REVIEW: Meg by Steve Alten

Meg by Steve Alten
Publishing information: Kindle
Publisher: Gere Donovan Press; 2.2 edition 17 Aug 2011
ISBN: 978-1943957019
Series: Meg #1
Copy: out of pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "REVISED EDITION! Updated by the author himself, and now including the full text of ORIGINS — the prequel to the MEG blockbuster novel.

Seven years ago, and seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, Dr. Jonas Taylor encountered something that changed the course of his life. Once a Navy deep-sea submersible pilot, now a marine paleontologist, Taylor is convinced that a remnant population of Carcharodon megalodon—prehistoric sharks growing up to 70 feet long, that subsisted on whales—lurks at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. When offered the opportunity to return to those crushing depths in search of the Megs, Taylor leaps at the chance… but the quest for scientific knowledge (and personal vindication) becomes a desperate fight for survival, when the most vicious predator that the earth has ever known is freed to once-again hunt the surface."

Somewhere on the internet someone was discussing the novel Meg and how it was a fairly decent read and was being made into a movie starring Jason Statham. I was in the mood for something light-hearted and action centered and decided on a whim to pick it up and see if it were any good. I have seen the books on the shelves and figured, why not?

The Kindle version includes a prequel short story featuring Dr. Jonas Taylor and his first encounter with the Megalodon shark. An encounter that lost cost him his marriage and career in the US Navy. Flash forward a few years and the main story begins with Jonas now a professor that lectures on the slight possiblilty that the Megalodon, or Meg, could be existing in the active volcanic area of the Mariana Trench living on large jelly fish and other sea life in a warm thermal zone. He is then approached by an old friend to help figure out why some scientific equipment that was installed in the Trench have suddenly gone inactive.

As you can guess, Jonas is tasked with returning to the Mariana Trench where he once again encounters the Meg, only this time the shark has left his thermal habitat for the water surface and wreaking havoc all along the Pacific and it is up to Jonas and his new crew to find a way to either capture the Meg or end the threat.

What I enjoyed about the book was that it did its best to show how the Megalodon could still exist and why we haven't seen them. Alten did all he could to keep it plausible. That said, he does take a lot of liberty with everything else. But I didn't buy the book for logic, I bought the book for escapism and that is exactly what I got. The book moves quickly and doesn't let up very often. We move from shark attack to shark attack and Jonas and crew playing catch up all the while doing their best to end the shark's threat to mankind. While it does have a few scenes that might have you think it is a bit much Alten do his best to keep things as grounded as best he can considering it is a prehistoric shark.

I can see why Hollywood has picked this up as they have always looked for a unique way to have us recall that fearful feeling of jumping into the water the way Spielberg did with Jaws and they may have found that formula with Meg. While Meg won't win any major literary rewards it is a great beach or vacation read.

Overall 7/10