DNF at 40%. Was just...too much. A little too gruesome. Slightly more horror than thriller. Just not for me. Will still read other Adrian McKinty books as I like the author and the Sean Duffy series.

In the beginning of this novel, Heather mentions horror movies set in Australia such as Wolf Creek, and this is what this novel felt like to me - more of a horror/survival tale than your typical thriller. I was not invested for most of the book, but it got REALLY good in the final quarter and redeemed itself! There was one super obvious hint to their outcome where it's like "DUH WHY ARE THEY NOT CATCHING ONTO THAT CLUE?!" And there was also a pretty good (small) twist.

Thank you to Adrian McKinty, Little, Brown and Company, and NetGalley for an opportunity to read on of my most anticipated novels of 2022! We as a reading community owe a great deal of gratitude to Mr. Don Winslow for helping Mr. McKinty get over a small slump and get back behind the keyboard! The result is back to back great novels full of action, and more importantly prose. I loved last years novel (how many years has it been, we have all lost track of time) “The Chain” and we now have “The Island”

The Island is set in Australia and I love the history and geography lessons that are interspersed throughout the book, that also play a large role in the plot and characters. The Island itself may also be defined as one of the characters. Speaking of characters, the development was outstanding. We find ourselves “rooting” for certain characters and pulling our hair out with others. Also see growth of the relationships built on those initial character developments. Really good writing and development.
Once the characters are established, the action really kicks off, and the book really takes off. So much intrigue as the characters, settings, and plot all come together! Awesome story with characters that will stay with you.
Thanks for reading! “The Island” comes out on May 17.

This book was SOO good! The writing was fantastic, there wasn't any part of the novel that dragged. The pacing was perfect and I felt like I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. From the start of the book, it sucked me right in. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for my review.

This is the first book I've read by this author, but heard so much hype surrounding their first book, I was excited to read this one. I will immediately say I found it very graphic during certain scenes and had to put it down to give my self a minute. At most parts I enjoyed the descriptive writing and felt like I was actually there on the island with the characters.
I found this read very plot driven, fast paced, and action packed. Everytime I turned a page something shocking was happening and I had a hard time putting it down. I also really enjoyed that the chapters were in multiple points of view, but mostly Heather's.
Overall I would highly recommend this book, I'm not sure I'd I would fully qualify it as a thriller though. I would definitely add that it has horror aspects as well. I can't wait to read this author's other book, which I already bought.

I don’t even know where to start with this one. I give it all the stars. I have been a major reading slump this past month and I devoured this book in the matter of an afternoon. Isolated setting, creepy family, badass woman, what more could you ask for?

Heather, her older husband Tom, and Toms 2 kids head to Australia for a work conference/family vacation. It is all going well until they decide to follow some locals to a private island to see wildlife and a terrible accident occurs. Now they need to figure out how to get off this island, but it’s easier said then done, with a disturbing family hunting you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

4.5
I've stopped reading synopsis in thrillers, coz I have found out that the more I go into the book blind the more I enjoy it. So, when starting this one I didn't know that it was gonna be them on an island running from the locals, I thought they were going to be vacationing on an island😂

I didn't know what I was getting myself into and wow it was a huge surprise!!
Very fast paced and action packed I enjoyed every minute of it:)
It was also very intense and coz we didn't know what was going to happen next it made it that much more thrilling.
This had well rounded character's, an amazing plot that keeps you on ur toes and I wasn't bored for even a second.
Def going to be reading his other book the chain soon:) Highly recommend this one!

Thank you NetGalley, the Author and Little, Brown and Company for my advanced copy to read and review. :)

A dream vacation turns into a nightmare in this high octane thriller from Adrian McKinty.

Seriously, buckle up, because there’s very little downtime.

This has a different vibe from The Chain, so don’t walk into this expecting it to be similar. And check TW before reading!

I’m not surprised this is already being developed by Hulu, and I think thriller fans will love the book and adaptation.

Definitely a 4 star read for me!

