The Island
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4.1 • 38 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
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.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · A NEW YORK TIMES "BEST THRILLER OF 2022"
"Unrelenting suspense." —Stephen King
“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
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Adrian McKinty, author of the wildly popular The Chain, returns with another terrifying thriller. While on a family getaway to Australia, widowed doctor Tom Baxter and his new wife, Heather, hope to get some much-needed bonding time with Tom’s kids, Olivia and Owen. But curiosity turns their fun adventure into a deadly nightmare when they visit the remote Dutch Island, where they’re pitted against a brutal, lawless family that’s been living there in isolation. McKinty escalates the Baxters’ ordeal at an unfathomable pace, turning a seemingly hopeless situation into a Die Hard–style fight for survival in the Australian wilderness. A good old-fashioned white-knuckle action adventure, The Island will make a great movie.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Deliverance meets The Road Warrior in this harrowing survival thriller set in Australia from bestseller McKinty (The Chain). Heather, a 24-year-old Seattle massage therapist, has recently married surgeon Tom Baxter, a widower who's 20 years her senior. She's also taken on the responsibility of caring for Tom's children, 14-year-old Olivia and 12-year-old Owen. Olivia and Owen view Heather as "too young to be a real mom," and Heather agrees. When Tom is invited to give the keynote speech at a medical conference in Melbourne, he packs up the family, saying they can make a mini vacation of the trip. Given the incessant demands of the kids to see koalas and kangaroos, Tom agrees to pay an exorbitant sum to take a ferry to a small private island, which turns out to be the home of the unsavory O'Neil family. A penknife Heather received as a gift from an Aboriginal man on the mainland comes in handy after an accidental road death leads the vengeful O'Neils to target the Baxters. How Heather and the children wind up pooling their abilities to stay alive against all odds makes for an exhilarating ride. McKinty is a master of suspense.
Customer Reviews
The Island
Awesome read..fast..had me until the very end…