Thanks to NetGalley the publisher & the author for allowing me to have an eARC of this book to read and review.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I saw the hype on social media around it and thought this must be good if everyone’s talking about it before it even came out, so I requested it on NetGalley and here we are. (Also soon to be a tv series )

My heart was pounding all the way through this , I was literally on the edge of my seat.

Who thinks a little trip to an island when you’re on holiday can turn into a fight for your life. Heather does everything she can to keep her and her family safe even though the children aren’t hers biologically and they don’t even like her that much.

Heather reminded me of a Rambo type character a one person wrecking ball doing everything she can to survive no matter what the moral cost and I was rooting for her all the way through and I can’t wait to see this all play out on the small screen soon.

I really enjoyed the aboriginal element to this story too as the rich history of Australia is absolutely fascinating to me.

Claustrophobic (albeit being set outdoors 90%!) and chilling story of a 'newly-forged' family trying to have an adventure while visiting Australia for the Father's work. The two teen children don't trust their newly appointed Stepmum, a 24 year old who married their dad after he was widowed.

In attempting to find some real Aussie wildlife on the outskirts of Melbourne, they notice a ferry going to a remote island. Although warned they would not be welcome there, the wealthy Dad makes a bargain the ferryman and his colleague cannot pass up and they and their hire car are duly ferried across, together with a middle aged Dutch couple.

Not wanting to give the plot away, things escalate fast, grave peril is faced and relationships are made and broken in the ensuing chaos.

Compulsive reading meant I read this in two sittings, hating the situation the family was in (and marvelling a little over how very serious injuries seemed to be overcome with just 'discomfort' within a few hours!) A major plotline concerning 'Dad' near the end did feel rather contrived and convenient so I had to swallow my cynicism but even so, this was very exciting and tense to read. Great barbaric fun!

Reading the introductory chapter I wanted to know more; Heather is on an island and seems to fight for survival. From the author's description you could see everything clearly and it grabbed me right from the start. While reading on the style, the dad jokes, the continous generation conflict wasn't quite for me. Nonetheless I continued and didn't regret it. Once the Baxters arrive on The Island the story picks up in pace and things start to unravel. Incredibly gripping and has its nail-biting-moments.

Heather, early 20s, originally from a sheltered Goose Island commune, now married to 40-something doctor is travelling Australia with her husband of less than a year, and her two teenage step-children, Owen and Olivia who have not warmed to their new step-mum. The book begins with the family travelling through the outback on holiday before they fly over to Melbourne where the husband, Tom, is due to give a conference presentation. Bored in Melbourne, a decision is made to go out for a drive to see if the family can spot a real Australian koala. The search for a koala leads the family to Dutch Island, and very nearly leads to all of their deaths.

I loved this book ... it was one of those books which drew me in from a pretty early point, made me want to keep reading and to find out how it all worked out in the end. I would describe it as a real page-turner. There were some very nasty characters, and even some of the supposed good guys were clearly not so very nice. I'd definitely recommend to other lovers of thrillers such as Gone Girl and would suggest it as a good book to take on holiday

At first, I wasn’t sure about this book especially as I’d heard so much about his previous book The Chain and wanted to read that. I found this book a little bit of a mix of rushing around doing very stupid things and paying ridiculous amounts of money to travel into an island. But, as the book went on I got really interested in it and realised towards the end how much I was enjoying it. So, I’m giving it 4 stars as it started off so strangely. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Just who can you trust? maybe no one on this island.....
cleverly written with a good pace and plenty of intrigue and drama this was a good and interesting read

This is the second book I have read by Adrian McKinty and was not disappointed. It had me hooked right from the start, and I read it very quickly to see how it ended. But as much as I loved the storyline, I do think it would be much better as a movie than a book. Hopefully they will bring it onto the big screen, as it would definitely be a huge hit. I look forward to reading more books by this author and 100% recommend him if you like suspenseful thrillers.

An absolutely awesome thriller, so tense I kept holding my breath and almost asphyxiating. Thank God some wise souls talked Adrian out of quitting his writing career. He just keeps getting better and better.
The setting, just ten miles from Melbourne in one of the most civilized countries in the modern world, really did emphasize the violence and brutality of both the hunters and the hunted.
The best book I have read in a month of Sundays.

The Island had an intriguing blurb and skimming through the Goodreads reviews before reading it really added to the air of mystique as readers promised ‘no spoilers’ and implored me to just jump in and read it.

I’m glad I didn’t know too much about the book before reading – it certainly kept me on my toes. There’s a remote island and a crazy family and Heather, Tom and children Olivia and Owen really are thrust into a survivalist nightmare. The book also jumps around in perspective – giving the reader an insight into each character which works well and also adds to the tension as you aren’t quite sure who the main character is – no-one is safe from being killed off. Going in blind I wasn’t really expecting the amount of gore and bloodshed which happens in the book.

The pace is also kept high and a lot happens throughout, although it does get a bit repetitive with deals and double crossing towards the end – I was ready for it to finish by the final few chapters. I also didn’t really enjoy the writing style at times - short one- or two-word sentences are used a lot, particularly in the middle of the book which I don’t think added to the story. The writing is also quite juvenile at times (and not in the chapters which involve the children). There is a heavy amount of suspension of disbelief required and some very convenient plot devices which left me rolling my eyes in places. Although I believe the island and the family could have been real it was the amount of survivalist knowledge that Heather happened to have from her cult upbringing (which sadly is never really expanded on apart from vague and confusing flashbacks) and the amount of information on a wide range of very specific topics that the pre-teen children had which made it hard to believe.

