This is a wild story. It’s a little more graphic and gory than my usual tastes, but the story was enough to keep me turning the pages. It’s not an all time favorite but it was definitely an entertaining ride.

I'll be honest about this book; it let me down in some ways. For the most part, it had high reviews from others with many mentioning how scary, thrilling, and even how gory it was. I was looking forward to reading something along those lines; however, this book was not it.

It was set up to be interesting, but there was virtually no action until the second half, with most of it being towards the end. At times, the author began to go into meticulous detail about, for example, what a crow looks like or even what each character was wearing--down to the jean brand. I believe some of the details McKinty gave attention to could have been focused instead on, for instance, what the main characters looked like. I just finished reading it and can't remember the kids' hair colors.

What really saved the book for me (and why I bumped it up a star) was the Heather character gathering her strength and using survival skills her father taught her when she was young to really kick things up a notch. What I enjoyed even more was how I came in expecting there to be a creature–and there was–just not at all what I imagined, and how that part was unique and well-thought-out. It was a good place to end at without having it feel rushed or having a weird, unnecessary twist. It just felt right.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

While not quite as thrilling as “The Chain”, this was another tightly paced, fun page turner from Mckinty. There’s a lot here that feels familiar. “The Island” feels like a lovely mashup of some great horror and action films and we have an excellent final girl in Heather. My minor gripe would be that a lot of it was predictable, but still there were a few surprises and a really nice heart to the book. It was hard to put down and I really enjoyed the characters. This was a blast. Read it! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

A fun quick paced novel about a vacation gone wrong set in Australia. An interesting introduction of social political issues present within Australia. Heather the main character has recently married a widowed doctor with children whose mom has passed away from what the reader is believed to be somewhat suspect circumstances after suffering with MS for an extended period of time. Upon accompanying Tom her new husband and his children to an orthopedic conference in Australia a decision is made to appease the children and everything starts to go wrong. The author does a great job a making the reader question what they would do to protect those who they love and have responsibilities over. There was a great deal of character development throughout the book. I found the dynamics and development of the siblings very interesting and true to life. This novel certainly keeps the reader thinking and on edge until the final conclusion. I would highly recommend this book to any readers looking for a fun fast paced family thriller set in a foreign location. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow! What a ride. Did you read the Chain by Adrian McKinty? I did. And by the way it was great! So that’s why I couldn’t wait to start this one by him. AK writes about unique situation with heart pumping suspense wrapped all around it. I was captivated and highly entertained through out the novel.
You’ll be on the edge of your seat wondering how in the world is this going to end.
AK put me right in the story as I struggled with the fallout wondering what I would do in their situation.
I highly recommend it. I chose to listen and read this in equal measures. Narrated by Mela Lee and she was amazing. Really enjoyed her voice.
Thanks Little, Brown & Co and Hachette Audio via NetGalley.
I’ll leave my review on Instagram, Amazon, FB, BB, B&N and Goodreads

This book was a mixed bag for me. The plot and pacing was great, the writing and character development lacked, so I'm aiming for a middling grade 3🌟 here.

Heather is a young woman, recently married to a much older man with his own children, on a trip with them in Australia, when things go majorly wrong. There were inaccuracies with her age and generation, and awkward attempts at portraying the kids that also felt inept and hopefully those are or will be cleaned up with some editing. That said, these errors didn't overall detract from the book.

The pacing started off slowly but eventually once they are on the island, events pick up very quickly, all the way through to the frenzied ending. as I mentions, I enjoyed the overall plot and pacing, especially as it reads so quickly and easily.

After completing this book I am hesitant to recommend it but certainly if you are one who can overlook lacking elements for overall thrills and plot, this may be a book for you.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company, and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

After reading The Chain by Adrian McKinty and loving it, I had high hopes for The Island, but, alas, it didn’t live up to them.

First, the premise of an inbred family living on an island, is the number one horror trope that freaks me out. Although this wasn’t horror, more suspense with a touch of thriller, I should have been more distrubed than I was. There were a few nasty parts, but I think they could have been delved into a lot more, especially the ants and dogs.

