Nightstalkers

November 7, 2016
Alten’s fifth Meg novel (after 2009’s Meg: Hell’s Aquarium) demonstrates the limits of centering a series on surviving prehistoric sharks devouring human victims, the first of whom is chomped in half while kayaking in the Strait of Juan de Fuca off British Columbia. The culprit is a Carcharodon megalodon, a gigantic ancestor of the great white shark, and one of a pair named Bela and Lizzy, who were freed from an aquarium by animal rights activists. But Bela and Lizzy aren’t the only underwater threats to humanity. Alten tosses in a menagerie of monstrous relics, including a ferocious sperm whale and multiple dinosaur-era aquatic reptiles. One creature, a liopleurodon, has eaten the love interest of one of the main characters, David Taylor, whose quest for revenge is aided by an attractive female marine biologist who was once a professional dancer. Alten continues to be less than careful about scientific details (centipedes aren’t insects) and usage (the liopleurodon at one point sweeps prey into its “vacuous gullet”). Still, Jaws fans will have fun. Agent: Danny Baror, Baror International.

June 1, 2016
The fifth entry in Alten's popular giant-shark series (Meg is short for megalodon, an ancient shark that seriously dwarfed the largest great white that ever lived) picks up where number four, Meg: Hell's Aquarium (2009), left off. Shark expert Jonas Taylor is desperately trying to find the sisters, two massive Megs who were recently released from captivity, while his son, David, is dealing with his girlfriend's deathshe was eaten alive by a Megby signing on to an expedition to capture rare sea creatures (but, secretly, he's determined to find and kill the Meg that killed his girlfriend). The Meg novels are the kind of books that shouldn't work but do: the characters are thinly drawn, the dialogue is often clunky, and the basic premisethat prehistoric animals still roam the seasis rather goofy. But Alten writes the books with such enthusiasm that he sweeps us up and carries us along. He believes the story he's telling, so we believe it, too. Also, the shark scenes are pretty darn scary. A nice mix of horror, thriller, and adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)