The Island by Adrian McKinty follows a family on vacation in Australia. Desperate to have a unique experience, the family visits a mysterious island where tragic circumstances unfold in a way no one could expect.

This is definitely a straight thriller. There are not a lot of mysteries to figure out or big plot twists. It is very engaging for most of the book. Some parts in the middle do slow down but the reasoning behind it makes sense. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, thrilling summer read.

I like the way McKinty sets up the suspense. Giving us a bit of danger from the start and then goes back in time to see how they ended up in that situation. Once the group is on the island, McKintys descriptions and details give such vivid imagery, like I can see the movie reel in my brain. So great! Survival tale, mystery thriller, family drama, bordering on horror at times, this book has it all.

This book wastes no time in ramping up the suspense factor! Much like The Chain, the story makes you think about what’d you might do if you were in the same situation as the characters. What would you do? What could you be capable of if pushed to the limit?

No joke, I literally could not put this down! Just one more chapter, then I’ll start getting ready. Just a couple more pages, then I’ll start dinner. I’m honestly a little bit peeved this book doesn’t come with a warning….do not open unless you have several uninterrupted hours to spare.

Are there some flaws and some plot points you have to overlook? Yup. A big one being 24 year old Heather’s “skill set”. But guess what? I didn’t care one iota. I went with it and enjoyed every minute. Again, I don’t read fiction for realism. 🤷🏻‍♀️

To all my fellow thriller fans, this book is for you.. It’s going to be one of my 5 star unicorns.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Adrian McKinty's The Chain, so I was thrilled to receive the latest novel from an up and coming author. I overall enjoyed the premise of the book--a family falls into a tricky situation when on vacation--with some new twists. The characters weren't all that compelling though and I found myself not really invested in the outcome. Though the end finally delivered some twists, the middle was too long and repetitive. I would have liked some more build up before we hit The Island to give some more definition to the characters. Still very entertaining and I finished it in two days!

Another fast-past thrill ride from McKinty. A recommended purchase for collections where thrillers are popular.

Heather accompanies her surgeon husband to a conference in Australia. They bring their children along, planning on squeezing in some vacation time between meetings. But on a day trip to a remote island to visit a koala refuge, the family finds themselves in some serious trouble. First of all, there are no koalas on the island and the local residents are far from friendly. When Heather accidentally hits and kills a young woman on. a deserted road, she and her husband make the (very bad) choice to hide the girl’s body. It doesn’t take long for the truth to surface and Heather and her family find themselves the targets of some scary outback vigilante justice. Be prepared to get nothing dome once you start this book, it’s that good and incredibly exciting