I originally marked this as unfinished as the beginning of the book is incredibly violent. The threatened rape of a teenage girl was too much for me. But because I enjoyed McKinty's Sean Duffy series so much I picked this one up again. The rape didn't occur but there's a lot, and I mean a lot, of violence. Too much for me. The writing is mostly good, but I never did understand why Heather married Tom. He just comes across as a jerk and there were unexplored threads that annoyed me. Why mention Heather's friend texting about Star Trek? I'd read another of the Sean Duffy in a heartbeat, but I think I'll pass on the thrillers.

Wow, this was a nail biter! Enjoyed every 'on the edge of your seat' minute. Fast read snd great story...not without some surprises along the way. Read his last book which was also great and looking for more to come!

A family vacation turned deadly with non stop action. Grabbed me from the first page and did not let go! I had such a sense of dread and anxiousness (in the best way) I read it in a day because I HAD to know what happened next. A little over the top at times, but still a great story overall that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Also, the character Ma actually scared me!

This book was a wild ride! I could not turn the pages fast enough. I was spooked and delighted by the action, I think I'm going to have to read McKinty's last book now (The Chain) too.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley, the Author, and the publisher for my advanced copy to read and review. This book will hook you from the first chapter. I'm not usually one to compare characters with characters from other books/movies but this is feminine Rambo in the Australian Deliverance. You feel bad for them, you root for them, and you hate the villains with a passion. There are some predictable moments as he sets things up but it was a fun twisty read. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good Thriller novel.

I am the self-proclaimed queen of thrillers. I have read every "must-read" in the genre for the past five years. I can say, confidently, that "The Island" is one of the most original, most engrossing novels I have ever read. This book should be on every "what to read this summer" list that is published. It should go on the "featured reads" section of every bookstore, it will be the title I recommend to every patron who wanders into the library looking for the "it book" of the summer. There was no point during my reading of "The Island" where I could say with any confidence what was going to happen at the end, or even on the next page, and I absolutely loved it.

Heather Baxter holds a precarious position in her family. Second wife to an older husband, stepmom to two kids too close in age to really respect her as a parental figure, and trying to fill the gap left by the death of a beloved mother and wife only a year after her passing. She hopes that their first family vacation, a trip to Australia, will be the bonding experience she needs to really connect with the kids and cement their relationship. She has no idea just how seriously the bonds that tie this family together will be tested.

Determined to show their children some Australian wildlife, father Tom pays a local family to take him to their private island, lured by promises of koalas, kangaroos, and wombats that linger right by the docks. Heather can't shake the feeling that something is wrong with the entire family and has no desire to set foot on this exclusive land, barred from letting outsiders enter. This feeling of wrongness only intensifies as they wander further and further from the dock and their only passage back to the mainland.

Their day of exploration grinds to an immediate halt after a horrific and traumatic accident, and suddenly escaping the island seems impossible. Left with only her wits and a minutes long headstart Heather finds herself separated from her husband and the only thing standing between her stepchildren and violent and certain death. Even as she finds herself stranded with children she's not sure she ever wanted, she becomes determined to do anything (and I do mean anything) to get them all off the island alive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance e-copy of The Island by Adrian McKinty in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Wow! For all of my fellow literary adrenaline junkies out there, The Island does NOT disappoint!! I now regret to say I haven't read the authors previous super popular title, The Chain, but believe that it's now a top priority for me. The Island is an adrenaline filled, heart pounding thriller full of twists and turns you won't see coming! Heather and her new husband Tom, along with Tom's two snotty, jaded teenagers are traveling in the Australia for an Orthopedic Surgeons convention, in which Tom will be presenting the Keynote address. Heather and the teens, Owen and Olivia, have come along with the intention of bonding as a new family and to fit in a side trip of an authentic Australian Outback adventure. At the very least the teens are hoping to see some local wildlife, a koala, maybe a kangaroo. After the trip starts off as a bit of a bust, by chance the family meets a couple of locals, Matt and Jackie who reside on a wild and mysterious private island known as Dutch Island, full of koalas, wallabies, wombats, even penguins! Only accessible by their private ferry, as Jacko expresses to them, " it's like Jurassic Bloody Park, mate". Intrigue! The family is dying to get on that island to get the authentic experience they were hoping for. Tom strikes a deal with the men and they're officially on their way to the experience of a lifetime. Once there, a tragic accident and a split second bad decision causes this family vacation to take a DARK turn and things go VERY VERY WRONG. I don't want to spoil anything further, just be ready for a twisted, gory, horrifying adventure. The chase is on and it is survival of the fittest. At times, this was almost a bit too gritty and gory for my taste, but still a total page turner that kept my attention and overall a fun, fast summer read!

