A ship afire at sea leaves two survivors marooned on an island. Yet when they learn the truth about the island, they may have been better taking their chances with the sharks…

To get the basics out of the way? I liked the cover, it was why I picked the book up. The formatting is excellent with only one oddity: it opened at the end of the table of contents, not the start of the story, and the writing and grammar were fine with no glaring errors. The narrator’s voice and character come through clearly from the first page to the last, perhaps too clearly as he is a psychopath and rogue and also absolutely compelling.

The crew seem surprisingly sentimental for people lost at sea and starving. The dead animals would normally be eaten first. It did rather take me out of the book when they reject the idea of eating their own dead because “there are things you just don’t do”. Starving seamen in the period do worse by right and tradition: look up the “Law of the Sea”. When food ran out, they drew lots. But then the ship is surrounded by sharks and they don’t even try to catch them…And by the time the crew were dead and the two survivors washed up on the island I didn’t care.

The protagonist, unnamed thank god, is a murderous waste of oxygen and his stranding made me relieved for the woman he wanted to come back to, and yet the suspense kept me turning pages. No sudden scares, just creepy unbearable suspense, from the moment they reach the island, to figuring out what is going on, to finding his way slowly through the lair. The final ending pulls no punches. I know what it reminded me of, but I’m not saying in order to avoid spoilers.

It is a good story, a very good story, and even if enjoyed isn’t the right word, it kept me hooked and reading until the last page. As a suspense horror, it is excellent.

Horror readers should pick this one up, and should lovers of suspense or monster stories.