How far would you go to save your family?
A work trip from Seattle to Australia is the perfect time for this new family to bond. Heather has been with widowed Tom for just about a year and recently married. His young son, Owen and teenage daughter, Olivia aren't big fans of Heather. In an attempt to win them over, Heather talks their way onto a ferry to a remote Dutch island that's off-limits to visitors. After a tragic accident, the island locals want blood. Getting separated from Tom, Heather and the kids stay seconds ahead of their pursuers. Will Heather be able to save them or will the locals get the blood the seek?
I flew through this thriller, picking it up every chance I got! After reading The Chain, I couldn't wait to dive into this Adrian McKinty novel and was not disappointed. I was constantly on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook; I highly recommend either. This is the first audiobook that I've come across that had sound effects to go along with the story and I absolutely loved it! I also feel that the narrator, Mela Lee, did an excellent job portraying each character. I am so excited to see what Hulu does with this as it will soon be a Hulu Original Series! I will definitely be recommending this to my fellow thriller lovers and impatiently awaiting another release from Adrian McKinty!
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Over the top and tense are two descriptions I'd give to to Adrian McKinty's The Island. Heather and her husband Tom and his two children Owen and Olivia are visiting Australia for his work conference. They make their way to a remote island off the coast and things go very, very bad. It's better not to know too many other details, but this one is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you #TheChase #NetGalley #The Island for a free e-copy for my honest review of this book.

Tom (father), Heather (step-mom), Olivia (14) and Owen (12) embark on a trip to Australia together. The kids have been having a tough time since their mother died a year ago, and now they have a new step-mom trying to fill her shoes. Right off the bat Heather meets a guy who you think is sketchy, but it turns out his gift plays a big role in the coming days.

The kids beg Tom to bring them to see some animals and they find themselves on Dutch Island . With no cell phone service and some not so nice residents, this family soon realizes they have to get off the island now, but how?

I enjoyed this book for the most part.

Thank you @novelsuspects and @littlebrown for the advanced copy of the Island which released on Tuesday!
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Summary: 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.
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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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My thoughts: wow what did I just read 🤯🤯this book was insane, such a fun read! I felt like I was reading an action movie I could totally see this becoming a hulu\Netflix movie. Heather was such a great protagonist and I loved the kids. It was unique and action packed. Perfect for fans of Falling or No Exit! I will not be forgetting this book anytime soon

This book creeped me the heck out. Serious Wolf Creek vibes. The Island is coming to Hulu as a series and I will be THERE for it!

The Island of Adrian McKinty is a crazy, far-fetched, entertaining thriller. Heather, her husband Tom and her stepchildren fight for their lives after having a terrible accident on a private island in Australia.

I love suspenseful stories, but I got tired of the chase, and would have learned more about the family living on the island and more of Heather’s past. Still, I wanted to find out the ending so this will entertain many readers, but I preferred his last book, The Chain.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wooooo, this was intense.

Deliverance but set in the Australian outback, a family's vacation goes horribly wrong after they pay some locals to take them to their family island to see some koalas.

Do "Americans behave badly in this book?" Yes, they kind of do, BUT the O'Neil family is like some inbred lawless community with zero moral compass and only operating under "an eye for an eye" protocol.

The vast majority of the book has the main family being chased around this island by the family who owns it, which could have been boring, but the author manages to keep it fresh, frightening, and interesting with all the hoops he throws in.

Billed as a psychological thriller, it bordered on modern day horror at times with a dark disturbing plot that is like one of these shocking kidnap story headlines you wake up and read. It kept me reading till the very end. I'm off to start a romance novel so I can wash this bloodshed out of my mouth.

WOW…

This book was an incredible thriller that constantly kept me on the edge of my seat. I wish I could read this for the first time again!

A family travels to Australia for a work conference. They set off on a day trip to an island that quickly became a pursuit of survival.

This novel is perfect for fans of No Exit by Taylor Adams.

This book kept my pulse racing and kept me eagerly devouring every page.

Fantastic novel and definitely one of my top books of the year so far!

This was twisty, fast paced, keeps on the edge of your seat with heart pumping action. With a slightly rough beginning, it picks up and then from that point it's non-stop. A little murder, a little mayhem, a little car chase, suspense, cat-and-mouse game, this book has it. Some of the content is very dark bordering on more of a horror than a thriller for me, which isn't a genre I typically like. It was written well and the progression of events was well done. Some of the content was actually too much for me and gave me anxiety while reading which some people love but it was a negative for me. I wish the aftermath of the event was longer or more explained because it did feel like we wont get to find out what happened.

I really wanted to love The Island. The premise was interesting enough, a cross between the last thing he told me and an episode of Criminal Minds I once saw (not telling which one, you’ll have to figure that out for yourself). The problem I had with this book was the foreshadowing. This should be done so that you don’t realize it’s happening, sadly there was a lot of telling not showing here.

I would recommend this to those who love a book unfolding with bits and pieces of the ending scattered throughout the story, definitely not for those who like to figure out the ending with the characters, not before them.

The Island is enjoyable enough. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it enough that it is going on my forever recommend shelf. Will I read it again? Nah. Will I recommend it to a friend? Probably to a couple folks. Which is why I give it a solid 3.5. (NetGalley won’t let me do halfsies 🙄)

Yikes, glad I finished that and my brain is safely off the island from hell! This is a fast paced, anxiety inducing, thrill read you don’t want to miss! I heard one of my favorite bookstagrammers, Jordy, call it a Die Hard/Deliverance mash up and I can’t improve on that. Of course you will have to suspend belief, of course there are some inconsistencies. But I highly recommend this story if you’re looking for some high octane fun!

