Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Island by Adrian McKinty in return for my honest review.
I really enjoyed The Chain by Adrian McKinty so was really excited to read his latest book The Island and it certainly didn’t disappoint this is a really fast paced thrilling read which once i started i couldn’t put down.
A family holiday to Australia leads the family to visit a small island to see koala bears one accident later and all hell breaks loose its the survival of the fittest. There is an interesting mix of characters and some very gory bits all adding to the atmosphere of the story.

Rating - 4.5 stars rounded off to 5

Riveting, edge of the seat - blockbuster worthy!

Thanks NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for the e-ARC in exchange of an honest review!

Synopsis –

Tom, a recently widowed doctor from Seattle, takes his new wife Heather, young son Owen and teenage daughter Olivia, on a working vacation to Australia. But their drive to a remote island near Melbourne turns sinister. Run by a closely knit clan of local family, they are not treated kindly after having been involved in an accident. When Tom gets separated from Heather and the kids, the game of survival in the arid Australian scrubland begins.

Review –

The opening hooked me straightaway. The unique cast of characters – a doctor dad, the kids with their hostility and mistrust towards their step mom, Heather’s own struggles as a ready-made parent, worked its wonders with the storyline.

The setting is indisputably the finest part of the book. McKinty’s research about the Australian rugged terrains and remote island vegetation is clearly evident from his plot construction. I simply felt I was right there on that island amongst these folks witnessing their fates unravel.

As things go from bad to worse for this family, we get to witness the local islander’s crazy mindset that tends towards outright evilness. And that’s when the heat and intensity of this situation hits us hard, creating a deeply disturbing and suffocating atmosphere.

I loved how Heather rises to the challenge. Having grown up with a military dad in the remote Goose Island of the US, she employs her skills to the best extent. Her keen instincts and tricks for survival, coupled with Owen’s science geek brains, the cat and mouse game that ensues with the locals, is sure to sky rocket the adrenaline factor.

I reveled in the twists brought in towards the end and was rooting all the way for Heather and the kids, as they took on everything head on.

Although the ending feels a teeny bit unrealistic, I still greatly enjoyed the wild thrill of it and the exciting adventure it took us on.

This is definitely TV series/movie material and I am glad its soon to be one!

Highly recommended to thriller lovers!

The Chain was the strangest read, with the first half being AMAZING and the second half being… but why?
The Island was much better, in my opinion. Clearly plotted well, we’ll thought out and also enjoyable. It was The Ruins but for people who don’t like body horror and if the plants were people haha. A good read, worth trying out.

A family from Seattle travel to Australia, the father combining a work trip with family time. The family dynamics are complex, with Heather being Tom’s second wife and step mother to his children. They decide to go off the beaten track and visit a remote island, previously housing a prison but now ruled by a feral family and led by a fierce matriarch. An unfortunate accident sets off a train of events which lead to the family fighting for it survival and revealing previously concealed truths. This is a plot-driven action story, with very little character development. Entertaining and engaging but without much depth. Great holiday read, unless you’re vacationing in Australia!

With thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advance copy to review.

An Island family vs a family on holiday in a fight for survival. An action packed novel with great characters. One of the best thrillers of the year.
I received this book from Orion via Netgalley for a review.

The Island by Adrian McKinty

My first buddy read with my lovely Emily @paws.andpages was The Chain by Adrian McKinty so we were both delighted to be approved by @netgalley for this ARC ❤️❤️

IT WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE A FAMILY VACATION.

A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT CHANGED EVERYTHING.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE CAPABLE OF UNTIL THEY COME FOR YOUR FAMILY.

After moving from a small country town to Seattle, Heather Baxter marries Tom, a widowed doctor with a young son and teenage daughter. A working vacation overseas seems like the perfect way to bring the new family together, but once they're deep in the Australian outback, the jet-lagged and exhausted kids are so over their new mom.

When they discover a remote Dutch Island, off-limits to outside visitors, the family talks their way onto the ferry, taking a chance on an adventure far from the reach of iPhones and Instagram.

But as soon as they set foot on the island, which is run by a tightly knit clan of locals, everything feels wrong. Then a shocking accident propels the Baxters from an unsettling situation into an absolute nightmare.

WOW this book made me hold my breath on more than one occasion! Fast paced, shocking, twists and turns, gory - it had it all!

This book is published this month so be sure to add it to your wishlist if you like a good thriller ❤️❤️

A huge thank you to the publisher @orionbooks @netgalley and the author for this copy and to Emily for another quick buddy read!!