I generally post a review regardless of how I feel about a book. I can usually find a way to critique without being an ass. Adrian McKinty has been one of my favorite authors over the years, and his Troubles work is fantastic. To say I was disappointed in The Chain is an understatement, though I thought it showed promise while being written in the "made for movie" set. I decided to take a chance on The Island and won't be taking another.

I don't require common sense in my characters, but they should at least be consistent. These were not only paper-thin, but they were not consistent. At times they were written one way in order to set a scene, then changed for another. The whole Porsche set-up was ridiculous. Make Tom an arrogant prick, which he was, but keep him in character. Why Heather married him was very unclear. The kids hated her, but she called them "baby" and "honey?'

There were more fart references in this book than moments of enjoyment. I'm sorry, Adrian, I just have nothing nice to say so I'm not going to publish anything at all. Which I don't like to do, but I have too much old respect for you to do otherwise in this circumstance.

this is a good thriller. It took me on quite the unexpected journey and i like that they flashed forward at the beginning and then told the story. i am unsure why the author didnt continue the flash forward scenes so that was kind of odd.
I will say <spoiler> the concept of going with two wierdos to a secret island with your whole family.. is fishy </spoiler> so once you get over that initial "who would even make that call" you start getting into a real story.
lets get past the cheesyness.
you have a woman whos step children are horrid humans, a husband who is so out of reality and a woman who is struggling to even figure out who she is and where she is meant to be in this world. What happens is a story for the decades so much ups and downs. You really felt you were there. I wish the first 10% of the book was chopped off because this would be a 5 star read because of how cheesy and unneeded some of it was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for allowing me to read a digital copy of Adrian McKinty's novel, "The Island." The story begins with Heather lost, driving in the Outback, and meeting an aborigine who helped her, invited the family to relax, gave directions to the airport, and provided a trusty souvenir to commemorate their meeting. This chance meeting between the two foreshadows the impending doom that will befall the family. This tale was action-packed and fast-paced. Tom, his two kids, and his new wife, Heather, take a working vacation to Australia. In Australia, the family goes on a sight-seeing excursion so the kids can see some of the natural wildlife up close via ferry to a remote island called Dutch Island. Things quickly go awry after an accident, and a poor decision has the family fighting for their survival upon their arrival on the island. Their nefarious guides show their true colors, and the race to survive the island is on. Will the family survive the ordeal intact? Or not? I wondered if this novel would turn out to be the Aussie version of Deliverance, but it had tones of Rambo. So, I kept reading this tortuous tale, which left my head spinning, to find the answers. The action was non-stop and kept me on the edge of my seat. There is graphic violence in The Island, but once you start reading the book, you get caught up in the story and want to finish it. I loved Heather!

“The Island” is the second novel I have read by Mr. McKinty, and I recommend that you read this book.

Review Rating-3.5/5 stars

Heather is a badass!

I truly wanted to LOVE this one but just found myself waiting for the climax or ending I knew was coming. I don’t like to be harsh because it was a good book, but that’s what arc and reviews are for. It made sense, all the loose ends were tied up and There were some good twists but I saw them coming from milessss away. There are big scenes that will be muchhhh better for on camera, since this is an upcoming Hulu show!

🌟SPOILERS 👇
BUT it just had unnecessary parts:
-the friend back home that I thought would eventually send the cops. Did nothing. Her whole character was unnecessary since she didn’t play any part in their survival.
-the excessive rattling about birds and aboriginal people etc also didn’t help their survival at all and just felt random and confusing. The peninsula was told to them from the Pamphlet from the random prison?
-heather was such a badass that the few times she “almost gave up or could just fade away” didn’t make sense for her.
-Ma was lame! I would have taken her out first and seen what happened to all the others coming to their senses that there was another way out of this craziness.