Talking about inbred families and characters in general… there wasn’t enough with the family. They were just angry and mean, for the most part, so when the two nicer characters were written about, those were the two characters that felt a bit more developed. I’m not suggesting that characters need to be nice, actually for me I usually like the evil ones, but they need to have different layers to them and not be a facsimile of a character.

And talking about characters without much depth, unfortunately it was the entire family of tourists. The kids were little brats, the dad was clueless, and the step-mom, Heather, didn’t show any strength… at least for the first half of the book. Honestly if I wasn’t reading it to review it probably would have been a DNF. In the second half Heather finally started showing all the skills she learned from growing up in a cult (alright, it may not have been a cult, but once again, McKinty doesn’t expand upon it enough for us to really know). The kids show more personality than just being little jerks, and the husband, well, you’ll see.

I saw that it’s going to be a show on Hulu, so maybe all the unbelievable parts that were in the book with Heather and the kids hiding and escaping from the inbred family will work better in that format.

Wow.
Adrian McKinty's new book The Island comes out swinging and never lets up. It's an adrenaline rush of a book that reads like an amalgam of Die Hard, Mad Max, and Texas Chain Saw massacre.
Heather Baxter and her family are visiting the Australian Outback and visit the secluded Dutch Island--and things go wrong very quickly.
I really enjoyed Heather as a character and at first she seems like an atypical heroine but by the conclusion you almost feel sorry for those hunting her--they have no idea what they have gotten themselves into--
Thanks to #NetGalley, #Little, Brown and Company, and Adrian McKinty for the AR copy of #TheIsland.

OMGosh! What an intense ride! I was literally tensed up through the entire reading of this book. A new book from the author of The Chain, this one does not disappoint!

An adrenaline rush from start to finish. Good writing and a thriller plot. Some of the characters felt stock, but overall McKinty does a good job with characterization as well. Think Deliverance, an American couple on vacation in Australia accidentally hit and kill a woman with their rental car while driving on a remote island. As they say, the cover-up is often worse than the crime, and the couple's efforts to cover their tracks on the dead woman greatly exacerbate their situation. You see, she's the wife of one of the island's inhabitants, and that will not sit well with the murderous O'Neill. clan. From this jump off point, plenty of thrills ensue. There are a few spots where you have to suspend your disbelief, but this is solid fun. Recommended!

This book had relentless action and heart-pounding twists. Most interesting to me was how the characters were not the same people by the end of the book. Stayed up late to finish this. Recommend for thriller/horror lovers! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is a wild ride right from the get go. A fast paced, nature filled, thriller that will definitely make you question your next family vacation.

I liked the character development II also enjoyed the description of the surroundings of the island. Definitely made you feel as if you were stranded with the Baxter family.

Thank you to the publishers and net Kelly for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I will preface this review by recommending you not start this book unless you have the time to read it all the way through because you won't want to put it down. This was a nail-biting, white knuckling, horrifying journey through the bush on an "island" in Australia. I have actually read several books titled The Island in the last few months that promised suspense and were sorely lacking. This one, I assure you, is just deer in the headlights freaking scary.

An American recently blended family consisting of dad, two teens and his new wife, who is 10 years older than the eldest child, are on a vacation in Australia, where dad is there for an orthopedic conference. The kids are complaining they haven't seen any animals and get the opportunity to see koalas up close, but only if dad coughs up $900 US to go to their private island, which they are warned will be a quick photo op and then usher them off the island. I called it Deliverance in the Outback, which is coincidentally how the author refers to the idea about this book in the acknowledgements. An accidental tragedy occurs and the island's inhabitants are out for blood. Cue the banjos...

I am so impressed with McKinty's ability to create terror. Few books actually manage to scare me but this one did and I do read a lot of horror novels. This would make a fantastic movie. I also have the Chain by this author but have not read it yet. You can bet after reading this one I will move it to the top of my TBR pile. Holy cats what a ride. Bravo.

