The Trench

A very difficult book to rate. On the one hand it's poorly drawn characters and corny dialogue are among the worst I've ever read---the Russian bad guy and his evil oversexed mistress couldn't have been any more cartoonish had their names been Boris Badenov and Natasha. And with lines like: "You spend more time with that shark than you do with me....I want to be the ONLY female in your life!" Well, you get the idea. But the action sequences, as scientifically suspect as they are, still fly by in a flurry of daring (read: impossible) escapes, near misses, and creepy deep sea encounters sure to chill anyone with a healthy fear of deep water and enclosed spaces. As a piece of literature it barely rates a single star, but as a quick and show more entertaining summer beach read you could do a lot worse. show less

I consider myself among one of Mr. Alten's biggest fans; however, I was deeply disappointed with The Trench. The writing was phenomenal, as was the plotline. But, there were scenes that seemed to be written by a twelve-year-old fan fiction writer: incest, child molestation, a female teacher molesting a female pupil, implied rape, attempted rape...absolutely appalling (all of which did nothing to further the plot, it was just there). I cannot help but feel deeply saddened by this and will have to strongly consider whether I will risk reading the third and forth books. Hopefully The Trench was simply a one-time lapse of judgment.
I do love his writing style, and as I already mentioned, the plot was wonderful. If you can stomach sexual show more perversion, then by all means, go for it. Personally, I want nothing to do with such garbage. show less

The giant prehistoric shark is back and she is hungry! The giant has, believe it or not, been living in a water park tourist attraction. As anyone knows, people will pay anything to see the unusual or the macabre. Feeding time at the park brought out the big bucks, unfortunantly security got a bit lax and the giant shark escaped. Regular feedings had by the escape, produced a mega-giant of more than 80 feet. Jonas Taylor from the first book returns to go after the beast. I loved it. I understand there is a movie in the offering.

Apparently this is a series now. Fine. I liked it, I read it in one day, Alten is the new Benchley. I admit his characters are, well, shallow. I read them not for their literary value, but for the action of a 72 foot Great White Shark eating everything that comes across it's path. I'll get the next one as soon as I get back to the library.

This book picks up a few years after The Meg. With characters we already met and a few we are introduced too and who I was annoyed AF with! Why is there always a...never mind, you’ll have to read it yourself. Jonas Taylor is still obsessed with the Megaladon, Angel who has been captured at the Tanaka lagoon for some time; but something is about to go down - he can feel it. Fast paced and excellent on the edge-of-seat scale! 📚📚📚

Giant sharks??? Here we go again!!!
Professor Jonas Taylor is back, this time with Terry Taylor in tow. When Angel, a 70 foot long megalodon, escapes from her paddock at the institute Jonas must set sail on a sea voyage to recapture her. But there is great danger lurking in the depths. And Jonas's dreams are getting worse. Can he descend into the Mariana Trench once again to save the life of the woman he loves? Can he face his fears and worse can he face his demon... Angel?
This book is written very much like the first novel. It is very action-packed with loads of suspense and thrills. Although there is a lot of action going on, there are also decent rest points so the reader does not become overwhelmed.
I will say that halfway through show more this book I noticed that the death toll was already higher than the first book. Which is to be expected in a good sequel.
Towards the latter half of the book there is a lot of scientific and technical jargon that is used. However it is not to the point where the layman cannot understand what is going on. The writer masterfully crafts his sentences so that any reader would be able to pick up this book and follow it.
There were actually bits of espionage in this book. Which, in my personal opinion, I found to be unnecessary to assist in building the suspense leading to the climax of the ending.if the author had ended the book in a different way perhaps the espionage points would have been more relevant but in this case the author has written them as moot points in the story line.
I honestly really like this book. I found the story very engaging and the characters very believable but that goes to having read the first book as well.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes horror, monsters and giant sharks! 🦈 show less

Oh, wow, what did I just read? Was this about a megashark or was it REALLY a discount-rate James Bond adventure under the sea?

Hmmm. Not telling!

*looks to either side, then up and to the left*

Really! It's NOT just a discount-rate James Bond adventure with hokey science, stretchable wild situations, Russian femme fatales, or overblown (and frankly boring) manufactured pathos.

Truly.

Ah, well, my megashark has interesting competition/snacks. Am I talking about another Trench species, or am I talking about the poor peeps in the novel?

I will leave you with that image.