I did love the bond the kids and heather created and I’m happy they came together as a family❤️

I believe this author is going to be consistently on the bestseller lists. We use that every day at work. I also get to help pick what books we have in, so this one has been ordered, I believe it will be very popular!

4 stars for Rambo
Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for an e ARC of The Island by Adrian McKinty. This book absolutely defined vacation gone horribly wrong!! The story was action-packed and never stopped. It was a fast read which left me with some whiplash!. The family in this novel made a terrible choice regarding the place to go sightseeing for koalas and kangaroos -- on a Deliverance Island with a cruelty level at 1000+!! Honestly, some of the violence was just too much for my taste. And when the main character, Heather, turned into Rambo, the novel took a side-ways turn for me. There is believable and then... a 24 year old Rambo killing machine. I applaud her survival skills and heroism in protecting the children, but, there was a point where I just wanted the story to wrap up. And I think ending was rushed and way too tidy. After all that viciousness and danger, it was just a Good Night Moon ending? I think the story also showed the very dark side of humanity,if there was any humanity at all, and I was not a fan.
#NetGalley

A few bad choices and this family ends up being stalked on a remote Australian island by a psychotic family. And there survival becomes a bloody endeavor.
I struggled a bit with the first half of this book, as the characters felt unbelievable. Even the actions didn’t ring true. I found my pacing better towards the end of the book, where the action ramped up, and the twist became interesting. I would have liked a more complete fleshed out ending too.
Overall , I enjoyed the book, but could only give it three stars.
~Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher~

"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."

Are you in a reading rut? Read this book.
Do you love fast-paced and action-packed thrillers? Read this book.
Looking for a book to keep you on the edge of your seat? Read this book.

This book is incredible! It pulled me in at the prologue and I didn't want to put it down. The story kept my heart pounding, wondering what would happen next. The characters were well written and I love a main character that everyone underestimates.
Please. Read. This. Book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for this ARC.
Release Date scheduled for May 17, 2022.

I'm a bit torn posting this review. I really liked the plot and the parts where the action really happens, but I felt like the story dragged in other parts. Since I read an unpublished copy, I am hoping the editing would be tighter in the actual release. Overall, I would rate it a 3.5.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley, Adrian McKinty, and Little Brown & Co for a copy.

As someone who took a family vacation to Australia as a child, complete with deserted island excursions, this was on my “To Read” list already! I was delightfully surprised to have been chosen for an ARC!

There were a few moments where I just had to shake my head at some of the characters’ actions (Heather sneaking up on Jacko and sits down to deal with glass in her foot right behind him….ugh).

I despised Tom, and how flippant people were about his first wife suffering from MS and dying tragically. Heather annoyed me throughout most of the story, and the kids’ attitudes drove me bananas.

Despite this, most of the characters (except for Tom) grew on me, and grew as characters. I was definitely invested in the story and couldn’t put it down once i started.

Pick this one up if you like thrillers, adventures, and survival stories!

Reading Between the Wines book review #45/135 for 2022:
Rating: 3🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 📱: The Island
Author: Adrian McKinty
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: This one fell a little short for me. I enjoyed The Chain but there were just not enough mind-blowing surprises for me. I do think people will enjoy this one, especially if you like a James Bond/Jason Bourne movie but with a female lead. I really liked Heather and how she played no games when it came to keeping her and her family safe. Just because I didn’t love this book does not mean you shouldn’t try it for yourself.

Cheers and thank you to @LittleBrownAndCompany and @NetGalley for an advanced copy of @TheIsland.

#TheIsland #AdrianMcKinty #LittleBrownAndCompany #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review*

This is one intense, heart throbbing, thrilling read! This will keep you on the edge of your seat for sure!!

Wow did I love this book so much. This book reminded me of one of my favorite movies You're Next and I loved this story of survival with a badass lead. I loved how McKinty took the time to ramp up the dread and get us into the setting before we ramp up the story and get to just a tale of families, violence, and survival, I loved Heather so much. I love a mysterious woman with a hidden backstory and seeing her take charge and kick ass was just amazing.

Thanks to Little, Brown, and Company and NetGalley for this ARC for an honest review.