**Many thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.**

Adrian McKinty is one of those authors that I hear discussed among many reviewers and I was so excited to finally receive an ARC(advanced reader's copy) of his work. Talk about an edge of your seat/page turning/nail bite suspense!

American massage therapist Heather, her doctor husband, Tom and two step children, Owen and Olivia are traveling in Australia. Although Tom is very busy with a medical conference there, he and Heather are determined to show the kids as much of Australia as possible. When they meet up with some locals living on a nearby island, the adults have some reservations but the teens soon convince them. It will turn out to be one of many mistakes that they will make.

The best suspense thrillers are the ones that make your heart race and forgetting about everything and everyone around you. The plot was fast moving, the characters intriguing(and sometimes infuriating) and a lot of gasping for breath moments. Honestly, it had all the makings of a blockbuster movie. I now count myself among the Adrian McKinty book club members.

I have auto approval for Little, Brown and Company.

Expected Publication Date 17/05/22
Goodreads review published 30/04/22

The Island by Adrian McKinty was pure entertainment! Don’t look too closely at the coincidences like how the family had special skills and knowledge of survival/shooting just sit back and enjoy the ride.

If you are ever traveling and someone randomly offers to take you to a private island to see exotic animals, DON’T GO! Unfortunately for the characters in this book, they went and with horrific results. Sidenote: I probably wouldn’t last long in this situation.

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 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.

When Heather and the kids are separated from Tom, they are forced to escape alone, seconds ahead of their pursuers.

Now it’s up to Heather to save herself and the kids, even though they don’t trust her, the harsh bushland is filled with danger, and the locals want her dead.

Heather has been underestimated her entire life, but she knows that only she can bring her family home again and become the mother the children desperately need, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them all alive.

What I love about books like this one is that there is no downtime in the reading, it’s just a totally wild ride of suspense and adventure. I guess I’m not the only one who thought so because this book is going to be a series on Hulu! I can’t wait!

Don’t miss this fun book, it’s out on May 17.

3.5 stars

Wow! This book was intense! There are some twists and turns to be sure, but the plot is largely pretty straightforward. Even so, the pacing was non-stop. It has action, terror, suspense, and tension. Oh so much tension.

With that said, this book is also dark and disturbing with some violence and just weird turns.

It was an entertaining read and most certainly a page-turner.


My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown & Company for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I picked this one up because I'd had a pretty good experience with this author before- I read The Chain and found it very fast and easy to read, an unrealistic but engaging thriller.
Unfortunately, this book did not work for me at all. The plot was very predictable (and nearly every single thing that happens in the book is in the synopsis), the characters were all unlikeable, and the tone was frustrating because it kept changing from extremely tense to light and humorous, but in jarring ways. The "oh no we're being chased and we have to run" portion of the book quickly got repetitive and I expected there to be some big reveal that would shake things up, but it never came. The villains were unrealistically bad and didn't have a lot of nuance to them.
On top of everything, there were also a lot of lines/moments that made me uncomfortable. It felt like there were a lot of stereotypes in this book that were used to characterize people rather than actually revealing information about them and developing them naturally. TW for threat of rape that is mentioned throughout, violence against animals, torture and violence against humans.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Phew! This book was suspenseful from the start. I was anxious (in a good book way) the WHOLE time. It was one that makes you stay up to finish. If you’re in the mood for a creepy, suspenseful and a little over the top action packed thriller, this is it!

Adrian McKinty's THE ISLAND is a quasi-domestic thriller that abandons the elements that made McKinty's earlier writing great.
As a longtime fan of McKinty's work, I was disappointed to read this entry. His Sean Duffy books are some of the best detective fiction that I've read. I haven't read THE CHAIN, which was his major commercial success, but it seems like that success has watered down his writing. The Sean Duffy books are remarkable for their complicated characters, their elegant prose, and their taut storytelling. In contrast, THE ISLAND feels like yet another book about a somewhat unlikable group of characters caught in a horrible situation of their own making.

