Hotel Megalodon

by Rick Chesler

An underwater luxury hotel on a gorgeous tropical island is set for an extravagant opening weekend with the world watching. The only thing standing in the way of a first-rate experience for the jet-setting VIPs is an unscrupulous businessman and sixty feet of prehistoric shark. As the underwater complex is besieged by a marauding behemoth, newly minted marine biologist Coco Keahi must face off against the ancient predator as it rises from the deep with a vengeance. Meanwhile, a human monster has decided he would be better off if Coco were one of the creature’s victims.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook, Monsters, Science Fiction

243 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2015

About the author

Author of over 30 novels, Rick Chesler holds a Bachelor of Science in marine biology and can often be found diving, boating or traveling to research his next thriller idea. A former contractor for the U.S. Deptartment of Commerce and the State of Hawaii, he now lives in South Florida with his family, at the edge of the Bermuda Triangle. Visit him online at twitter.com/rickchesler, facebook.com/rickchesler, or rickchesler.com.

SERIES:
ATLANTIS GOLD: An Omega Files Adventure (Book 1)
ARK FOUND: An Omega Files Adventure (Book 2)
GOLDEN ONE An Omega Files Adventure (Book 3)
CROSS FOUND: An Omega Files Adventure (Book 4)

JURASSIC DEAD (co-authored):
Jurassic Dead
Jurassic Dead 2: Z-Volution
Jurassic Dead 3: Ctrl-Z

OUTCAST Ops:
Game of Drones (co-authored)
The Poseidon Initiative
African Firestorm (co-authored)
Red Ice (co-authored)
Watchlist (co-authored)
Shadow Gov (co-authored)

TARA SHORES THRILLERS
Wired Kingdom
kiDNApped
Solar Island

DANE MADDOCK ORIGINS (co-authored)
Splashdown
Electra
Amber
Treasure of the Dead
Dane Maddock: The Tomb

OGMIOS TEAM ORIGINS (co-authored)
Lucifer's Machine

STANDALONE NOVELS:
Edit: A Prehistoric Thriller
Manuscript 512 (releasing Fall 2018)
Hawaiian Punch (co-authored)
Uncontacted
DMZ: A Dinosaur Thriller
The Tank
The Flat: A Novel of Supernatural Horror (co-authored)
The Yeti (co-authored)
Landing Party
Sawfish
Luna
Hotel Megalodon
Blood Harbor: A Novel of Suspense

Reviews

[RedemptionDenied · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

It would have been a four star rating if the main character (Coco Keahi) didn't keep putting herself in harms way every time she escaped from the Megalodon. Still, it was pretty good fun. It would make an excellent movie - and I could imagine Maggie Q as the main character.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Poseidon Adventure meets Meg in this super-fun popcorn muncher.

Add a dash of Jurassic Park too as arrogant manager attempts to ingratiate himself to the guests, convinced that nothing can go wrong.

Enter Coco, our heroine, with less baggage but not quite so much submersible experience than Meg's Jonas Taylor. She's out of her depth, but rises to the challenge again and again. Some reviewers have complained that's she's too gullible, but I'm not sure that's fair. She makes a decision to keep working for the hotel despite a megalodon in the water and clues that her manager could be a maniac. But I also think her manager had portrayed himself as reasonable enough up to that point, and that Coco had ample reasons to believe she could help bring the hotel guests to safety.

And of course there's carcharodon megalodon. That the megalodon exists at all, and that it was stirred up and agitated by the construction of an underwater hotel, I could believe. But as to why it decided to target the hotel and why it developed an insatiable demand for human blood was absurd and never explained. But I chose to just go with it because it gave me exactly what I wanted this summer, which was a badass shark-attack book!

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I started reading this book, I was a little surprised at how the author wasted no time with any real character background or development, or even any back story. It took very few pages before the new (and of course not fully functioning) underwater hotel took in guests and suddenly (for no reason ever explained that I could detect) gets attacked by a megalodon. Well, OK, I thought, screw the wordiness, let's just get right to the action.

Unfortunately, from that point it only get stupider and eye-rollingly ridiculous. Nobody acts all that shocked, surprised or fearful after the first attack crushes the entrance tunnel and kills a bunch of people. The douche-bag rich guy who built the place never stops acting like a prima donna, the main character never gets anything but slightly frustrated with the situation, no matter how many times she comes close to drowning or being eaten, and every other character just about reacts completely unrealistically and utterly idiotically.

