This book is the sequel to another book by this author (Steve Alten), called simply "Meg." Meg is short for the Latin name of a giant prehistoric shark called carcharodon megalodon. Formerly a denizen of the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, the Meg is brought to the surface in a freak accident in the former book. But the big beast, a 70 foot long female creature, is finally captured and placed in a marine wildlife park similar to Sea World. This book picks up where that one left off.
Dr. Jonas Taylor works for the marine park where he overseas the creatures habits. The Meg, who he has "affectionately" named Angel, is getting cranky. She is repeatedly trying to break her way out of the lagoon she is contained in. He is obsessed with making the lagoon safer so she can't escape. He is also haunted by demons that because of his obsession with the beast that others were killed. This obsession has put a strain on his marriage with Terry Tanaka, whose father co-owns the institute.
Back home Jonas is trying to convince the money brokers that the gate to the lagoon must be reinforced before the Meg escapes, wreaking destruction all up and down the Pacific coast. In another story, his father-in-law and wife visit with Benedict Singer, majority owner of the institute, on board his deep-sea diving ship. He has big plans for further exploration of the Mariana Trench.
As all "disaster" type stories of this type, things go awry almost immediately. Before Jonas can convince the businessmen to let go of their purse strings, the Meg escapes. Jonas is injured in the incident. Meanwhile back on board the "Goliath", with Benedict Singer, Mr. Tanaka has a heart attack and has to return to San Diego. Terry stays on to research a previous accident in the Trench where a deep sea submersible was attacked by unknown underwater creatures. Before she knows it she is trapped on board by a maniacal Benedict Singer, who has ulterior motives for exploring the deep sea.
The story was very suspenseful almost from the start. The chapters are very short, which helps speed along the reading. The chapters are also named, something very unusual in fiction these days, which gives the reader a hint of what is to come. The fact that there are two main stories going on, also helps add to the suspense, as the chapters swap back and forth between the two stories. This is irksome to some, but for me it adds suspense, especially if the two plots are suspenseful all on their own. The story also has just the right mix of narrative and dialogue, so that the story doesn't bog down.
The story has just the right characters too. You have Jonas, who is the main hero, who is going to set things right by capturing the Meg. There is Terry, his wife, who was upset with his obsession, but after experiencing some terror of her own is eager to be reunited with him. There is Mac, Jonas' best friend through thick and thin, who manages to save his life more than once. Benedict Singer is an obsessed megalomaniac, who will stop at nothing to achieve his own goals, even if means the death of his partners or the destruction of his billion-dollar ship. Celeste is an institute executive who is willing to sleep with anyone to get the information she wants and the power she desires. Sergei is a Russian diver, hired by Benedict, to help him on his mission, which is temporarily diverted to making Terry his sexual plaything. You can see that with these people there is more going on than just the two main plots.
I think I actually liked this book better than the first one, because of the subplots and because there were more characters that shaped the plots. It definitely kept my attention, always wondering what was going to happen next. Another dimension is that Jonas reveals that he keeps having a dream about dying in the Trench. Throughout the story you wonder if his dream is going to come true.
Angel is a REALLY big shark, the biggest thing in the sea. It seems as if nothing can take it down. How can man possibly contain it? Curiosity also kept me reading.
If you liked Jaws and its sequels you will enjoy this book. Like Jaws I would say it is a PG book, for the very literal blood and guts. There isn't any man-made violence in it. There is only the very mildest of profanity contained in it. There is only one scene in which sex appears, in which Celeste is trying to use the promise of sex to get what she wants. It is glossed over, though, and can probably be handled by most teens.
If you enjoy stories about big monsters, you'll enjoy this story. If you like disaster stories such as Airplane, this should also be right up your alley. If you enjoy stories about technology this should also interest you as there is some amount of information about the technology and exploration of the deep sea. I thoroughly enjoyed it for all three reasons.
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