This was everything you need for a thriller and crime story. It is not as black and white as you first think and like most typical thrillers, is full of twists. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Even though I’ve heard great things about this author I haven’t actually read from them before. I really enjoy books with an isolated setting and a sense of impending doom so the premise of this book was right up my street! It was definitely fast paced and kept me interested. It is a little over the top and unbelievable in parts but I still really enjoyed it and would recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Heather and new husband Tom are on vacation from the America with her two step children in Australia. Tom is a doctor and is also here for a conference. The children are bored and longing to see wildlife. So, while on their travels they meet Matt and Jacko who live on Dutch island, an isolated one where there is only access is a ferry to and back from the island. They have been told it is an island full of wildlife. But when they get onto the island an accident happens and one of the islanders is accidently killed. The other islanders seek revenge and the couple and their kids end up running for their lives. But they under estimate what Heather is capable of, not just by the islanders but from her own family.

Thank you, Orion, for a copy of The Island by Adrian McKinty. I have heard good things about this author. This has an intense, gripping storyline based around the Australian bush. It did remind me of a horror movie of people being on a island and there is only one way to escape.. Some nail-biting stuff. It also has great descriptions of the habitat and the wildlife. I highly recommend 5 stars from me.

Heather, her new husband Tom and his teenage son and daughter are holidaying in Australia when they decide to visit Dutch Island in the hopes of seeing some koalas. The remote island is home to the large, tight-knit O’ Neill family and is usually inaccessible to outsiders. Soon after arriving on the island, they make a disastrous mistake that angers the O’Neill’s and escalates into the islanders hunting the interlopers.

I loved ‘The Chain’ by Adrian McKinty because the premise felt so unique to me. The premise of this one is definitely not unique. It is an engaging, fast paced read, but quite average overall. I will still be recommending ‘The Chain’ over this one to customers.

Thank you NetGalley and Orion for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

McKinty's Sean Duffy series were a great favourite of mine and I hope to re-read them one day if they are ever made available again. The writing was witty, intelligent and structurally sound. To me, however, The Island and its predecessor, The Chain, has more than a whiff of Gothic literature about them, overladen as they are with mystery and unalloyed terror. After a fairly desultory start, The Island became an ever escalating series of horror filled vignettes. which culminated in an ending that stretched the credulity somewhat. At one stage, I was fully prepared for the whole thing to go all Stephen King with supernatural elements thrown in to top off the already overblown writing. Sad to say, I topped and tailed it, skip reading the middle section which dealt with Heather's heroics. I know I'll be a voice in the wilderness and I'm sure The Island will go on to do great things.
I voluntarily read and review a copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Heather, her husband, Tom, and her step children, Olivia and Owen, have travelled from America to Australia so Tom can attend a conference. While there, they do some sight seeing, and the kids were desperate to see some native Australian animals. They end up talking to some guys who live on Dutch Island. They own the isolated island, and find the whole area themselves. They charge the family to attend the island, and give a time limit on how long they can be there. An older couple from Holland also joins the little trip. But being on the island is where their lives start to unravel, and one mistake breeds a lot of consequences.

This was brilliant. The whole story has you on the edge of your seat, willing Heather on. The writing was brilliant, and was quite a quick read, as I couldn’t put it down. The book was frustrating, but in a good way. The characters were all well written, with likeable and dislikable characters, which only added to the effect the book had. I also enjoyed the writers description of Australia, it makes you want to jump on a plane and go visit.
An excellent read, and is highly recommended.

DNF @ 53%

This book started off so well! It had me completely enraptured .... and then when they went to the island, it started going downhill. It just seemed very longwinded and nothing much actually happening.

It got to the point where I just couldn't force myself to finish it, knowing that i'd probably end up giving it a negative review.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

My first experience of reading Adrian McKinty’s work came from his immensely popular novel The Chain, which was a standalone thriller that had the unique hook of parents being forced to kidnap other children in order to rescue their own in a perverse ‘chain letter’ scheme. His latest release, The Island, tackles more familiar thriller territory with a group of tourists cut off from civilisation and struggling to survive against crazed locals and the land itself. McKinty openly acknowledges inspirations Deliverance and Wolf Creek in the book itself, and it’s interesting that the story came from the extrapolation of real-world near-miss. I have recently read and reviewed Gabriel Bergmoser’s excellent thriller, The Hunted, which shared many of the same themes, albeit with more of a The Most Dangerous Game vibe, so it was interesting to leap back into the world of isolationist horror – a genre that particularly unsettles me as a firmly city-dwelling individual.

The Island opens up with one of the most gripping prologues I’ve read in recent years, piling on the suspense with a spectacular ‘in media res’ sequence that becomes unbearably tense before transitioning to the events that led up to that scene. It’s a great introduction to the book and gives us readers a glimpse at the survival horror waiting to unfold. Not just a master at creating tension, McKinty also does a brilliant job with characterisation, giving us some complex protagonists that appear unlikeable at first – even to each other. Heather struggles to adapt to the role of step-mom to the two stroppy teens she has inherited, whilst her aloof husband focuses on his career. When events force her to become responsible for the children’s very survival, she must become the guardian she has always been reluctant to be.