This book was....weird, haha. The dialogue, the characters, even the setting, all just sort of felt surreal but not in a way that added to the tone or narrative voice at all (imo). It was fast paced, that's for sure, and I was definitely entertained. However, I just couldn't really fully suspend my belief enough to truly enjoy the book. Like on one hand it was pretty solid, but on the other hand I really didn't like the way it was written, hah. I think if you like sort of dreamy, surrealist horror/scary things you'll probably really like this book. I just was not expecting that going in and it really threw off how I felt about the story. I still recommend checking this out because if the premise intrigues you, and you like the writing style, you'll probably have a good time!

Maybe 3.5 stars, but if the idea of a modern version of <i>Deliverance</i> that is a fast-paced page turner appeals to you, this book definitely succeeds on that score. Some of the plot twists and conversations had me rolling my eyes a little bit, but that is par for the course for a mass market thriller.

This starts out fast faced and gets repetitive. I didn't care about these characters and I called the twist early on. I felt a huge relief when I was done.

This book was so high intensity. I was gripped the entire time. Such a wild ride this one was! For those who loved her part, she has grown and enhanced.

I am just barely old enough to remember the movie Deliverance, but that was all I could think of while reading this book. It was very fast paced and I read it in one day. Although my interest never waned, I found myself speed reading sometimes because the tension was almost too much.

It all starts when Heather and Tom take their two kids to Australia for a family trip. Owen, their son, has not seen any Australian wildlife. When an opportunity to visit Dutch island comes up, they cannot resist.

As the reader knows, this will not end well. I do not want to give any spoilers here, but suffice it to say that you, too, will want to know what happens to all of these people?!

Thank you to Adrian McGinty (I am already a fan of previous works), Netgalley, and Little, Brown and Company for an ARC of this great read. It did not disappoint.

The Island by Adrian McKinty

Courtesy of NetGalley (e-ARC and audiobook) and the publisher

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Pub Date: 5/17/22

Book Review:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

WHOA. I don’t usually read action-packed or adventure-type novels, but I really enjoyed the only other book I’ve read from this author, The Chain, so I requested this from NetGalley and lo and behold, I was granted access!!

Heather Baxter’s husband Tom agrees to fly the family out to a conference in Australia for big time surgeons. A getaway for the whole family! How nice!! Once there, Heather and the kids are all but bored to tears, with nothing to do but wait for Tom’s conference to end. Heather’s step kiddos, Olivia and Owen, just wanted to see a couple of koalas and maybe a kangaroo on their trip to the other side of the world. So, when their dad made it possible to do that, they all hopped a ferry to Dutch Island, leaving the safety and security of Melbourne behind.

This is where the story takes off and gets super intense!! NO SPOILERS.

First off, mad props for character development with this one!! Heather’s character blew me away by the end of the story!! Loved all the details given about the scenery in Australia as well! Made me feel like I was on the run with the Baxter family myself! The audio narration was excellent, except for some parts that sounded a *little* tinny. The additional sound effects of gun shots, explosions, etc. added to the atmospheric feel of the book and made me really glad I requested the audio on this one!!

I definitely recommend The Island if you’re into:



*Badass female MCs
*Chase scenes with narrow escapes
*Twists and turns that shock you until the end

Many thanks to @netgalley and the publisher, @littlebrown, for access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and chilling read of a trip gone wrong. What seemed like a planned bonding trip turns out to be a nightmare when traveling to Australia. Tom decides to take his kids and new young wife along with him on a business trip and in search of animals for the kids to see, he decides to make a deal with some local islanders. Bad idea right? no kidding! As expected they are stranded on this island and much make a run for their lives, all the while surviving the extreme weather and conditions.

This was an exciting and fun read, though sometimes a little unbelievable. I did enjoy watching the relationships evolve as trust was built and everyone had to learn to get along.
If you enjoy survival stories with suspense and a mystery this quick read is for you!
4/5 stars as it was mostly possible.