BOOK TOUR EXTRACT: The Island by Adrian McKinty

Set to be published on 26th May, The Island by Adrian McKinty follows Heather, her husband Tom, and Tom’s young son and teenage daughter on a working vacation in the Australian outback. It’s the perfect way to bring the new family together. So when they discover a remote island, off-limits to outside visitors, the family take a chance on an adventure. But as soon as they set foot on the island, which is run by a tightly knit clan of locals, everything feels wrong. When Heather and the kids are separated from Tom, they are forced to escape alone, seconds ahead of their pursuers. Now it’s up to Heather to save herself and the kids, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them all alive.

Book Review: The Island by Adrian McKinty

“IT WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE A FAMILY VACATION.
A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT CHANGED EVERYTHING.
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF UNTIL THEY COME FOR YOUR FAMILY.”

Set to be published on 26th May, The Island by Adrian McKinty follows Heather, her husband Tom, and Tom’s young son and teenage daughter on a working vacation in the Australian outback. It’s the perfect way to bring the new family together. So when they discover a remote island, off-limits to outside visitors, the family take a chance on an adventure. But as soon as they set foot on the island, which is run by a tightly knit clan of locals, everything feels wrong. When Heather and the kids are separated from Tom, they are forced to escape alone, seconds ahead of their pursuers. Now it’s up to Heather to save herself and the kids, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them all alive.

My 2020 Reading Wrap-Up

Over the past couple of years, I have documented every film that I have watched and reviewed them all using Letterboxd. As a way to motivate myself to read more, I thought I would do the same for what books I have been reading, using Goodreads as a way to set myself a reading challenge every year.

I initially set my target as 25 books this year, but a few things happened that meant I reached this goal quite early on. Firstly, I had a baby, so this meant that I was awake at silly hours with plenty of time to read. Then, there was lockdown. Because of lockdown, I decided to join Bookstagram and NetGalley and get more serious about reviewing books. So now, instead of reading two books at most a month, I’ve been reading up to ten.

I upped my goal to 60 around halfway through the year, and still managed to pass that by reaching 74 books. This year has really rekindled my love of books, and I can’t wait to start 2021 with this new passion.

Here’s how my 2020 challenge went:

Book Review: The Chain by Adrian McKinty

“George Orwell was wrong, she thinks. In the future, it won’t be the state that keeps tabs on everyone by extensive use of surveillance; it will be the people. They’ll do the state’s work for it by constantly uploading their locations, interests, food preferences, restaurant choices, political ideas, and hobbies to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites. We are our own secret police.”

The Chain is a 2019 thriller by Adrian McKinty which follows Rachel as she heads into Boston for an early morning oncology appointment. She believes her 13-year old daughter is getting on the bus and heading off to school, just like any other day. But then her phone rings. The call is from a stranger who says that she has kidnapped her daughter. To get her daughter back, she must abduct somebody else’s child. If she doesn’t, her child will be killed. Rachel is now a part of The Chain. “You are not the first, and you will certainly not be the last.”