Thank you Netgalley, Little Brown & Co, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

WOW WOW WOW. This thriller was SO good. This is exactly what I'm looking for in a thriller: something that keeps my heart pounding with a plot so good I can't put it down.

In this story you're following a family who is being held captive on an island with no escape in sight. The stakes are SO high and it truly seems like an impossible situation. It kept my mind turning wondering "What would you do in this situation??" and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through.

I also loved the characters in this one and the dynamics between them. Plus the atmosphere of Australia in the summer heat and all its creepy creatures was a villain in itself! This is THE thriller of the summer!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to an ARC for an honest review.

I haven’t read any previous books by this author but I do have the Chain on my TBR. Although I didn’t like to as much as others, I still enjoyed it. It was a wild ride and kinda weird at times, but weird can be good! It just wasn’t my favorite read. Will still check out more by this author.

Holy crap! That was one helluva ride - made me think of many a horror/thriller movie I’ve seen in the past. A little Hills Have Eyes minus the inbreeding and radiation - but every bit as much cruelty and terror.

I was late to the bandwagon with The Chain but made sure to read it before THE ISLAND was published so I could finally understand all the hype. The Chain was incredibly disturbing, heart-pounding, and kept you on the edge of your seat, and let's just say The Island is the same way. Not only that, it's very atmospheric and you'll feel as if you're in the Australian climate.

Be forewarned, there is a lot of violence (graphic violence) and know ahead that there are pretty detailed descriptions of the deaths of dogs.

With all that said, if you've read The Chain, you will more than likely be glued to The Island. If you haven't, be prepared to have a new author you won't be able to put down!

4.5/5 stars
Thank you to Little, Brown, and Company and NetGalley for the eARC for my honest review.

I really enjoyed The Chain - Adrian McKinty's previous book and New York Times bestseller. I eagerly picked up his latest, The Island, anticipating another suspense filled read.

The premise was good and took inspiration from an event in McKinty's own life.
"While I was driving in rural Australia on a very isolated island inhabited by one large extended family, a woman wearing a hearing aid pulled out of a blind road on her bicycle and I swerved to miss her. I half jokingly told my wife, Leah, that if - God forbid - we had hit her we wouldn't have got off that island alive."

McKinty's characters - Tom, his teen children Owen and Olivia and his second wife Heather do hit the bicyclist. They make some bad decisions and suddenly they're fighting for their lives. Cue the Deliverance movie sound track.

McKinty has created some godawful, depraved characters in the island folks. They are a law unto their selves and they want retribution from Tom and his family for the death of the cyclist. The narrative is experienced from Heather's viewpoint. Heather is a good lead and given some background. But there's not a lot of depth. It's all about the action.

Initially I was caught up in the tension, the danger, the next twist of trouble in the family's attempts to escape the islanders. But about midway, it became more than a little unbelievable. Now, I'm all for suspending belief in a suspense novel. But it all became too much. Heather is now a kick butt warrior, the snotty stepkids are as well. Cue Bruce Willis. There's more 'grain of salt' plot lines, skill sets and more, but I don't want to provide spoilers. The plot is busy and by the end felt almost repetitive as the close calls and near misses just keep on coming. McKinty has also included First Nations folklore, customs and history. The relationship between Heather and the kids is often explored, but didn't really work either for me. It felt like an inserted element ticked off on a check list.

The prose are short and staccato. I became annoyed with one word pronouncements. Water. Sky. Sun. etc.

The Island felt and read like a movie script. Which is kinda true, as Hulu has picked this up as a series.

So, bottom line - implausible, but somehow gripping. I had to see what happened in the end. I'm in the minority on my three star rating. That being said, I will still pick McKinty's next book.

The most accurate word for The Island by Adrian Mckinty is intense. Every single page crackles with intensity. The imagery at times can be brutal but this is a story that is impossible to put down. I can’t imagine that this won’t be made into a movie. Heather is a kick ass heroine. I highly recommend this one!

While I found the premise of The Island to be appealing, I am not sure what I just read. The characters were strange and a lot was overdone and at times. It is a book filled with action, tension, and suspense and there is a lot of violence. I had to suspend my disbelief during certain parts of the book and I got some LOST vibes while reading. Not sure I could recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Genre: thriller, mystery, suspense, crime fiction
TW: death of animals

I enjoyed this! The beginning started off a little weird to me but then it really picked up! It was jam packed full of action pretty much the entire book. This book does a great job of allowing you to get attached to characters and rooting for them 100%. Im rating a 3.5 because I did feel that there was almost tooooo much action? I kept waiting for it to all come together and then there would be more action. It just kind of dragged on IMO. All in all, I’d definitely recommend if you’re looking for a suspenseful action book! Thank you to #netgalley #thechase #theisland #adrianmckinty for the eARC! This book released yesterday so go snag it if it peaks your interest!!

4.5 stars!
Heather has recently married Tom and become a stepmom to 2 surly teenagers who want nothing to do with her after the death of her mother. Tom gets called to attend a conference in Australia, and the whole family tags along as a bonding experience. Their travels lead them to Dutch Island, a remote location off the coast of the mainland. WHen things take a turn for the worst, Heather and the kids become trapped. They have no one to rely on but each other as they try to escape.

Heather was so cool. I just loved her resilience and grit. Her character totally made the story. She was so resourceful and her wit surprised me many times. I think she was way too good for Tom. The setting was executed perfectly, Dutch Island came to life for me in my mind. Everything about this book was cinematic and it doesn’t surprise me that it has been picked up already for a TV series. The dialogue, the setting, the action will all make for a great show. The family that lives on the island were excellent antagonists. They gave me the heebie jeebies and the cast of villains were totally unpredictable. Thanks to @netgalley and @littlebrown for one of the most entertaining reads I’ve had in a while.