Shark Island by Chris Jameson
My rating: 4/5 cats
this book features a very diverse cast of characters, in terms of gender, sexual orientation, race, age, economic and educational background, and neurobiological challenges. you know who cares about things like this? modern-day book readers with their hunger for representation. you know who doesn’t give a hoot about things like this? sharks, with their hunger for human flesh.
over the course of the tale, fifteen people will enter the water – with intentions ranging from scientific experiments, journalism, sabotage, or rescue, and while i’m not going to tell you how many make it out alive, it is not a number that will make you feel confident about going swimming in the ocean anytime soon. or even about being on a boat. or camping on an island.
and before you get all shark week-ombudsman on me and tell me that sharks don’t even like to eat people, you should understand that in this book, the sharks have been driven mad with rage, unintentionally made super-aggressive by a signal meant to trigger a seal population (and the sharks who eat them) to relocate further away from human-heavy beaches to a tiny island where nature can run its course without accidental human fatalities. unfortunately, science didn’t work out all the kinks first and far more casualties, both human and seal, were the unhappy result. science, check your work!
this book is much better-written than many others of its kind, i.e. the kind where killer animals threaten humans and there is much screaming and blood. sure, there are a few cheesy moments: She had lost her leg, but it seemed to her that Eddie Wolchko had lost so much more. There was no prosthetic replacement for the only person who had ever loved you., but it’s neither pulp nor porn, as so many of these are – it’s just a straight-up adventure story that allows characters the opportunity to showcase their personalities, backstories, hopes and dreams, which, unfortunately, seem to be the preferred food of impulse-redirected sharks.
it’s a great summer read, perfect for shark week, and just another reminder why sharks don’t make great pets.
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reading for shark week/using the awesome bookmark keith made for me!