Heather is a great lead character and her development feels earned throughout the book as she goes on a journey of self-discovery, finding the inner strength she’d denied herself. Through their hardships, the makeshift family come together and grow stronger bonds and it feels like a natural development. Rather than having the locals of Dutch Island inherently evil from the outset, McKinty makes the events stem from one tragic accident that becomes compounded by further misunderstandings and bad decisions. It shows just how different society becomes outside of the rules and boundaries set by civilisation – on an island with one family in control, their word is the law and that is terrifying. It reminded me of the British thriller Calibre and that ‘eye for an eye’ mentality that is prevalent in small communities.

The novel is extremely well-paced and difficult to put down once it hits a decent momentum. The feeling of being cut off from civilisation and being hunted down on an island is reminiscent of the recent pop culture zeitgeist, evoking comparisons to Fortnite, The Hunger Games and Battle Royale. Heather’s attempts to keep one step ahead of her pursuers are extremely engaging and cinematic, so it comes as no surprise to discover that Hulu has already picked up the rights to develop The Island into a TV miniseries. The novel has plenty of twists and turns, and McKinty ratchets up the tension by having his protagonists outnumbered and trapped without any resources.

The Island is one of those books that will leave you breathless as you race through the chapters. While it lacks the same genius hook as The Chain, it is another demonstration of McKinty’s knack for generating nail-biting moments of dread. Its familiarity to other stories of a similar type doesn’t diminish the thrills found within and it is a solid example of survival horror that doesn’t revert to the typical tropes of hillbillies or inbred lunatics. The family hunting down the Baxters are frighteningly normal, which makes things even more terrifying than a chainsaw-wielding psychopath.

I wasn’t sure about this story at first, could the tale really stretch to a whole book stuck on one small island? A squatter way in and i I was hooked. The main characters are unpeeled bit by bit as they are forced to improvise to survive. It’s really grim in spots and at times feels really hopeless. Heather is an unlikely super hero.

This story follows Heather, a 24 year old small-town woman, and her new husband, the widowed older doctor, Tom and his two teenage children as they fly to Australia on a business trip in the hopes it will bring them all closer together. When they discover the remote Dutch Island, they hope to lay eyes on an abundance of Australian wildlife, and talk themselves on to the ferry.

As soon as they arrive, the atmosphere changes. The island, strictly off-bounds, is run by a tight-knit, slightly unhinged family and the Baxters find themselves in a terrifying situation.

I found this to be quite a slow read in parts, but the tension ensured I was never bored. There were lots of twists and turns, some of which I definitely saw coming, but it all works perfectly to create an interesting, well thought out and intriguing story.

Having enjoyed this, I’d definitely check out more by this author. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a bit of grit with their tales.

The Island - Adrian McKinty

i was so looking forward to reading this novel, but, oh dear, WHAT a disappointment it turned out to be!

I found myself 'speed reading' the last two thirds, longing for it to end, but refusing to just give up.

The endless running around the Island, going from one disaster to the other. The ongoing totally implausable conversations with the O'Neills. The laborious mentioning of the varied terrain....

A good beginnig, and that's about it for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

I read this in 2 sittings! It’s full of drama and tension! Tom and Heather are in Australia. They haven’t seen any indigenous animals and agree to visit an island so they children can see a Koala…but one thing leads to another and the family are fighting for their lives.

Great history, lots happening, and there are some scenes where your heart is in your mouth! Fast-paced and thrilling!

An adrenaline rush of a story.

Tom, Heather and their kids are in Australia and visit an island to check out the wildlife. An unfortunate accident and a series of bad decisions leads to the family fighting for their survival.

Fast paced and frenetic, and laden with tension.

Heather has had some pretty major life changes. She moved from a small country town to Seattle, gave up her job as a massage therapist, married Tom Baxter, a much older, widowed surgeon, with a teenage son and daughter. Tom’s children don’t take to their new stepmother, and Heather is having a hard time adjusting to her new life and new role. So when Tom is asked to speak at a medical conference in Australia, it seems like the perfect opportunity to make it a family vacation. Some time to bond, and try to form connections.

Once in Australia, the trip is not quite going to plan. Jet lagged, the kids are frustrated at the lack of wildlife to be seen and really fed up with the entire trip, and of their stepmom. To try to placate the children, Tom agrees to rent a car and take a day trip to try to see some of the Australian wildlife. This trip seems to be a bust, but when they stop to get refreshments a chance encounter gets them a trip onto a private Island - Dutch Island - with the promises of many wild animals. Typically off limits to outsiders, the Baxter family and another Dutch couple buy their way on.