Overall, The Island is a gory fast-paced thriller but was let down by its writing style and amount of suspension of disbelief which is placed on its readers. Thank you to NetGalley & Orion for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about a waking nightmare, a situation so impossibly impossible that it must surely be a joke. Or something. Heather has joined Tom, her husband of nearly a year with his two children on a trip to Australia; while he has to put in a couple of appearances at a medical conference, the spare time will be a great opportunity to see this land at the other side of the world. Kangaroos and koala bears, Ularu and other Australian wonders. The kids are sullen, she's not their mom....who died in an accident......so why should they do as she says? Seeking wildlife, the family takes a short ferry ride to an island that is home to a small community and that, they are assured has koalas. Well that was their first mistake.

I wasn't sure about this when I started. I was worried it was going to be a bog standard domestic noir type book....

Not to worry! This goes from zero to a million and doesn't slow down. Deliverance meets Lord of the Flies with a dash of Ripley thrown in. Loved it!

The Island has “thriller film adaptation” written all over it - simple concept, plenty of threats, twists and turns built in and a young and presumably attractive female lead… unfortunately, for me at least, the subtlety and
Character development you need in a book is lacking - the dialogue never feels real- particularly for the locals, but not exclusively. This is particularly disappointing when I think about how rich McKinty’s Sean Duffy series is, but i guess books like the Chain and the Island need a simplicity to be the big sellers.

Anyway, notwithstanding all that it’s an easy read and fair flies along. Good holiday read, will go down nicely by the pool with a beer.

A family get the opportunity to visit an isolated island in Australia. Once they there, they need to get back. Their lives depend on it. The only problem is the people controlling the ferry don't want them to leave.

This was a fun read! Fans of fast-paced thrillers will love it.

Many thanks to Adrian McKinty, NetGalley, and Orion Publishing Group for this copy.

Adrian McKinty is a new author to me so I had no preconceptions about this book which I believe is already being made into a TV series and I can see why.
The island in the title is a small island off the coast of Melbourne which is occupied by one extended family who do not like visitors. However, when Matt meets an American family on the mainland who are desperate for their kids to see some genuine Australian wildlife he is persuaded to make an exception by an offer of $900 from them and an older Dutch couple. The Dutch couple, Tom, Heather and the kids are taken across on the family operated ferry for what is agreed will be a very short sightseeing trip but a tragic accident while the Americans are touring the island leads to a nightmare scenario from which it seems that Tom and his family will never escape alive.
A great book which I couldn’t put down.

Belfast-born author Adrian McKinty didn’t start writing his critically acclaimed, award-winning Sean Duffy series set against ‘the Troubles’ era of his Northern Irish childhood until he was living half a world away, in St Kilda. Perhaps he needed the distance. And now that he and his family have uprooted to New York after a decade Downunder, the three-time Ned Kelly Award winner has returned to his more recent home, on the page.

In The Island, young stepmother Heather Baxter is holidaying in Melbourne with her husband Tom and his adolescent kids Olivia and Owen. Tom, a doctor, has a conference to attend, and the family has tagged along. But when a trip into the Victorian countryside then onto a private island so the truculent kids can try to spot koalas and other Australian wildlife goes horribly awry, Heather must fight for the lives of her new family.

McKinty delivers a scorching tale with echoes of Deliverance. Long admired by crime aficionados and awards judges, he shot to wider global acclaim with his 2019 standalone The Chain, a heart-clutching tale of parental nightmares. The Island takes that terror and twists the dial even higher in a fast-paced, ultra-tense tale with a fair bit of emotional heft. You could easily envisage it on the silver screen, but for now it’s a heck of a read.

A newly blended family are on a working trip to Australia. On a day off the family decide to visit a small private island off the coast of Melbourne……

Let the rollercoaster ride commence!! The family find themselves in a game of cat and mouse with the unsavoury inhabitants of the island. A little reminiscent of Lord of the Flies for me but with a very likeable protagonist. So much tension I was even dreaming about it! Would make an amazing film/mini series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for access to the ARC to read and review.

I love an island based book so I had high expectations. After a slowish start I did wonder if this was going to be good. But to be fair most books like this do tend to start slow so I continued and I am so glad I did and I oved it.

After loving the chain, when I saw the Adrian McKinty had a new book out I was eager to read it!
This is another heart pounding read - by the end I was practically holding my breath to see how it played out!
A fast paced, gripping, brutal ride from start to finish!

Ever so tense and an evocative setting. As good - if not better - than The Chain. The hype is justified.

Another heart-thumping read from Adrian MnKinty! I loved The Chain and The Island is more than worthy to follow in its footsteps.

A family on holiday in Australia accepts the offer of a ferry ride to a remote island. What was a chance to glimpse some of the local wildlife turns into a living nightmare when a terrible accident sees them pitted against the feral family that has made the island their home. Who can be trusted? Where will they hide? With danger everywhere and no contact with the outside world it is going to take more than guts to survive.
My toes were curling at the almost immediate sensation that nothing was quite what it seemed. With a steady rise in tension, plenty of drama and a smattering of gruesomeness The Island is a fast-paced thriller which had me holding my breath in anticipation.
The Island will appeal to readers of John Marrs, Alice Feeney or Lucy Foley.