Meg

Rating:
Summary: It's not just the big shark that smells like decaying fish
Review: The plot does, too. And the cast. It was an entertaining premise, but mark my words, children: with rare exceptions, never pick up any dodgy novels without a rave-review or two on the jacket! OK I know they can be totally off-the-wall, but still, when a first novel like this doesn't have ANY quotes at ALL on the back, u know there's something wrong.

And there is. This pathetic hybrid between Michael Crichton and Peter Benchley will never come close to their greatness. It probably would be entertaining to some pre- or early-teen readers, but anyone else who enjoyed this in the slightest (enjoyed READING it, not throwing it onto a bonfire and cackling manically) should give their head a good shake and see if they can hear anything rattle.

"The terror that time forgot"!--perhaps with a brick, some string, and a good deep canal, we can keep it that way.

Rating:
Summary: I hate reading, but I couldn't put MEG down for a minute!
Review: I can't wait for the movie so the rest of the world can experience this awsome story!

Rating:
Summary: Reads like a quickie novelization of a movie.
Review: MEG begins with what might be the most awkward prologue I've ever read. The writing utterly fails to convey the excitement and danger of what in concept should have been a thrilling scene. After these early pages, however, the writing quickly improves and ultimately the book proves to be an engrossing, if somewhat cliche, thriller. One interesting point: This reads almost like a treatment for a movie. It's as if the author first wrote a screenplay then turned it into a novel. In the entire novel, there are literally about two sentences devoted to the internal thoughts of the characters - everything else is performed or spoken out loud! Still, MEG is an entertaining book and would make a good movie.

Rating:
Summary: A noble attempt to rationalise the psyche of sharks.
Review: The idea of a long extinct predator returning from the depths to violently and horrificaly reclaim its throne in the face of modern humanity, may not be the most feasable of scenario's. Never the less Alten presents the events in his novel convincingly enough (for the most part, through the eyes of the chasing scientist Jonas Taylor, and the all important media) as to cover up any discrepancies the novel may have technically.

Where this novel suceeds is in re- invoking the primal fear that each one of us has in being eaten alive by an apex killer. On a secondary level the novel works by first re- inforcing the culture clash between the United States and Japan, demonstrating that while here there is room for understanding and concession, the Megalodon, can not, nor ever will be understood, it is simply an apex predator that must be acepted.

This novel does not support the niave idea that nature is a harmonious balance, but rather a bloody tooth and claw fight for supperiority, that humans only win through supperior intellect. Alten's brave dive into the psyche of this killer attempts to open up the mind of this beast, but in turn does not claim to anthropologise the lifestyle of this beast.

A little more of the human characters would have been appreciated, never the less Alten should consider himself an equal to Benchly and Criton. This novel should br read with an open mind.

Rating:
Summary: Simplistic, somewhat inaccurate, but interesting
Review: Having met the author at The Sharktooth Festival in Venice, FL on 8/15/99, I enjoyed reading his first novel, and I will certainly read his second as well. However, two things occurred to me while reading the book. First, the plot seemed somewhat simplistic. By that I mean that all the critical events happened right on schedule, such as finding the Meg on the first exploratory dive. I began to imagine seeing the NBC logo on the bottom right of my TV screen indicating that this was sanitized for tv audiences. My main objection, being a PADI Scuba instructor, was reading that oxygen was used in the scuba tanks instead of plain old compressed air. Oxygen at depth will kill a diver; scuba equipment uses only compressed air. Every scuba diver who reads this book will know that the author wasn't alerted to this inconsistancy.

Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE AND BORING
Review: There is not 1 original idea in the author's head. The whole thing is ripped off from JAWS, JURASSIC PARK, and other supeor books. I knew this book would not be original but this was too much. The ideas in this book have already been done to death, it seemed directly written for the screen, well I hope they don't make a movie because it would be sooo dumb. The ending made me laugh it was so dumb. The characters were boring and the dialogue was pitiful. This dull piece of unoriginal garabage would not keep a 5 year old out of the water.

Rating:
Summary: A real page turner. Very exciting.
Review: Wow, I was wanting to read this for awhile and finally did last week. I was not disappointed, it was a real page turner and very exciting. My only complaint is that some of the action seemed fuzzy and I had to re-read a paragraph or two to figure out what happened. If you like Jurassic Park then you should love Meg.

Rating:
Summary: A real big shark
Review: I loved it. This is the first book that in a while that I have read that kept me turning the pages to see what happens next. If you are into sharks and things prehistoric, plus some action. then read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great book. Exciting and innovative.
Review: I loved this book. It was a book that I could not put down.. I had to finish it...

Rating:
Summary: Two Thumbs up for a real Page Turner
Review: This book is great. The author told the story without any flaws and kept you interested without imitating another author's work. I can't wait to read the sequel. The character development is great and it makes you care for the characters and what happens to them. And in response to some of the below reviews:IT'S FICTION!!!!!!!If you're going to analyze the book to see how truthful it is, read a non-fiction book to ease your conscience when reading a book. And as for the gentleman from Salem, check your spelling before you criticize other people's spelling. Us whipper snappers don't care about spelling when it comes to a on-line review, we're not being graded by anyone important.