But once on the island everything starts to go seriously wrong. There are no animals, the family are all hot, frustrated and tired. Tom starts to head back to the ferry to cross back to the mainland when disaster strikes and he hits a young woman, killing her. This sets off a chain of events nobody could imagine. The island is run by a very close knit family, led by matriarch ‘Ma’. They dole out justice in their own cruel way.

When Heather and the children are separated from Tom, they escape and are thrown into a desperate race for survival. Heather fights like a demon to protect herself and the children. Her past has prepared her with some unexpected life skills which come in handy for survival on the island. As they race to survive, she realises that she will fight to the end for these children, even though they don’t trust her, and she didn’t want to take on the role of their mother. Life or death has a way of bringing people together.

This book started off a little slow while building the backstory. Once it got going however, boy did it get going! It tore along, bringing you along on a white knuckle ride. From brutal assaults, near misses, evasive actions and reactions, double crosses and more, this book has everything. There is a touch of Deliverance / The Hills Have Eyes about the family who have laid claim to the ownership of the island, and who draw no lines at protecting it, and their family from outsiders. This was definitely an edge of the seat read, you urged the characters to move along, to survive and to do what they must to escape the island.

*I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

Oh my goodness, drop everything and read this now!

Jaw dropping and so well written and described, you can practically smell the characters.

Favourite read this year without a doubt.

Well, that was a blast! Not to spoil things for you, but this is a book that rips you from a outing with the kids to murder, torture and all kinds of horror in little more than a couple of days. I'd have said perfect summer reading, however as a lot of this is set on a hot beach, it might just feel a too close to home if your holiday is on some far-flung isle.

I'm a long-time fan of McKinty and found "The Island" and the recent "The Chain" great reads, but they are nowhere near as satisfying to read as many of his earlier books. Yes, these two novels are grand stories, intelligently told, but I don't think that they show the best of his smart writing. I've always loved his sharp, sassy, gritty style and its great sense of place and time. He uses cultural, political and social references adeptly to bring his stories to life wherever in the world they are set. As good as they are, I feel these strengths are missing in both "The Island" and "The Chain" - and whereas the earlier books kept me guessing right to the end, I've figured out too much too soon in "The Island". Perhaps I've just got to know McKinty's style too well?

Go ahead, read "The Island", then do yourself a favour and raid the back catalogue.

5 stars!

Absolutely loved this bookand struggled to put it down. This gave me wolf creek/ Horror movie vibes.

Heather, Tom and his kids, Olivia and Owen are in Australia for a conference where Tom is a guest speaker. He's a knee surgeon. The kids grow bored and want to see some of Australia's famous koalas. The family hire a car and head out to find some wildlife and meet 2 men who claim to come from a private island full of Koalas. Tom buys his way onto the island and they ferry over. Whilst exploring they accidentally run over a deaf woman and Heather (stupidly) decides to hide the body and run. Needless to say the body is discovered before they get away and a the Family of the island are NOT a forgiving bunch. What follows is a survival story that keeps your eyes glued to the page. Highly recommend and cannot wait to read more from Adrian.

Nothing I haven’t read before. Does not need the lyrical, poetry style writing dotted in randomly every other paragraph.

80% in it kicks up a notch and keeps your interest but ultimately, this book feels like nothing new. Sorry to compare but The Chain was definitely much better in premise and writing.

A visit to a small private island off the coast of Australia - sounds idyllic right? But as scenarios go, this one’s an absolute nightmare!

24 year old Heather Baxter has recently moved from Seattle and met and married Tom, a widowed doctor. He’s older than her and has two kids, teenager Olivia, and 12 year old son Owen. They live in a beautiful house, are financially sound, but although Heather tries her hardest, the kids won’t accept her after losing their mom in the last year.

Tom has to attend a conference in Australia, and it’s decided that the whole family will go. Heather hopes it will give her the chance to bond with the kids. However, during their trip they visit Dutch Island, owned by the O’Neil family. The island is normally off limits to outsiders, but after much pleading by Olivia and Owen, a couple of members of the O’Neal family take them across on their private ferry with the warning not to travel too far inland, and be back for the return ferry by a certain time.

Whilst driving round the island, a tragic car accident occurs that turns this dream vacation into the worst nightmare that you could ever imagine!

This is, without question, a heart pounding, edge of the seat, thrill a minute, intense battle for survival! A kill or be killed situation. A slightly slow start, but once it gets going, you’d better hold on to your hats! Highly recommended.

This new thriller from Adrian McKinty is a fast-paced novel set in Australia, where a dream day out turns into a nightmare.
Tom is over from the USA for a medical conference along with his wife Heather and the two children from his first marriage.
Keen to see to see wild life on a family day out they end up being invited to a private island where something happens to put them all in danger.
It is a tense exciting read but sadly not for me. It was too implausible and because I couldn’t warm to the characters of Heather and Tom it was difficult to feel empathy for them.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC