Wow!! This was so good! I couldn’t put it down! I loved how each chapter ended on a cliffhanger. This is truly and edge of you seat, nail biting thriller!!

The Island
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 4 stars
by: Adrian McKinty
Genre: Thriller/Psychological Fiction/Crime Fiction/Suspense
Thank you for the arc copy @netgalley @orionbooks

Wow! I don't think Heather Baxter had any idea what she was getting herself into when she agrees to go on a working vacation with her new husband, Tom, and his 2 children, Olivia and Owen.

The kids desperately want to see the wildlife of the region, considering mama considering they are vacationing in Australia and they are from Seattle. Where are the kangaroos and koalas? Tom is able to bribe a ferry captain to take them to a remote island where they will see wildlife galore but they're limited to a very short time before they need to leave.

Unfortunately, a tragic accident happens almost immediately on the island involving a local. When the rest of the locals find out it turns into a fight to survive and to get off of the island beforenightfall.

It seems like the survival is left up to Heather who steps into her role as the mother. Very suspenseful as you never knew what was going to happen next.

Published on May 17th, 2022

This was a page turner and while I couldn’t put it down, it was hard to read at times. It was hard to read because anything with kids in a dangerous situation makes my stomach churn a little. Either way, this was great!

Creepy fun and atmospheric, I thoroughly enjoyed this story! Recommend the audio book to everyone. I’m I give this one 5 stars, once it starts it never lets up!

Oh man. All I can do is shake my head, cause I was so excited for this one and wasn’t expecting to give it such a low rating. I enjoyed The Chain and thought this would be a winner. Sorry (not sorry), but it was not.

The first 2 chapters were going well, but it somehow took a nosedive for me.
It all started with the fart conversation in ch.2, which at first I laughed. But then it gets mentioned again later on, which threw me off. But the real kicker for me, was the amount of times ‘PORSCHE’ is mentioned. Yes..I am well aware he rented a Porsche..a Porsche Cayenne. But it wasn’t the Porsche he wanted. Still. The Porsche was comfortable. The Porsche was safe. They drove the Porsche to explore the island. Wait..did I happen to mention it was a Porsche SUV? 🤦🏻‍♀️

*sigh* By the time I got to the good and what should have been the exciting bits, I rolled my eyes and thought it was like watching a bad movie with bad acting! Starring Dr. Drake Ramoray..Except his name was Tom.

I think less pickier readers will enjoy this. But it wasn’t for me.

4.25 stars!

Thank you so much for the ARC in response to an honest review!
What a great book to read in the summer! The Island by McKinty was twisty, tense, entertaining and a page turner. It also felt spooky and chilling, which I love when reading fast-paced thrillers. It reminded me a bit of the tv-show 'Lost'. This was a very unique read and i would highly recommend this to someone else. The plot had intricate detail, good character development, and a clever ending. My only iff was that in the middle it was quite slow and not as thrilling as the rest of the book but if you get through that, then you will still really enjoy this.

Heather is on vacation in Australia with her husband Tom and her stepchildren, 14 year old Olivia and 12 year old Owen. What was supposed to be a quick trip to an island to see some animals turned into a fight for survival.

This novel was filled with a never ending feeling of foreboding; knowing that each step a character took could end in death. It was very intense and a fast read. There were some descriptively gory scenes, so this book would not be for someone who would be offended by them.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an ARC of #TheIsland by #AdrianMcKinty #TheChase - 3.5 stars rounded to 4

I have enjoyed this authors novels in the past but this one was a miss for me. It seemed a little repetitive and all the characters were terrible. This is a survival story at the center and is well done. It's creepy and my anxiety was at a 9 the whole book. I loved not knowing what was going to happen next, what weird thing would throw the characters off their path. But it was hard to be invested when I didn't care about any of the characters.

I enjoyed it but wasn't my favorite by this author.

This story was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I found the characters unlikeable and struggled to care about their fates. The story also required full suspension of disbelief with so many outrageous twists and turns. At times, it felt like a little too much.
In spite of the things I considered negatives, this story was an unrelenting survival tale that had my anxiety level high. I had to know how things were going to play out and couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

I like the author, loved The Chain. Unfortunately, this was a tedious read for me. The premise was so exciting, but it just didn't live up to it's potential for me.

Unfortunately this was not my cup of tea, which is a shame because I love a good mystery book. But i found this one to bee too slow burning and it wouldn't get to the thrilling part for me. Some lines were really weird for me so unfortunately the story could not keep me interested in it.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Little, Brown and Company and to Adrian McKinty for the opportunity.

A modern, highly charged, and innovative survival story. I can easily see this thriller being made into a movie.

Wow what a gritty and unique book. I have never read a book that takes place in Austraila so that alone was interesting. It took me a minute to get into it but when I did, I was hooked until the end.

The author provides enough description to picture the landscape while making it gritty and making you feel as if you're there hiding behind the bushes with them. I also liked how the author was not afraid to show the reality of how dark people can be. Hearing about the deaths and in particular the first one really brought the darkness to the book. It made me think, what would I do? I personally would like to think I'd have chose a different path but we don't know until we are in it.

I'm looking forward to checking out more from this author. This one will be a hit this year for all thriller fans.

Odd and outlandish, but engaging enough to keep me turning pages. I had to find out how they were getting off the island. Just go into it knowing that it's implausible to say the least, but that's the fun of reading fiction.

I started off not liking this book and its cast of repulsive, backwoods antagonists, but I kept reading because I had nothing else to read, and about 1/4 way through I started getting more interested in the story. It reminded me a little of And Then There Were None and other isolated island survival tales, and I did finish it, but I started to lose interest again towards the end.

The Island by Adrian McKinty

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for a complimentary e-ARC for my honest review.

When the Baxters think they're going for a normal family vacation to Australia, they end up in a very grave situation. All they wanted to do was see some Koalas and they ended up on Dutch Island, which was off limits to tourists. When they have an accident, their life changes dramatically. Will they all get off the Island?!?
This was a very suspenseful thriller and kept me at the edge of my seat.

#NetGalley #TheIsland

Not a thriller.
Overly ridiculous, farfetched, and completely uncompelling.

What a ride! Heather recently married Tom, a widower with two kids, Owen and Olivia. Tom has a conference in Australia, and the family begs to tag along. Before the conference, the family drives around Australia to see the sights. The kids whine that they haven’t seen any koalas or kangaroos. The family stops to rest and eat, but meet two men who show the kids a koala in the back of their vehicle. After an agreement is made, the family takes a ferry to a private island, where they can drive around for a short time to see the wildlife. However, there is an accident, and the O’Neil family who owns the island won’t let them leave the island. The O’Neil family is well-armed and kidnap the family. The family has to figure out how to get off the island together, before time runs out. This was a fast-paced, action thriller that kept my interest the whole time. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. I was able to also listen to the audiobook that I got from the library. The book is great, but the audiobook made it even better with the sound effects.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for providing the ebook for review.

Enjoyed this book.
It didnt hook me as fast as The Chain, but i did enjoy it. and would reccomend it.

A vacation gone wrong - McKinty strikes again with a tale that just grips you from beginning to end!