The Island

By: Adrian McKinty

Narrated by: Mela Lee

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Chain comes a pulse-pounding thriller about a family that must face their darkest fears—and deepest secrets—when they go on the run for their lives.

“Extraordinary.”—T. J. Newman, New York Times bestselling author of Falling

"You'll never go on vacation the same way again."—Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of City On Fire

IT WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE A FAMILY VACATION.

A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT CHANGED EVERYTHING.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE CAPABLE OF UNTIL THEY COME FOR YOUR FAMILY.

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.

SOON TO BE A HULU ORIGINAL SERIES

“Gripping and unpredictable. No one does high-stakes tension like McKinty . . . Prepare to be hooked.”—Sarah Pearse

“A haunting masterpiece.”—Steve Cavanagh

“McKinty has written another irresistible and pulse-pounding thriller about the surprising places evil hides and just how far we’ll go for those we love.”—Karin Slaughter

©2022 Adrian McKinty (P)2022 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

"Deliverance meets The Road Warrior in this harrowing survival thriller . . . McKinty is a master of suspense."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Expertly choreographed and breathlessly exciting . . . both the peril and the family are like no other. The Chain was McKinty’s breakthrough novel and this one could be every bit as big.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Wow, this book left me breathless and on the edge of my seat from the very first page—this is thriller writing of a high order. Gripping and unpredictable, prepare to be hooked and pumped full of adrenaline as McKinty deftly weaves a compulsively readable plot with characters that you are rooting for. No one does high- stakes tension like McKinty. Put The Island at the top of your TBR—you won’t regret it.”—Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium

Another hit for McKinty, spot-on narration

I’ve got every available audiobook by this author and love them all. My favorites are the Duffy and Forsythe series, but the stand-alones, including The Island, are all page-turners. Everything by this consistently great writer is highly recommended. And kudos to narrator Mela Lee!

Just ok.

Average writing and unexceptional characters. The characters lacked depth and I didn’t connect with the main one. I am not a fan of sound effects as I find them distracting.

isolation + action + survival

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 according to the family living there. It’s a fight for survival and if the book cover doesn’t give you enough clues, people die (animals do as well). If I am being honest the beginning was hard to get into because I didn’t feel like I had a good grasp on the characters. I ended up making a character list and that helped out so much! I’m a reader who needs to know who is who at all times. Sometimes I can get a bit caught up when I am unable to do that. I immediately hated Tom because he was a complete ass. He falls into one of those macho man categories and I hate men like that. I also didn’t see the love between Tom and Heather. The story even from the beginning seemed much more focused on Heather’s relationship with her new step children. That ended up working out just fine because I enjoyed Heather’s character a lot and even though it was a survival situation and the kids expressed so much disdain for her, she kept their safety at the forefront of her mind at all times. Heather was a complete badass and truly selfless. Another nitpicky thing is the number of characters this story had. I understand why it did, but 18+ characters is too many.

Besides those few things I really enjoyed this read. It was heart pumping and thrilling which can be surprisingly rare in the thriller genre. I love action packed thrillers and this one was never dull because Heather and the kids were on the run pretty much the entire story. If you enjoy an isolated setting, heart pumping action, survival stories with great characters then look no further The Island by Adrian McKinty is for you!

Really Good Until...

I love Adrian McKinty. I think he's ultra-talented and his Irish crime-novels are amazing. This book was a lot like his last offering, The Chain. Awesome concept, great characters, hi-intensity and then he just wraps it all up in a neat bow and it's over. I'm not sure if his publisher is giving him a page count but I feel like he sets the reader up for epic adventure and then just when you're really feeling involved, the conflict is solved and everyone is going home. It's all too easy and feels like the last 50 pages were rushed. I felt the same about The Chain.

I'm sure both books will be made into films because they're good, but they sure could be a lot better.

Contrived

The female lead was not believable, and the occasional sound effects during narration were distracting and unnecessary. This was not nearly as entertaining as the Chain

I hear banjos!

A "Deliverance" story. Pretty good. The accents were done well by the narrator. A twist near the end which tied up the story well. Solid 4 stars.

S Leary - Review

The Island , was intense, characters were believable, sometimes sad, the story kept my interest. Loved how the 3 characters evolved (Heather, Olivia & Owen). Enjoyed.

Great Suspense & Superb Performance

Not only did this story keep moving at a Gallup, the performance of Mela Lee kept me enthralled. One of the best narration performances I’ve heard.

Great Listen

This was a great book to listen to! I will definitely suggest to friends and family! It was recommended to me by Melissa Radke!

Good, fun listen with an excellent performance

The performance of this book is fantastic -- the narrator goes back and forth from American, Irish and Australian accents with ease and accuracy. The situation was a fantastic one: a plausible and offbeat setting for a thriller with really good challenges for its protagonist in her fight for survival. It's an intelligent thriller with some interesting and believable characters and enough exoticism on a remote, neglected island to keep it fresh. The island is peopled by the equivalent of something like Australian rednecks and they are a strange and vicious group. The last hour or so stretched into something less believable but it was a fun, compelling listen that got me through traffic and dog walks.