I look forward to the next one from this author ❤️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Island by Adrian Mckinty.
First of this book is non-stop action from about page 30 right up to the last page.
It never lets up and the book suffers because of this. We got no real character development, to the point that I didn't really care about any of the characters. The dialogue is cheesy, as if it's been ripped right out of a bad B movie and the plot is ridicules. However, that being said, the book is fun. It's your typical blockbuster movie where you have to scoop out your brain and leave it to one side every time you pick up the book and not to take it seriously, otherwise you just wont enjoy the time you spend with it. It's a quick, easy read and one you can finish in no time at all. Overall, I had a fun time and can see this being a real winner. Worth your time and hard-earned cash. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Heather is on holidays in Australia with her new husband Tom and his kids.
The holiday is not going so well with the kids complaining about being bored and treating Heather like a blow in.
They decide to talk their way onto an island where a large Australian family resides to see can they spot some kangaroos and koalas.
A horrible accident occurs on the island resulting in the family being separated and fighting to survive.
I felt like I was holding my breathe the whole way through this and only letting it out when I got to the end. It was so tense and suspenseful and brilliantly written. I loved every minute of it.

Another brilliant novel from the fertile mind of Adrian McKinty. Plot, character and location, all are superb. When an American family on holiday in Australia decide to visit a remote and little-inhabited island, little do they realise how their lives will change. Frightening, tense and constantly surprising, this is the very definition of a page turner! Wonderful.

I loved this book. So unexpected, but I absolutely loved this storyline what was a simple vacation turned into a nightmare. I couldn't put this down, I just had to keep on reading as I needed to find out what happened next. Brilliantly written and fast paced. A definite must read.

A gripping, near-future thriller - The Hunger Games meets Station Eleven, for fans of pacey, disruptive TV, such as the Noughts and Crosses adaptation

Welcome to the Arcadia.

Once a luxurious cruise ship, it became a refugee camp after being driven from Europe by an apocalyptic war. Now it floats near the coastline of the Federated States - a leftover piece of a fractured USA.

For forty years, residents of the Arcadia have been prohibited from making landfall. It is a world of extreme haves and have nots, gangs and make-shift shelters.

Esther is a loyal citizen, working flat-out to have the rare chance to live a normal life as a medic on dry land. Ben is a rebel, planning something big to liberate the Arcadia once and for all.

When events throw them both together, their lives, and the lives of everyone on the ship, will change forever . . .

Heather Baxter is recently married to older widowed Surgeon Tom and stepmother to Owen 12 and Olivia 14 who clearly are not impressed with their stepmother.

The family travel to Australia where Tom is to attend a medical conference. On a day out and to appease the children who have yet to see a Koala bear on their travels come across members of the O'Neil family who are about to take a ferry across to Dutch Island which is solely occupied by their family. The family members reluctantly but for a large sum agree to take them to the Island for a quick trip on the proviso that they do not travel too far away from the ferry base area which they ignore. On their hunt for Koala's they are a little disorientated and whilst driving too fast to make it back to the ferry they tragically have a car accident involving one of the o'Neil family.

This is when things become really scary and what should have been a nice trip turns int0 a terrifying and thrill a minute saga as the family have to find a way to get off the Island where the only way is by Ferry and the deadly O'Neil clan are after them.

This is a real edge of the seat thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend. I also recommend readers to read The Chain by the same author which is equally an edge of the seat thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley UK and the publishers orion Publishing group for an advanced ARC copy of the book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

An uneven story with a main character that is difficult to sympathise with and situations that instead of feeling dramatic just left me rolling my eyes at their every increasing unbelievable nature. Overall, this latest book from McKinty left me cold and was the opposite from how enthralled I was with his debut, The Chain.

The design of the cover is very eye-catching and lured me in which is what a successful jacket should do.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

*I DNF'd this book at 10%

This is the first ARC I have been unable to finish and I'm really gutted about that but I will review what I did read.

This book is incredibly disjointed. The writing and flow of this book needs serious work imo. The characters actions are so unbelievable.
Our female MC described herself as a "skinny stranger" in relation to describing herself as a step mother. WHAT?

In the first chapter, again our female lead has to stop her car in the middle of the night when a kangaroo jumps onto the road. Her partner and kids are asleep on the car, they don't wake up at this, maybe that could be the case but it seems unlikely that you would make an emergency stop and 3 people would continue to sleep?? It then goes on that a stranger emerges from the dark and our FEMALE MC doesn't wake her partner up? The first thing a woman would do is wake her partner when approached by a strange male appearing from the shadows in the middle of the NIGHT?! But not only does she not alert him but she goes on to talk to the stranger and enter his camp and GIVES HIS WIFE HER EARRINGS?? And the whole time her partner and kids don't wake up???
I just cannot.
This book is also littered with pop culture references which made me cringe.

