As much as I tried, I could not finish this one. I loved The Chain and was really looking forward to this book. However, it wasn’t what I expected and it dragged a lot. DNF

I just finished this book and my mind is still reeling! I don’t even know where to start … my brain is still trying to process the (fantastic) ending.

Tom, his girlfriend Heather, and Tom’s kids, Olivia and Owen, decided to go to Australia for a fun “new family” getaway. Tom’s wife had recently died, and Heather has stepped into her place. Since she is quite younger, the children aren’t happy with her being their new mother figure, so the trip was meant to be a bonding experience.

Well, they definitely bonded. After meeting a man in the Outback who invited them to a private island, the family decided to go and have a little adventure. Maybe they’d see some kangaroos and koalas. Maybe they’d get to see a part of the world that few people had ever seen. Maybe this was their chance to finally turn into a family. And so, on a ferry they went to this mysterious island.

As soon as they get there, a horrible accident changes their plans completely. This island is full of a large family who does not like outsiders - especially wealthy American outsiders who changed their world when they arrived. I don’t want to talk too much about the plot, but basically, they become trapped on this island full of crazy, uneducated and violent people. Will all four of them make it out alive? Do all of them deserve to?

This is your classic “locked room” thriller/horror, but in a very different setting. The writing was quite poetic at times, and the whole thing reminded me of a combination of “Lost” and “Deliverance”. In the acknowledgements, the author does mention that Deliverance helped inspire this book, so if you’re a fan of that movie, you’ll definitely like this book.

While reading this, I was touched, I was excited, I was shocked and I was beyond curious as to what would happen next. This was definitely a page-turner that you won’t want to put down. The ending completely blew my mind; with several twists and revelations, you will find your jaw dropping!

I see that Hulu has already picked this up to be a show, and I’m so excited … if it follows the book well, it’s going to be a huge hit. I wavered between four and five stars with this one, but I’m going with the five, because I’ll be thinking of this book and the ending for quite awhile. I loved it, and if you don’t mind a pretty gritty thriller, you definitely will too. I highly recommend this one as a great edge-of-your-seat, fast-paced thriller, with a very original plot and good writing. Your mind will be blown, in the best way possible.

(Thank you to Little, Brown & Company, Adrian McKinty and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

This was a tense thriller/story of surviva,. If you suspend belief in everyone who was bad was totally bad and the good but flawed had incredible survival skills. A young woman married to an older widow with two preteen children get stuck on an island and.......

Normally I try not to lead my reviews with the bad, but with this one I think it's important due to the nature of my complaint. IMO this book should have contained content warnings due to some of the things that were included in the story and the detail with which they were included. While I understand books in this genre often contain subjects that are sensitive, that doesn't mean the author is absolved of the responsibility to warn the reader, particularly when there are scenes that are more graphic than the average book. As for the specifics, this book contained an attempted rape scene and multiple other references to and threats of rape/sexual violence, many of which were in reference to a minor. Also, there was a scene that involved incredibly graphic and gory descriptions of the deaths of 2 characters in the book.

Overall these things were not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the book, but it did stop me from rating this book 5 stars. If upon publication the author/publisher chooses to include the necessary content warnings, I would be happy to edit my review to reflect this change.

Now on to the good, of which there was thankfully a lot. I really enjoyed the main character, Heather. While she made mistakes, for the most part none of them rose to the level of stupidity that you often see in books like this. And on the other side, while there were definitely instances of things working out for her in an almost unbelievable way, it worked in this story because of certain elements of the plot.

Which brings me to another thing I would like to highlight. This book contains themes of and references to Aboriginal lore. When I first saw the disclaimer at the beginning of the book, I was a little worried because it is rare that a white author does these stories justice, but IMO McKinty did. And while as a white person myself, I know my opinion on the subject doesn't count for a whole lot(and it shouldn't), I did think it deserved to be mentioned. It felt like he was trying to honor the people whose land he was writing about, not exploit them.

I have two other minor complaints about the book which I think should be mentioned, but were not enough for me to justify lowering the rating any further. First of all, a theme in this book is the generation gap between the main characters. Early on in the book this theme is very present to an extent that it became a little too stereotypical for my liking. I think the author could have been a little less heavy-handed with this message. The other complaint I have is that while I know spiders are something that Australia is known for, I could have done without the detailed references to them. I'm arachnophobic and even reading about them freaks me out, so I had to skim over a few pages.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

No spoilers!

I love a fast moving thriller and this one had it all. It was intense with lots of action and violence. Heather (24 y/o) just married Tom (40 y/o) a few months ago and is accompanying him on conference to Australia with his kids Owen and Olivia (12 and 14, respectively). When wanting to tour the more "out there" parts of Australia, they run into some folks and convince them to take them to their island for a tour. Well, things don't start off well and it's a cascade of events that lead to murder and threats of murder. This was a bloody and gruesome one and we learn a lot more about Heather's background, although I wish I learned more. She had some small flashbacks about her old life on another island, and I was really interested in that.

