Gallows on the Sand
Gallows on the Sand is a 1956 novel by Morris West. It was the first novel he published under his own name. He later claimed it was written in seven days for $250 in order to pay a tax bill after he had had a nervous breakdown. West credited the book as launching his career as a novelist. However a later review of the author's career dismissed it as a "potboiler". It was serialised for radio. The book was re-released in 1963 as part of Angus and Robertson's Pacific Book series. Premise . Historican Renn Lundigan hunts for treasure off the Great Barrier Reef. The treasure is minted Spanish gold in a sunken galleon. Renn has to deal with islander Johnny Akimoto, gambling house owner Manny Mannix and beautiful young scientist Pat Mitchell. Reception. The "Argus" said "in spite of a tendency to the rather slick "Randy Stone" radio style, it is a bright, exciting yarn, guaranteed to take your mind off workaday cares. " The "Pacific Island Monthly" called it "a buried treasure trifle." The same magazine later said it was "one of the first novels written by this world wide, best-seller  author and long before he found his metier in the by-ways of Roman Catholicism," adding the book "only goes to prove how far a novelist with what it takes can travel in seven years. "