This story follows Tom, his new wife, and Tom’s two children, Olivia and Owen. While on a work trip made into a family vacation, an unexpected accident occurs that sends the family straight into a nightmare. They are faced with battling for survival against the inhabitants of the island they found themselves on. Only problem is they are crazy people seeking vengeance for what the Baxter family has done while visiting the island. Heather and the kids get separated from Tom and must find a way to carry on and survive. They’re being hunted by the locals and there’s no way off the island as the waters surrounding it are filled with sharks. Will they survive? This is a twisty, edge of your seat, dark, and wild ride!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I couldn’t put it down and had to know what was going to happen next. The pacing was good and the atmosphere was claustrophobic in a way that I felt like I was there right alongside Heather, Olivia and Owen. If you are into this genre, I’d definitely recommend this one! I saw on the cover it’s going to be adapted into a Hulu series and I can’t wait to watch it!

Pub date is scheduled for 5/17/2022.

Thank you to NetGalley + Little, Brown and Company for the ARC!

This book kept me on edge the whole way through. Very original and different than thrillers I've read. It made me think of movies by Rob Zombie in regards to the family that lives on the island, so I can't wait to see how it turns out on Hulu. Definitely recommend for thriller lovers.

Pub date: 5/17/22
Genre: thriller
In one sentence: Heather, her husband Tom, and their stepchildren head to Dutch Island, Australia to see penguins - but that dream trip quickly turns into a nightmare.

Adrian McKinty's The Chain is a great thriller, so I had to grab this one. I enjoyed the "vacation gone wrong premise",especially at the beginning when Heather and Tom are trying to sort out what's going on. Heather is a great MC for this kind of thriller - she's crafty and gutsy, and she did a great job keeping her family together. This one is a 3-star rather than a 4-star read for me because the last 20% got a little over the top plot-wise. But I still enjoyed the ride!

I think readers who like action-packed, violent thrillers like No Exit and Falling will enjoy this one. It's already being adapted for the screen by Hulu, and I think the action will translate well to TV!

Thank you Little, Brown and Company for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is absolutely bonkers. It's not the type of story I typically read, but for some reason I requested the ARC and therefore felt duty-bound to finish it. <i>The Island</I> is a very tense, violent, action-packed thriller set on a small private island off the coast of Australia. When a family (widower father, young new wife, and two stepchildren) ends up visiting a private island populated by one crazy, isolated family in their attempts to see koala bears, a tragic accident occurs that sets an incredibly violent, murderous, pulse-pounding sequence of events in motion. There is little in the way of character development, but for what this book is, it is well done. Just not my speed. I had to finish it in one day and quickly start a new book to attempt to forestall any nightmares. Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for a digital review copy.

The Baxter family is on vacation in Australia on what was originally a work function for Tom. His two kids convince him to let them go and he capitulates in hopes it will help them bond with Heather, the young massage therapist he married after the death of their mother. Heathers’ friend cautioned her about marrying him so soon after his wife’s’ death and taking in two kids who resented her but Heather longed for a stable home life. Now on vacation with a husband who spends his days in meetings she is stuck with the kids and questioning if she wants to be a mother figure. Tom takes a day off to take the family out in hopes of spotting native wildlife. They are offered an opportunity to visit a private island where an accident happens and are soon in a fight for their lives and Heather remembers long ago lessons from her childhood and she will need them all to save herself and her family.
I enjoyed “ The Chain” by this author and couldn’t wait to start this one. The action begins early and doesn’t let up. This has already been optioned by Hulu for a series so make sure to read it when it is released on May 17th!

The Chain was one of my favorite books I read during 2020. Adrian McKinty has once again written another nail-biting, edge of your seat thriller, which has already been acquired by Hulu for a limited series! Heather, her new husband Tom, and his children, Owen & Olivia, travel to Australia. They wind up on a private island when a tragedy occurs, and are not permitted to leave the by the family living there. Their fight for survival begins… Heather is such a badass female character!! I can’t wait to see who will play her in the adaptation. If you love a good survival thriller/horror, then definitely read this. It’s so atmospheric…the sun, the heat, the lack of water. You feel like you’re right on the island with them. I have a feeling this is going to be “The Book” this summer that you’ll see at the beach/pool and all over BookTok & BookTube.