Rating: 
Summary: Exciting But Fallable
Review: I liked Wilson's "Extinct," however I found that it lacked consistency with modern day research. While the book evoked suspense, laughter, and even a line joking about the movie "Jaws," I noticed some technical mishaps. For one, Great White Sharks do not swim in fresh water rivers (I am aware that some sharks do--ex. the Bull Shark). There are even parallels to the original "Jaws" movies throughout the story that make it unoriginal. All-in-all, I did like the book, but wished it had more technical details about the shark's sensory perceptions on finding prey (a technique Alten uses in "MEG" to frighten his readers--if you don't know what I am talking about--read "MEG" and you'll find out). The story is a great beach read, and I wish NBC would turn it into a movie as they said they would.
Rating:
Summary: Jaws who?
Review: If I could give this book four and a half stars I would. I love books about predators, they are so fun to read about if the author is skilled as much as Charles Wilson is. He brings forth the best elements in writing: making you feel for the people, and making you understand that animals are just doing what they do. I want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Rarely is a thiller such as this one, with a prehistoric 'star' so beleivable and put together so well. The family thing at the end is a little far out, but I of how Jaws ended with you saying "is that all?", and with the megalodon in "Meg" ramming submarines and sinking them, the ending Charles Wilson came up with is the best of them so far. The story was so believable, with the shark understanding angles(as real animals do) and how one Admiral Vandiver believed that megalodons still existed. There are over one thousand new animals discovered every year! The coelacanth was supposedly extinct for millions of years when one was caught in '38, so it is possible that as large and as deep as the ocean is a shark could go undetected for a long time. As big as whale sharks and great whites are, how often do we see one of them? Back to the book, this book is an absolute page turner. I find myself torn between rooting for the shark and worrying about the people. Not enough books are written about the possibilities of science, technology, and nature (Jurassic Park, Extinct, Jaws, aand Meg are exceptions). I am currently reading this book again, (so I am writing about two years after reading Extinct for the first time) and I still enjoy this book. This book goes in my collection along with the aforementioned books and "Thinning the Predators". Great book Charles Wilson.
Rating: 
Summary: this book made me cry
Review: I had originally bought this with two other books.The other two being Meg and The Trench.I read this book first and it was just a disgrace to the shark itself.Besides switching scenes every other sentence the author treated the shark as nothing but a soulless beast. i read up to the last five pages and couldnt bring myself to even finish the book because it was so bad. Stick with Steve Alten
Rating: 
Summary: Could not put the book down untill it was finished
Review: which was all too soon I wanted more. Exciting from the first page until the end. For some reason it was supposed to be a tv movie which never happened Its too bad because it would have been better then Jaws. I really loved this book have read it over and over.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting But Fallable
Review: I liked Wilson's "Extinct," however I found that it lacked consistency with modern day research. While the book evoked suspense, laughter, and even a line joking about the movie "Jaws," I noticed some technical mishaps. For one, Great White Sharks do not swim in fresh water rivers (I am aware that some sharks do--ex. the Bull Shark). There are even parallels to the original "Jaws" movies throughout the story that make it unoriginal. All-in-all, I did like the book, but wished it had more technical details about the shark's sensory perceptions on finding prey (a technique Alten uses in "MEG" to frighten his readers--if you don't know what I am talking about--read "MEG" and you'll find out). The story is a great beach read, and I wish NBC would turn it into a movie as they said they would.
Rating:
Summary: A good quick read.
Review: This book didn't have my attention for a while but when it finally did grab ahold of it the book was great. It flowed well, I like Wilson's writing style, short paragraph after short paragraph, you can put the book down and get right back into it that way. The book lacks some of the details of other Marine thrillers but the book doesn't suffer without them, in fact after reading many marine books the biology bits just get in the way. All in all the books reads as a typical book like this would except it has alot more action and suspense then other books of its type, it is definatly a good read, you will find you read it very quickly due to the action scenes which have you hooked to the book. 4 Stars
Rating: 
Summary: A Relatively Tame Shark Thriller
Review: When two young men disappear while swimming in a Mississippi river, Alan Freeman (a marine biologist) and the mother of the six-year-old boy who was present at the incident (Carolyn Haines)--and a slew of other lesser, but more educated, characters--set out to hunt for a supposedly extinct ancestor of the great white shark that's continuing to make meals out of various unlucky fishermen and boaters. Though "Extinct" is relatively fast-paced with short chapters and intervals, it took me a few extra days than I had expected to finish it. I just couldn't get into it. The writing was simple (which I didn't mind), somewhat educational (a plus for ignoramuses, like myself), but quite repetitive. As one reviewer mentioned before me, the word 'frowned' was constantly used. The attack scenes weren't very graphic, which kind of disappointed me; but for those who are squeamish, this is probably much appreciated. There's more implied carnage (discovered appendages, etc.) rather than any in-depth descriptions of how the victims were eaten, save for a few scenes near the end. However, it was still scary fun to imagine a shark--a megalodon at that--coming inland rather than remaining out in the ocean to hunt for its prey. It reminded me why I never really enjoyed swimming as a kid--even in swimming pools. A TV movie was supposed to be made of this book (to air on NBC), but it looks like that idea's been scratched. By this book alone, though, there wouldn't have been any competition against "Jaws" (the source of my swimming phobia). Overall, this was a relatively tame thriller; and unless you're really into reading books on predatory animals (especially sharks), then I'd just skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: Fast read
Review: I enjoyed this book. I read it while at the beach and it was interesting and fun. The Characters are pretty well developed. As Giant shark books go Meg was better than this book, but I feel this book had a better ending than Meg. There is nothing amazing or heart pounding here, but if you enjoy light books about Giant sharks you will enjoy the book.
Rating:
Summary: Jurrasic Shark
Review: Before Steve Alten's book Meg, there was Wilson's Extinct. This one had been scheduled as an NBC mini-series but I don't think it ever happened. A shark attack on a small boat leads to the belief that a great white shark may be in the area. But one man suspects that something else might be happening. As the search for the shark goes on, evidence begins to build and be revealed that the prehistoric predecessor to the great white is still alive and biting. Shark attacks and sightings help drive the action while the truth is slowly revealed until the climax and surprise ending. There was just one thing that bothered me about this book. It was the same thing that bothered me about a TV movie about giant Salamanders attacking an island (Gargantua), all of the animals killed are the females of the pairs. There is never any mention of the fact that mated pairs are in trouble because the females are dead. But other than that, I had a great time with this book. Monsters, suspense, action and some mystery. What more could you ask for?
Rating:
Summary: I wasn't expecting a documentary.. were you?
Review: Implausible? Maybe. But I still had one helluva time reading this book. It may have a some innacuracies andmay stretch the limits of believablility, but it does what it set out to do: it created some genuinely shockng and terrifying attacks. MEG may have been better, but this book takes the prize as far as sheer horror goes. Plenty of guesome attacks.
As for the characters and all the filler material that take up the space between attacks, it isn't so bad. The characters don't bear the same grim reality that the ones in Jaws did, but I care about them when they are in danger. And there is plenty of that for all the characters. I can definatly understand why so many people hated this book on account of the characters and beleivability, but for a 6 dollar paperback, the shark horror is worth it
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