Rating: 
Summary: So bad I couldn't finish it
Review: I honestly tried to stick it out. I really hate to stop reading a book, but it was too painful to go on. I'm a big fan of horror and suspense and picked this book up on a lark.
The characters were flat. The Smurfs have more textured personality than the characters in this book.
That aside, there was no real suspense. Every bit of bad luck, horror was always preceded by so much obvious set up, one could easily guess the outcome of the situation. It actually made me angry.
If you want a truly mindless read, this may be a book for you. It's simplistic, and quick to read, but an absolute insult to your intellect.
Rating: 
Summary: MEG: Nonstop action delivers a monstrous punch!
Review: I'm not sure if they've made a movie based on this novel or not, but it sure beats the hell out of Benchley's "Jaws". If you are looking for a book with edge-of-your-seat suspense and is still intellectually stimulating, this is the one for you. I'm a huge fan of both classic and modern horror, and i gotta say - THIS BOOK SCARED THE BEJESUS OUT OF ME. Read MEG for a fast-paced thrill that has a damn good ending.
Rating: 
Summary: An Argument about the "jumping out of the water"
Review: It's obvious that a lot of the reviewers (both professional and non) do not watch Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. One of their most popular shows is entitled "Air Jaws". It illustrates the Great White Shark's ability to jump out of the water (when it makes a lunge for a seal) off the coast of South Africa. It is obvious (visually) and it's pointed out that the jump is 1-2 times its length. Therefore, if Megaladon is the ancestor of the Great White...it is plausible that it could do the same. The reason that I award the book 3 stars is due to the "destroy the shark from the inside" portion of the book. If it didn't have that, I would award it 4 or 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Blows JAWS out of the water!!
Review: Anyone who likes Peter Benchley's Jaws should give MEG a try. This book will scare you in ways you can't even imagine, and definitly makes you think twice before going to the beach.
Steve Alton will transport you to the deepest and most unexplored parts of the earth, and what you find there will probebly give you nightmares, just like the main character in this book!
If you are a shark buff, or just need a good summer read, MEG is the book for you! READ IT! I promise you'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: MEG - A Glow to Haunt your Memories
Review: Steve Alten's MEG is expertly written engaging all who tread into deep water to be wary of the megalodon glow. Stephen Lang's narration is superb, pulling me into the spine tingling depths so I can see, feel and hear every catastrophic event as it happens. From the moment Jonas re-enters Meg's domain, the perseverance and knowledge he applies to locate Meg again, as well as his final encounter with natures most ferocious predator, all serve to lure you deeply into their world. If my audio cassettes could talk they would say they are nearly exhausted, as I have listened to it so many times. Meg is definitely movie material as it far outweighs Jaws and Jurassic Park both in believability as well as plot.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ
Review: This was one of the best books I had read in a long time. I enjoyed how it managed to stay suspenseful right up to the end. It was well written and grabs ahold of your interest and won't let go until the end. MEG and it's sequel, The Trench, are two books that I highly recommend for those that love novels of this genre.
Rating:
Summary: Jurassic Shark wont disappoint!
Review: Ever since I read the part in JAWS about the megalodon I was hooked and terrified at the thought that there could be these mammoth fish swimming around the depths of the ocean.Alten's novel posits this notion quite effectively, combining science with adventure in a novel that will have the reader turning pages in anticipation to see what turn the story will take. The lead character Jonas is realistic and sympathetic. The reader will actually care what happens to him. Along with other characters Mack and Terry Tanaka, the story is fueled by great dialogue and fantastic set pieces. While there are some archetypal characters (Jonas' ex-wife to name one in a long line of morally bankrupt folks), a story like this needs some deplorable people to get munched by the chief antagonist- the shark. In the end, MEG is an entertaining combination of some ideas we've seen before (JAWS, JURASSIC PARK) while introducing new theories about the existence of these leviathan's of the deep.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: Well I never really read Meg yet, however i did read "The Trench". It was exellent, I have been crazy about sharks ever since i was a kid, Than when i discovered that there was such a predator as Megolodon, i was blown away. I then found out that Steve Alten wrote a book , The Trench, i went nuts. I thought it was amazingly written. Then just 2 days ago, i found out they were making a film. I got no sleep at all that night in my excitment, looking forward to reading Meg and seeing the Movie! Especially being a huge white shark fan, and because the 2 sharks are so closley linked. Should be a great movie. Hope it blows Jaws And Deep blue sea out of the water. I thought Deep Blue Sea was good exept for the fact that they used Mako Sharks instead of Whites, Then the tried to pawn of the sharks to look like great whites, which was annoying. The used the same skin tone as whites, but gave them the same mouth as a mako. Not that i didn't enjoy the movie, i just rather the White shark. After all, they are the most fierce predator shark!
