After reading The Chain, I was looking forward to this book. I found it a bit slower paced than The Chain, but I was rooting for the protagonist and was fully invested in the story. There were some surprises and twists that made it a fun and entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is my first novel from McKinty (I do have The Chain on my TBR list) and it was exactly what I anticipated from the synopsis - a fast-paced suspense/thriller. I didn't really connect with the characters, but it was well-written and the action was consistent enough to keep my attention. A quick read that will be great for summer reading.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the advance copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars. The thrill and the horror!!! I loved this and couldn't put it down after only 20 pages in. This book is about a family who gets trapped on an Australian island. If the sharks and people-eating ants aren't enough, what about the other humans hunting them?

I love how original this plot is! It seems like so many thrillers these days are the sinister neighbor next door or the wife under the stairs, etc. This was so refreshing! I will absolutely recommend this because of that aspect alone. On top of that, I felt it was really well executed. Readers of fast-paced thrillers will definitely enjoy this book!

Soon to be a series on HULU!

Helen is a too young second wife for Tom, a recent widower with two children. She gives her best, however, and tries her hand at a stay at home mom with mixed results. When the family accompanies Tom to a large conference in Australia, Helen is hoping to enjoy some of the rest and relaxation she has been craving.

But the trip to Australia has been a bust so far. The family encounters a small group that invites them to take a side trip to the small, privately -owned Dutch Island. The family is interested and hopes to finally see the famous animals of the outback.

Things go wrong at the outset and before long Helen is forced to run for her life and make decisions that will impact her entire new family. If you like a terror-filled thriller, are interested in the Australian Outback or just want to read this great book before the Hulu series, then grab #TheIsland. #netgalley #NetGalleyReads #hulu #HuluSeries
#LittleBrown&Company

This was… interesting. Reading was definitely entertaining. I felt however it could have been a bit shorter. There were some useless parts in it, like parts of Heather’s past.

I did however like Heather as a character after a while. At first, it annoyed me how she allowed Olivia and Owen to disrespect her but eventually she was a good strong female lead who kicked ass.

I wouldn’t say there were really any twists other than maybe 1. The ending fell flat for me, no big exit. This was just ok for me.

A man, his new (and very young) wife, and two kids visit Australia from the states and impulsively pay to ride a ferry to a private island to satisfy the kids' desire to see koalas. While driving and in a hurry to return to the ferry by their deadline, a woman crosses the road in front of them and is killed. It's all downhill for the family from there.

I'm one of those tiresome people who much prefer McKinty's earlier books, but I certainly don't begrudge him the need to earn a living, which his critically-acclaimed and excellent books weren't achieving. In his second thriller he shows he knows how to write a page-turner, with twists and turns, short sentences, short chapters, breathless action, and high stakes. Character development and plausibility are not all that important so long as the action is packed.

I wasn't entirely persuaded that Heather would be both such a poor judge of character and so smart and resourceful. I didn't enjoy the most gruesome bits. I didn't buy that the unhappy visitors would know something so important about the island that the long-term residents didn't. Also didn't like the dismissal of medications that are helpful, even essential, as if they're just a medical plot against thinking clearly. (That could have been set up in a way that would have worked, but it wasn't.)

What I liked: the times when extreme conditions turned into poetically expressed feelings about the self and the world, and the lightly-drawn link between present-day violence and the ways indigenous people had their land and lives stolen in the past. Some of the writing about the contrasting cultural understanding of the land was really great. And it didn't distract at all from the story's prime directive: move fast and keep it exciting.

If what you want is a thriller, this does the job effectively. Given that's likely what readers are looking for when they pick up the book, I'll give it an extra star.

Heather, Tom, Olivia, and Owen have been a family for one year. Heather, who is only 24, isn’t sure how she’ll ever become a replacement mom for the kids. After all, she’s young and doesn’t make the best choices. Case in point, after the four of them get to visit an island, Tom accidentally hits and kills a young woman. When Heather says they need to leave the island, it’s the best and worst decision ever.

What follows is an almost unbelievable level of cruelty from the island’s sole residents. Even worse, they try to gaslight Heather into thinking that every decision she’s made has been wrong. But these people are truly dangerous, and the kids are going to have to rely on Heather to somehow get them home.

This was a pretty good story that only had a couple of “are you kidding me?” moments. It was better than The Chain and proves the author has got what it takes.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Deliverance down under.


Two Chapter 49 in the ARC so I hope I didn’t miss a chapter.

Omg what a thrill ride! My heart was pounding the whole time and I was on the edge of my seat as I turned page after page! This was an adrenaline packed, heart racing book that I could not get enough of. I didn’t know who to trust and I loved every minute of it! Trigger warning there are animal deaths as well as some descriptive deaths.