TW - harm to animals, talks about rape/assault

Wooo this was a fun thriller. Scary, in parts! You could say horror! 😱 I loved it. This was intense, and had lots of action! My first book by Adrien but now I know I'll definitely be reading more of his books. I love fast paced thrillers like this.

Dave Baxter and his new wife Heather, and his children, are on a trip in Australia, for Dave to attend a work conference. They find out about an Island that is normally off limits to visitors, and owned by the O'Neil family. The kids end up begging the O'Neils for a quick trip to the Island. They take the ferry over to the island for some sightseeing and the O'Neils tell them not to go too far inland, and to meet them back in a little bit to take the ferry back again. But while driving around, a woman riding a bike goes in front of them, and they hit her. She dies, and they try to cover it up. But the O'Neils find out. The Baxters end up being held captive. What happens after this, is a complete nightmare. Imagine being hunted on an island you cannot escape. Yikes! Freaky and outright terrifying. This is a must read! I flew through this one!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Adrian McKinty can write! This novel was very intense and fast-paced. Heather, the main character, is a survivor with surprising skills. While there were parts of the storyline that seemed a bit implausible, overall it was a fun, fast read. A bit dark and gory as well. If you ever dreamed of visiting an island in Australia, don’t go to Dutch Island!

Wow… don’t read this book if you already have anxiety, because you absolutely will while reading this. Tom’s new wife Heather and his two kids go to Australia for a conference, and they tag along for fun. After feeling frustrated with not seeing the “real” Australia, Owen talks his parents into going to an island where there is tons of wildlife. Tom speeds on the island, and they are in an accident. Heather makes a quick decision to hide it, unsuccessfully. This is up to about 15%. For the other 85% it’s page to page chaos. So many emotions, so much anxiety. This is the opposite of a slow burn. It’ll make you want to take meds and meditate 😅

When I saw that McKinty had written yet another book that wasn't a part of his Sean Duffy series, I was disappointed--for about 10 seconds. Then I thought, if it's only half as good as The Chain, I'm in for a treat. I am happy to report it is equally as good as The Chain and, in its own way, even better!

Heather is recently married to widower Tom Baxter and is trying to make a go of becoming an instant mother to his son and teenage daughter. When Tom is invited to be a keynote speaker at a conference in Australia, Heather sees this as a possible way to help them bond as a family.

Arriving in Melbourne, the jet-lagged family set out to try and view some of the exotic wildlife. They bribe their way onto an island owned by a large clan that lives without such modern conveniences as wi-fi or cell phone service. While touring the island, they accidentally hit and kill one of the island inhabitants. Heather's first thought is to hide the body and get off the island as soon as possible; Tom, reluctantly agrees. All goes awry when the body is discovered and the Baxter family is detained while the clan decides what an appropriate punishment should be. Heather manages to escape with the children and sets out to elude capture again--not an easy task on such a small island.

This is a tightly-plotted crime thriller that I finished in just two days. It was fun to watch Heather as she gained self confidence and grew into a fiercely protective guardian bent on outwitting her pursuers and getting off the island. As long as McKinty continues to produce books as good as this one and The Chain, I guess I'll forgive him for not writing more about Sean Duffy. This is an excellent read that gripped me from the start. I highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book. The publication date is May 12, 2022.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the copy of The Island. This was a fast-paced book with so much action! Maybe too fast? It jumped right into it with little background on any of the characters. None of the characters were sympathetic or likable. What was Heather thinking in the beginning? How many close shaves could she get in and miraculously get out of? Where did she get her remarkable physical strength? I can usually suspend belief, but this book was over the top. The writing was great and really kept me reading, and I would definitely try other books by this author, but this book didn’t do it for me. If you like fast-paced books and can overlook the implausibilities you will probably love this book.

While I found the premise of The Island to be appealing, I thought the story in itself was pretty ridiculous and too far fetched. If I was not reviewing an ARC, it would have been a DNF for me. A lot was overdone and at times the writing was juvenile. No twists really WOWed me but one, and I did not like the direction the author took once the twist was revealed. I got some LOST vibes while reading but can definitely recommend better thrillers with similar plots.

Pub date: 5/17/22

Intense! This book was action packed and fast-paced from the onset. I don’t think I will be visiting Australia anytime or any islands in my lifetime. This book had my heart hammering so fast that I had to take an extra beta blocker to avoid having to call an ambulance. Read it at your own discretion if you have cardiac issues. All joking aside, I loved it. Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was extremely fast-paced and gory - my kind of thriller! I felt like at the end, I was reading as fast as my brain would allow to figure out how it ended!! I really enjoyed it!

What a wild ride of a novel! My brain had a roller coaster running through it while I read this novel in one sitting. At first I thought it was going to be too gory. The beginning was quite disturbing but I didn’t want to stop reading. A perfect thriller with a super cool protagonist and surprising twists and turns. If you want to be distracted from the current stress of today’s world, this book will do the the job. A truly entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for the ARC of this book!

