Meg: Primal Waters

This is not only a good book, I believe it is the best so far out of the 3!!! I was skeptical when Steve posted that he was going to write a third book, due to the fact that the first two were so good, how could he possibly top them? Well, my doubts were put to rest in about the first 10 pages of "Primal Waters". Keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you think twice before swimming in the ocean. In my opinion, the "MEG" series has much more bite than JAWS!

Primal Waters is the third installment in the MEG series. The book is a non-stop action book that will keep the pages turning at a very fast pace. It never lacks in action allowing you to finish the book in one read if you have the time. Better than The Trench and almost as good as MEG. Definitely on the same boat as Meg. This book will keep you reading in silence for hours at a time.

Without exposing plot elements, I can come right out and say Alten's third Shark book accomplishes a feat touched upon in his previous installments, but fully mastered in his third one. To say that his grasp of terror has improved is an understatement, and I believe this can only come from placing well-known characters from his earlier books and putting them in situations that compromise their place on the food chain. I actually caught myself wanting to read to the end of the passage just to see if he/she lives or dies, but then forcibly restraing myself in order to read the words that preceded the horror that I suspected to come. Whether or not it happened is moot, but I was afraid it would. That is why this book was good. By building up characters throughout the story only to have them slaughtered in an almost anticlimatic fashion, Alten proves that regardless of personal character, all you are to a Megalodon is one more addition to its ravenous stomach. It was to my understanding that a contest was held before the initial writing of PW to include a number of real person's names as characters. Now that I have read the list, I just have to mention something to whomever Wayne John Ferguson really is, "Next time, step away from the side before you start bragging."Those interested in reading Primal Waters must realise that this book is more like the original novel, as opposed to the second book, with its James Bond-esque villains and fantastic schemes of villainy. The book does carry a rather wicked villain, but all in all, he's not so...Spy Movie as Benedict & Celeste Singer. All in all, more sharks = more killing, and here's hoping for something even bigger still in the 4th book, MEG takes Manhatten (speculative title)

Steve Alten has once again written a white-knuckle page turner, from the first page to the last, I could not put it down. Alten really delivers with Primal Waters and doesn't skimp on the details of locations, action, or gory deaths. The most outstanding thing of all about Primal Waters, and Alten's other work, is that he gets his fans involved with what he's doing...that's something that isn't too common. If you are a fan of MEG and THE TRENCH you will not be able to put PRIMAL WATERS down.

Now in his sixties, married to Terry and living in Tampa with her and their two teens, Jonas Taylor feels old and tired as financial sharks surround him demanding payments of past due bills. Jonas nostalgically thinks back to his glory days when he was in his mid forties and captured Angel the prehistoric Megalodon shark that terrorized the Mariana Trench. However, that was the highlight film of his life; now he owes a ton of money and has to deal with a recalcitrant female teen.When the top-rated reality TV show Daredevils offers Jonas a chance to provide expert commentary on a contest in the South Pacific, he leaps at the opportunity. Taking his daughter with him, Jonas joins the TV show.Meanwhile Terry investigates whale beachings off Vancouver Island. Neither of the spouses is aware that they have entered the latest feeding zone of "Megs" and will soon be battling for their lives as they did before (see MEG and THE TRENCH).The third exciting Prehistoric Jaws vs. humans thriller is fast-paced especially Megs who steal the show once again. Steve Alten refreshes his series through Jonas is aging not so gracefully as he wonders how two decades have almost past since he had his fifteen minutes of fame and now has a chance to recapture somewhat his glorious past. Much of the action is similar to the previous novels with the shark feeding, man vs. man disputing, and shark vs. hero/heroine scenes, but the aging cast makes it seem new leading to a swimmingly fine time for the Megsters.Harriet Klausner