A dream trip gone wrong, Heather, Tom, and their two kids Olivia and Owen tag along on Heather’s work trip to Australia. While they have some downtime they do a bit of exploring. This kids were desperate to see koalas. They end up at a tourist spot called Dutch Island. Dutch Island is owned” by the O’Neil family.

After an unfortunate accident, the O’Neils take possession of Heather and her family. It’s a fight for their lives as Heather takes charge to save her family. Will they make it off the island?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A family looking for a little vacation excitement found themselves running for their lives on an island after a horrible accident. Can they survive on this almost desolate island off of Australia? The inhabitants of the island have other plans. I enjoyed this intense, action packed thriller from the first page to the last because the plot was very original. I enjoyed the strong female characters and the very vivid details of the islands geography and vegetation. The ending will shock you and leave you wanting more.

WOW, What a ride. This is the 2nd of Ms McKinty’s books I’ve read & both were dynamite! This is a tale of survival on an Australian island. The family heads to Australia for a vacation but gets anything but. I can’t imagine the research that had to be done but it’s so believable & really tense. Can’t wait to watch the series on Netflix, I believe. It they stick to the book it’ll be fantastic. Great read!

Once again McKinty has written a book that has made me forget how to breathe for several chapters at a time.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC.

Heather and her new husband Tom are visiting Hawaii while Tom is at a surgeon’s conference. Heather is tasked with trying to make his two kids like her, and so when they want to visit the tiny island to see a koala, she is inclined to convince Tom. When they get to the island things aren’t at all what they seem.

This book is heart pounding and tense. It takes the survival story trope to all new lengths making it impossible to put down, but also make your skin crawl to the point you want to put it down. Which is everything a thriller should be

Definitely check trigger warnings before heading into this one!

The Island was a fast paced thriller. A family becomes trapped on a small island off the coast of Australia. It’s hot and miserable but not a problem compared to the crazy reception that awaits them. I found some parts implausible but it didn’t take away from the intensity of the story. The author is already well known from his book The Chain. I believe this will be a great seller too.

Adrian McKinty always, always has his finger on a reader's pulse-point...and THE ISLAND is no exception. A cunning, propulsively-paced, surprising tale of survival, deception and ingenuity, this is a suspense novel which delivers on every level. Highly recommended!

Summary A blended new family is on a outback vacation in Melbourne and decides to day trip to a nearby island to see Aussie wild life. When the husband accidentally hit a young deaf woman on a bike, the family takes into their own hands to serve justice.

Comments: A propulsive page suspense filled turner. Some twisty turners and a heroine comes to life.

Adrian McKinty knows how to write a twisty and twisted thriller, and The Island doesn't disappoint; I could not put it down.

Heather is the 24-year-old second wife to orthopedic surgeon Tom and stepmother to his 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son, who have not accepted her. Heather and the kids accompany Tom to a conference in Australia, where he is the keynote speaker. They go out for a drive so the kids can see koalas but fail to find any wildlife in the suburbs. A sketchy guy convinces them to pay top dollar to ferry them across the bay to an island. Home to a defunct prison and one extended family, the island has no cell service or amenities. Accompanied by a Dutch couple who joins the group, they are given a short time to look for animals.

The family outing turns into a nightmare when they run afoul of the locals. Cut off from the mainland, the islander clan, presided over by an elderly woman called Ma, mete out their own justice. At first they seem willing to make a deal but things go downhill fast, and Heather finds herself thrust into the role of leader and protector as she uses every ounce of courage and ingenuity to protect her family.

The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that the characterizations seem a bit shallow early on, although Heather's family gains depth. I also found the set-up somewhat contrived--Deliverance on a desert island in Australia--but in the acknowledgements, McKinty says that it is based on a real place and the inciting incident almost happened to him. (He is very clear that the people who live on the island are nothing like his fictional clan.)

Overall, I loved this engaging, sometimes disturbing, read. It would make a good movie, too.

This was action packed, and a part of me enjoyed the ride. But to be honest, it was also a pretty ridiculous storyline that made it hard for me to suspend disbelief.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown for providing a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and every time I thought it would degrade to predictable, boring tropes of the genre it surprised me and took a different turn. The relationships between Heather and her step kids is really well done and it was interesting to see how they developed and came together as the danger on the island got worse.

This book could have easily degraded to The Hills Have Eyes in Australia but it didnt. The characters use their brains to think through situations instead running around in a blind panic, which for me made it a much more enjoyable read and kept me engaged and rooting for them to win.

Definitely recommended!

I just finished reading The Chain so was excited to read another book by this author. It was a good story overall, but it didn't give me the same sense of thrill or of being on-the-edge of my seat. You definitely need to suspend your disbelief as the story is quite unrealistic when you think about it. 3.5 solid stars.