a woman he has fallen in love with.

[1][5][6] Idriess fictionalised the story, including a subplot about opium smuggling.

[1][9][10][11][12] The novel was serialised for radio in 1941,[13] the first time one of his books was so adapted,[14] and on which it was read by Ellis Price.