Review – The Island by Adrian McKinty

Posted May 17, 2022 by Carole in Reviews / 14 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – The Island by Adrian McKintyThe Island by Adrian McKinty
Published by Little Brown and Company on May 17, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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four-stars

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.

This was quite the adventure! I have heard great things about this author so I jumped at the chance to read this book. I had hoped that this would be an exciting read and it most certainly was. It did take just a bit for things to really start happening but once the action started, it didn’t slow down until the very end. I am so glad that I decided to pick up this entertaining story.

Tom, Heather, Olivia, and Owen are in Australia so that Tom can attend a conference and the family can have a bit of a vacation. Tom and Heather were only recently married after Tom’s first wife died. The family decides to go to a private island in hopes of seeing some native wildlife. They have an accident while there and things get out of hand quickly. Soon, Heather is running from the group that runs the island and trying to keep her two stepchildren safe.

It did take me a little while to warm up to Heather, Owen, and Olivia but once I did, I was completely hooked. I wanted things to work out for them but I didn’t see how that could happen. It was actually great seeing Owen and Olivia come out of their shell and start working as a team along with Heather. There were plenty of twists and turns in the story to keep things very interesting. I was amazed by how resourceful Heather, Owen, and Olivia were and I enjoyed seeing them trying to figure out how to outsmart the people out to get them.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. I found this to be an incredibly exciting story that was next to impossible to set aside. I cannot wait to read more of Adrian McKinty’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Little, Brown and Company via NetGalley.

14 responses to “Review – The Island by Adrian McKinty

  1. I’ve got this one set on my pile to read in the next week or so! I loved the premise behind McKinty’s The Chain, so I’m really looking forward to reading this one too.

    • I picked up a copy of The Chain after reading this one. Hopefully, I can get to it sometime soonish.