The Island is tense from the first few pages. In this adventure thriller, a father, his two kids, and his new younger wife, go on vacation to Australia. Nearing the end of the vacation, the kids are disappointed that they haven’t seen koalas or other local wildlife. So their dad pays some money to take a ferry yo a private island to see koalas. Within minutes of arriving, things have taken a deadly turn and tensions continue to build as the family tries to escape the all of the dangers. 

This is nonstop action and tension in a similar style as No Exit, but with completely opposite atmosphere. The Island is hot and sweaty; you can feel the Australian sun oozing from the page. For the genre, the character development is strong. I really appreciated the character arc of the stepmother and the progression that was shown for the kids, especially the son. There is one character who I wish had been more well developed, but that character died early on. Since this novel did not use flashbacks, I understand why the character wasn’t further developed but I would’ve appreciated more information. The end had both predictable and unexpected twists, and as usual I recommend going in knowing as little as possible. 

Finally, I have to add that the audiobook was just phenomenal. The narration wise top notch, the Australian accents were well done, and there were a variety of sound effects that really added to the ambience. For example we would get sounds of car engines just before it would be mentioned in the text, there were also gunshots, rain sounds, and a handful of other noises that were tastefully done and really added to the experience, they did not read as cheesy at all. 

I think if you like a fast pace thriller this is definitely one to pick up. If you are looking for some thing to get you out of a reading slump, this might be a good pick for that too.