Tom is a widowed doctor with two young teenage children, Owen and Oliva. He has remarried a young woman named Heather, whom the children do not particularly care for. When Tom has a conference to attend in Melbourne, Australia, he takes the whole family. Once they are there, the kids are bored. They want to see kangaroos and koalas! They were told they could see them on a remote island, Dutch Island. However, that island isn’t for tourists. It’s off limits and the family that lives there doesn’t like outsiders. But Tom is able to convince some members of the family to take them over to the island just for a little and then bring them back. Then there’s an accident on the island, and someone has to pay. The local family doesn’t want anyone off the island alive and after being separated from Tom, it’s up to Heather to keep herself and the kids alive. Will they make it off the island?

This book for me is 3.5 stars – so I’ve rounded up to 4 on the review sites. There were aspects of the book that I really liked and then there were aspects of the book that I didn’t like. I really liked that there was a lot of action – it never got boring or mundane. I like that the author painted the scenes so vividly that I could picture everything, but did so without there being so much description that it was boring. There were definitely parts of the book that kept me on the edge of my seat.

That being said, I felt like the book was SO farfetched and unbelievable. There weren’t any super shocking twists. The author wrote the characters so well, that you knew what they were going to do before they even did it. Which on one hand, I like that I really felt like I knew the characters. But on the other, if I can guess what they are going to do, it takes the fun out of reading a thriller.

All killer no filler! I am excited to review "The Island" by Adrian McKinty. He is the author of the popular book "The Chain"

Remember all those books that you read and go, "So slow! Is this going anywhere?" This is not that book. I think it amps up to ten around the 30 page mark. We have the Baxters: Tom, a well renowned surgeon and his new wife Heather. She is young and a former massage therapist. They have two special need kids on antidepressants and Ritalin. They are on a work trip for Tom in Australia and on a whim take a ferry on a island to see some wildlife and sight seeing. However, dum dum dummmm, they have a accident and nothing is at seems when we are introduced to the most terrifying backwoods family since "Deliverance" Don't look any deeper..... Just dive into this one.

The good. Character development and pace. Adrian McKinty's biggest strength is character development. Heather is not the most outspoken or any kind of leader but soon takes that role when trying to keep her and the two kids alive. The decisions she makes and growth is outstanding to read. And I loved the characters of the bad guys/gals. They are not carbon copies of each other or just badguy A or badgirl B. Everyone has a distinct personality. To the point where to the middle if you take out everyone's name you still know who is being referenced. And also good pacing. Somewhere between warp and Ludacris speed.

Plus just when you think it's all action it turns into a survival book as they are trapped in the outback with no food or water. Good stuff!

Not a perfect book. The prose is choppy. I was surprised to see it was almost 400 pages... I would have swore it was under 300. Not so much it read so fast but McKinty really lies his sentence long paragraphs. They do get tedious sometimes. And there is a twist in the end where I really rolled my eyes. Thumbs up to how it's handled by the way. This does not take away from the book and it's still recommended. Just not perfect.

It does read like a screenplay. This is because McKinty has a pretty huge deal with Hulu for his previous book, "The Chain" for a limited series. I can't really blame him for setting himself up for another one because this one is a fun read.

Go read it!

Book given free for honest review.

Adrian McKinty strikes again with another creepy thriller, chock full of suspense! In “The Island”, Heather, Tom, and his two children are in Australia for a medical conference. They take a day trip to a remote island but tragedy strikes while there. Cue terror and chaos for the rest of the book! 😱 I started out reading it before bed at night but had to switch to daytime hours as it was too intense for bedtime reading!! 🫣 I am more of a scaredy cat than most though so don’t let that detract. This was a great suspense read from start to finish!
*Thanks to the author, Little, Brown & Co, and NetGalley for this advance reader copy.

I was a huge fan of The Chain, so when I saw that Adrian McKinty was releasing a new standalone novel, I was super excited. The Island did not disappoint. If anything, I liked it even better than The Chain. A compelling, edge-of-your-seat thriller, it had me hooked from the first page. The writing was so visually descriptive, I could easily see myself watching this as a movie, maybe with my hands part-way over my eyes some of the time.

In short, this was simply fantastic. It was twisted and crazy in the best possible way and I loved every minute of it.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the Chain and so i was really looking forward to this book. Overall, it was unputdownable. The premise wasn't entirely unique (The Chain was) but i liked it. I liked how Heather grew a lot and her relationship with the kids grew. It was very tense and action packed and I read this in one day.

This was a very fast-paced thriller that had me holding my breath, frantically turning pages while sitting on the edge of my seat. There were so many twists and turns that I did not see coming which made the plot very unpredictible and intense. The characters were all very well-developed and I really enjoyed the character development of the main heroine, Heather.

I read the entire book in one sitting because I was dying to find out what happened next in the adrenaline-fueled plot. The storyline was very original which was refreshing - this could easily be made into an excellent movie. I would 100% recommend this book to anyone looking for a wild thriller.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.