Rating:
Summary: A Cranky Shark
Review: In the grand American tradition of "bigger is better," Steve Alten delivers unto the masses his first novel, "Meg." No longer are we afraid of mere tadpoles like the sharks in films such as "Jaws." Now we have to deal with the likes of Meg. Meg isn't the aging, benevolent hippie who lives down the street, playing Melanie records and selling macramé for a living. Alten's Meg is Charcharodon megalodon, the ancestor of the great white shark and Alten thinks we should be very afraid of its possible presence. Megs are some sixty feet long with a ferocious bite. Wouldn't want to run into one of these fellows during a jaunt to the beach, would you? In the book, Meg is considered extinct by all those foolish marine biologists, with the exception of Dr. Jonas Taylor. Taylor, a former deep-sea diver with the Navy, is on the lecture circuit promoting his mad theories about Meg and her possible existence in the Mariana Trench. This trench is the deepest part of the ocean, a place where water temperature is warm due to hot vents on the ocean floor. This pocket of hot water, theorizes Taylor, could support a whole slew of Megs. Taylor himself thought he saw one on his last dive, resulting in a panic that killed two of his fellow divers. Taylor is the laughing stock of everyone around him, especially his wife Maggie, an egomaniacal reporter. When a fellow marine explorer loses some deep-sea probes in the trench, Taylor is wrenched out of retirement to take a dive and see what happened. Of course, the Megs exist. I'm not giving away anything by telling you that. When one escapes (a pregnant female, no less!) from its Mariana prison, all heck breaks loose in the resulting attempts to capture the beast and warehouse it in an aquatic park. I shouldn't even need to mention that bodies fall like rain in this book. Scads of people die as Meg swallows them up whole. Meg manages to sink a nuclear submarine, capsize boats, upset a few surfers, and even bring down helicopters during its rampage. Meg isn't a picky eater. She always clears her plate: ships, surfboards, submersibles, and whales--all provide for a tasty snack to this oversized shark. Meg likes to show off too; this shark can jump out of the water at will. This makes it easier to reach the stupid humans who think they are safe on boats or in the air. You can see the danger of allowing Meg to roam our seas. She just won't play by the rules. She has to be tracked down before she upsets migratory patterns in the oceans that might result in damage to the fishing industry. While I did enjoy the action in this book, there is a lot to be desired. For one thing, the character development is zero in this book. We know a bit about Dr. Jonas, such as his catastrophe during the Mariana dive, an incident that resulted in a raging case of claustrophobia. We also know his wife hates him, and is trying to undermine him at every turn. She even starts fooling around with his old college roommate. For the other characters, there is nothing. They are cardboard cutouts that either serve as background, or shark food. Taylor's burgeoning love interest with Terry Tanaka is a good example. Let's see, they start out hating each other, then they end up in each other's arms? Huh? All we knew about Terry up to this point is that she is an arrogant woman who wants to go on dives. Injecting love into the story doesn't make sense unless Alten is confidant this is going to go to the big screen (he is, too, since he thanks Disney at the beginning of the book). Ultimately, the book suffers for its character ignorance. I think a book like this would be effective if the characters are developed. That way, when they die, the emotional impact on the reader is greater. I would like to criticize the science behind Alten's theories but what I know about marine biology could fit on the head of Jacques Cousteau's harpoon. It seems to make sense, and maybe that is good enough for most people. But we all know just because something makes sense doesn't mean it is accurate. However, I'm willing to overlook shoddy science for the sake of fiction... It's just too much to take. I picked up "The Trench" at the same time I got "Meg" but I'm not sure I want to get into the sequel right away. Apparently, a third installment will soon grace libraries and bookstore shelves all across the nation. For action and a quick pace, you can't beat "Meg." If you want character development, might I suggest Tolstoy?
Rating:
Summary: Now, here IS a story about sharks!!
Review: Unlike the much disappointing, hardly credible "Extinct", I have simply been delighted by Alten's "MEG" and its sequel, "The Trench". Alten surely knows how to write an armrest-grabbing thriller. His book's a finely balanced mixture of scientific concepts on prehistoric and sea lifeforms, and pure adrenaline-generating moments. Funny how he manages to keep you from actually hating this huge shark. Another tribute to his writer's and scientist' skills. Another thing that makes his whole story stand together is the fact that Alten goes down to a series of coherent details, little things that make the whole story credible (use of a whale's blood warmth by the shark to move from the warm ocean floor up to the surface through different layers of cold streams, description of the life environment around the heat sinks at the bottom of the ocean, constant threat of water depth pressure etc.). He had me stay up late in the evening, and in the end, I simply had not had enough of his two books! I am now anxiously awaiting any of his new productions on the subject. His competition on the Shark subject is simply appaling. Note: I strongly advise summer ocean and sea bathers NOT to read this book while on the beach...
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