I was expecting a lot better from this author after the popularity of his other works. Disappointed.

It was the cover of this book that caught my eye, I am not going to point out exactly what it was. This is one for those of you who like an intense thriller story and it is one I really enjoyed.

Tom Baxter, his wife Heather and his two children from a previous marriage are hoping to spend some time together. Tom is a Doctor and is in Australia as a keynote speaker. Having the rest of the family join him means they can get some time together as a family.

This family is disjointed, Tom is a busy man and while he does spend time with his children it isn't enough. Heather isn't really accepted by the children and there are reasons for that. The children are not a barrel of laughs either, but again there are reasons.

To stop any squabbling Tom and Heather take the children out for a drive in the hope that they will see some of the country's animals. Taking a trip to an island should be a chance for the children to get photos and also get some good tales, a chance for some family bonding maybe! They didn't bargain for what they encountered on the island though.

This is a fabulous read and one that I really found myself drawn into. The setting of the Australian Outback is brilliant and having an island makes this an even better scene.

The characters are a mixed bag, they whine, they argue, they try their best and then they have their world turned upside down, and for some of them, this isn't the first time that they will have to deal with some tough stuff.

I really like the way the author has used the character's personalities, traits and nuances. This is a great way of keeping the reader on the hoof and I was never quite sure who was really what they appeared. They all have something to hide and some do it better than others, but eventually, things do become clear.

The story is one that I enjoyed, the basic bones of it are about a family that is getting through life but not really doing together. It is a snapshot of an American family that has found themselves in a situation that they never would have imagined themselves in. This is one of those stories that you can imagine a film being made of, and I am not sure that I would actually want to watch it (I don't do creepy, horror style movies) but I have to say the book was brilliantly done.

From a slower start and getting to know the characters this book gradually built up the pace, it became more intense and it was one of those that had me frantically flipping pages. I thought this was brilliant and it is one I would definitely recommend.

After hearing such awesome things about The Island on Twitter, I was desperate to get my hands on an ARC happily Orion Books kindly obliged, and I'm so glad they did as this story certainly lives up to the hype.

As The Island is a doozy of a book and I mean that in the best possible way and not only was I hooked from chapter one but OMG the tension and creepiness factor was through the roof.

As Heather a newly married young woman and step mother to two children Olivia and Owen finds herself fighting for her families lives when the children guilt their father Tom into travelling to an isolated island to see some local wildlife.

And what happens once they arrive on the island had me completely on the edge. Not to mention it had Heather doing things she would never have imagined in order to try and survive and get her new family off the island alive.

I would definitely recommend.

Really enjoyed this. McKinty's character work and prose are reliably top notch. Reads like a 70s exploitation movie with a wilderness horror vibe.

What harm can come of crossing over to a private island for a quick visit to see the wildlife there...even though you have been warned not to! And so begins the adventure for the Baxter family. When one of the family who purportedly own the island, is killed, then the rest take the law into their own hands with dire consequences. Heather, who is the young wife and step mum to an eminent doctor and his children, is initially portrayed as the not-so-bright trophy wife however when she finds herself in danger with the children and no husband to support her, she soon becomes this Amazon warrior and will do everything to save them.
Good descriptive writing of an almost uninhabited Australian island with the extreme weather, not so friendly animals and the terrain which helps to drive the story along at a great pace. I think it would make a great film or mini series.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

A scary and gothic thriller taking place on a secluded island where a step mother needs to do everything in her power to protect her children.

If you love fast paced, adrenaline fueled edge of your seat style books, then this is for you. I loved all the actions, it was a non stop nail-biting page turner game of cat and mouse. If you've seen the TV series Wolf Creek, it has a similar feel to it.
If youve read any of my reviews before you'll know how I wish books had warnings on them stating whether any harm is done to either animal or children and that is a huge factor in my decision making when choosing a book. I would like to warn readers that harm is done to dogs on more than 1 occasion and its quite brutal. If I had known this, I would it have chosen to read this book as I struggle to get such terrible images out of my head.
If it did not feature this animal harm I would love to rate this a very strong 5 stars however this issue definitely drops a star for me and sadly I don't think I could watch the film or TV version because of this. I felt it was unnecessary brutality.
#TheIsland #NetGalley