The Island

4.5 ⭐️ If you loved The Chain, don’t miss The Island! It’s just as crazy & over-the-top but so damn entertaining! Tom, his 2 kids and his new wife are all in Australia for a family vacation. They end up paying someone to take them to a private island that’s supposed to be brimming with wildlife. Once they arrive, problems begin almost immediately and before they know it, the family is fighting to survive. I had a few minor issues with the writing but nothing I couldn’t overlook. I highly recommend if you’re looking for a page turner!

I stayed up all night reading it and than I was up all night because of it.

Holy crap. Psychological thriller... bending into survival type horror.... it induced nausea, panic, pulse racing and a whole load of loud cursing. The narrator... BRILLIANT.

OH! And the characters? The arcs were as twisty as the plot, in ways I never saw coming. Some of the characters were so aggravating I half hoped they would die but by the end? WELL. McKinty is a maste

Audiobook Review

The Island by Adrian McKinty
Read by Mela Lee
Pub date: May 17th, 2022
Duration: 8H 56M
5 stars

I want to preface this review by saying I listened to this non-stop in the space of one day. I dropped everything - and whenever someone spoke to me, I pointed to my headphones like ‘dudes, now is not the time & I am not the one” like the tiktok dude! I’m talking high octane, edge of your seat, suspenseful MF’ing story here. Part psychological thriller/ part survival horror, it is tense, action packed and gripping and I mean, GRIPPING!

The Baxter family is in Australia for the trip of a lifetime – Dad, Tom, is an orthopedic surgeon, recently widowed and remarried to the much younger Heather, and two teenagers, Owen and Olivia. Tom is there for a conference but takes a day off to daytrip when the kids complain they aren’t seeing enough wildlife. This takes them to an island that is off limits to outsiders but greed gets in the way and a tragic accident has the family battling for their lives. That’s all you get – but trust me when I say read/listen to this!

Narration: Mela Lee narrates and what a talent she is! The various dialects and accents are done beautifully, making this feel like a full cast audio, she’s a joy to listen to!

I can’t recommend this enough and I know it’s only April but this is going on my top three favorites this year, without a doubt. For all my friends that love a wild ride kind of book, this was written for you!

My thanks to @HachetteAudio and the author for this gifted ALC.

Wow Wow Wow. After reading The Chain, I had to get McKinty’s newest release and it did not disappoint! It was such a wild ride, that I did not see coming! I binged the audiobook in just over 24 hours, unable to stop listening, and finding any excuse to put my headphones in and listen. My heart was pounding in parts, waiting to see what would happen! There were twists, that I did not anticipate, and some that I kinda suspected. I would definitely recommend and the audiobook is fantastic. The narrator provides perfect accents and voices for different characters and sound effects that made the experience all that much better!

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

What a fantastic book! I was thrilling and suspenseful. It had me on the edge of my seat quite a few times and I managed to finish it within a day. I couldn't stop listening. It reminded me of the movies, Deliverance, Don't Breathe, I Spit on your Grave and No Escape. I've never read a book quite like this. It was fascinating. Definitely a page turner and highly recommended.

The plot was good, but sometimes I think it moved a little fast and I had a hard time understanding what was happening. There were some things at the end that got a little muddled and I'm going to have to have a second go-around with this one. Some of the characters actions didn't make sense and I think it's because I missed something with all the action. However, those complaints are minor and this was still an amazing book.

This book made me think. It actually made me second guess myself and who was a reliable character and that was great. I loved the unreliable narrator aspect. As far as the audio goes, it was fantastic. The narrator nailed the different accents (American, Australian and Dutch). 4.25 stars!

Growing up on Goose Island watching the lights of Seattle, Heather knew she wanted more from life. And so, she moved to Seattle.

Working as a massage therapist, she falls in love with one of her clients. Tom, a widower, is everything she has ever dreamed of in a partner and they get married.

Tom has two children from his deceased wife and they want nothing to do with their Dad's new wife. However, despite their feelings, they decide to accompany their Dad and Heather on a trip to Australia where their Dad is the keynote speaker at a medical conference.

That trip changes the lives of every single one of them.

Heather never really wanted kids, at least not at the age of 24. She is too close to the kids' ages for them to view her as an authority figure.

But, when an accident happens and the family finds itself in a situation none of them were prepared for, it is Heather who steps up. It is Heather to whom the kids must trust to keep them alive.

This action packed audiobook is freaking fantastic!!! Narrator Mela Lee brings the characters to life with exceptional skill. It is evident that Mela is an experienced and professional voice actress. She makes narration seem easy which it certainly is not. Her pacing is sheer perfection and draws the listener deeper into the story. I rate Mela Lee's narration as 5 out of 5 Stars. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

It is hard to believe, but this is my first time reading a book written by Irish Author Adrian McKinty, it will NOT be the last.

The author does a commendable job of creating a believable teenage girl, as well as a snarky, twelve-year-old boy. It makes me wonder if he, like myself, has had first-hand experience of the cutting wit of a boy of this age. If so, I feel for him.

Deliverance meets The Fugitive mixed with Bear Gryls Man vs. Wild.

THE ISLAND is a high octane thrill ride filled with non-stop action.

I rate THE ISLAND audiobook as 5 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

***Thank you to #NetGalley and #HachetteAudio for providing me with a free copy of this audiobook ***

After enjoying my time with his previous thriller The Chain, I simply couldn't resist requesting an audio ARC of The Island; the Australian outback setting with an remote island only made me more excited to read it. And I definitely ended up having a fantastic time with this audiobook! Part psychological thriller and part survival story, The Island turned out to be an excellent listen.

I know that I'm basically still an audiobook newbie, but The Island has once again proven to me that I can really enjoy an audiobook when the timing is right. This book has multiple POVs, but is told by one narrator: Mela Lee. While having multiple narrators could have made it even easier to keep the POVs apart, the narrator did alter her voice/accent depending on the character and it was quite easy to follow who was in the spotlight. Her voice was easy to listen to and there were even a few 'special effect' sounds like for example gun shots included to add even more suspense. As a whole this audiobook is a great option if you want to get the full The Island experience!

The Island is without doubt a highly suspenseful, action-packed and entertaining thriller. It's not a story that is easy to fit neatly inside a genre box though. There are parts that feel mostly psychological thriller and are more family focused, while other parts are pure action and survival thriller with even a dash of horror thrown in. The remote Dutch Island makes for the perfect backdrop for this story, and it truly feels like the island from your worst nightmare (or at least it seems that way thanks to its inhabitants). The survival part of the story might be a bit over the top and too shocking for some readers (trigger warnings for violence, graphic scenes and animal death), but I personally thought it was what took the story to the next level for me. Why? Well, not only do the Baxter's have to survive the harsh climate of the Austrialian island, but they are also in constant danger as they are being hunted... Talk about plot twist potential!

As for the characters... The Baxter family is easy enough to like and it was interesting to see them react to the situation once they are trapped on Dutch island. Especially Heather made for a great main character; her character growth and resilience is part of the reason this story works. Her evolving relationship with her stepkids was interesting to follow as well. Having some chapters from the POV of the locals was great to give the story more dept as well as learning more about what is going on at different parts of the island. We also have some flashbacks to the past as well as short chapters involving Heather's friend back in the US. The Dutch couple added their own little something too; I do have to say that I was annoyed that they were wrongly referred to as 'Krauts', because German is NOT the same as Dutch. I couldn't hear the few Dutch lines included in the story clearly enough to verify if they were actually in Dutch though.

That said, this is definitely a story where it's best to go in blind and just let the whole plot roll over you and put you under a spell. Just make sure you are up for some graphic scenes with plenty of violence, gun fire and killed animals... I know that some will be put off by this. If you can think you can stomach this, The Island is a great choice though. It is a highly engaging, gripping and simply addictive psychological slash survival thriller, and the Australian setting is the perfect backdrop. The audiobook is well narrated and the special effects only add to the ominous vibe!

This is the first book in a LONG time where I actually had a physical reaction-- I was nervous in my stomach, It was really exciting and full of building tension and a great heroine in Heather. This book felt original, which is challenging, and visceral. The historical research that went into it was apparent and it was very enjoyable, definitely an author I would read again!
Narration was fantastic.