This book ended up reading as if someone took Steve Alten's Meg, a rejected script from a Syfy Channel/Asylum movie, mixed them in a blender, removed all the good parts and any sense of realism or even an iota of intelligence, and plunked down the remainder in book form.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really solid action read. An underwater hotel is being built in the Fiji Islands, but unfortunately a Megalodon shows up for the grand opening. This is really as much a disaster novel as it is a giant shark novel, but still a really good read.

If you are a fan of underwater horror or disaster movies, this is a good pick.

[Karsyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Shark/disaster type books for their non-stop action and craziness. This book had that in spades and could have been a 4 star book. Unfortunately, there was no editing to this book and even I, who never really cares or pain attentions to the occasional errors, could not overlook the AWFUL errors in this book. Examples: a conversation going back and forth between two people where a sentence was left out, or ? something. A person spoke twice in a row and it made no sense, because it made it sound as if the other person was saying something about themselves that made no sense. Another time there was a paragraph about the shark in one sentence, the MC in the next, so it sounded like it was still talking about the shark, as if the shark had hands and knees...... it was just bad.

Story was great, location was awesome. MC was good, other characters not so much. But editing and some other issues really put a fowl taste in my mouth for this one.

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been a four-star (megalodon!) if I could get past some of the clunky choices made by characters.
It seems the characters were written to follow the plot rather than the plot being written by truly-living characters.
In need of a good editor, really.
Still a good read.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are times when I binge read a certain category of books. Coming off of Jaws, Meg, and The Trench, I was still in the mood for something dealing with sharks, but I wasn't ready to dive into Meg: Primal Waters just yet, so I tooled around on Amazon for a bit and discovered Rick Chesler's Hotel Megalodon. Story sounded interesting, so I picked it up.

I have to admit, the book had potential, and in the hands of Peter Benchley or Steve Alten, I think we would have had a hit on our hands. The story is simple: the development and building of a "luxury" underwater hotel disturbs a megalodon, that then proceeds to launch its attack on the hotel on opening weekend, methodically cutting off any means of escape for the guests and staff. The focus of the book, besides the shark attacks, is trying to get the guests safely out of the hotel and back on land. Sounds thrilling, right? Yawn. Wrong.

The problem we have here is the author not having a firm grasp on his subject matter. And if he does, something got lost in the translation as he put words to page because it doesn't come across. The setting is supposed to be a luxurious underwater hotel, but you don't get the feeling that the place is that luxurious. A kid in the book describe it best: it's like a Habitrail for humans. For those unfamiliar with Habitrails, it was a plastic prison for hamsters, gerbils, and mice. It was made up of a central "living area" with
tubes that led to other smaller compartments. And that's exactly what the hotel feels like, nothing luxurious about it. AND it's opening weekend and the guest list is all A Listers, so they need to impress. And make an impression they do. In the fact that nothing, and I mean nothing, has been tested for functionality, so you know when they attempt to activate something, it's going to fail. Of course. Like the escape pods -- that sink.

The other problem is the characters. You really don't come to care for any of them. The "hero" of the story is a young marine biologist, described as being in her mid twenties, but when you first meet her, she comes across as a fifteen or sixteen year old during a Bring Your Daughter to Work day. She's obviously out of her league here, so you hope she becomes shark chow soon so they can bring in the real star. James White, the man running the whole show and the resident villain, is so inept at his job, you have to wonder who he slept with to get the job. Maybe Mick, the supposed love interest, who breaks the heroine's heart when she walks in and finds him in a compromising position with the dolphin lady -- Carrie, Clarrie, Clarice, whatever the hell her name is. She's not important.

You also get the impression that the only knowledge the author has of marine equipment and sharks has been garnered from reading Steve Alten's books and Jaws, or maybe from an Atari 2600 simulation. When Coco is piloting the sub, it just doesn't seem real. And the megalodon? There were times I felt like I was watching SyFy's Supershark, especially when the shark was breaking windows and attempting to swim into the hotel to get at the guests. It would get itself wedged into a place, then swim backwards to free itself (sharks mobility is limited to forward motion), and often it seemed like the author lost track of his shark. In one scene, he says it slipped from window, and the body was more or less acting like a plug because suddenly the water was pouring in, but then the shark is back to snapping at Coco. Uh, didn't it just extract itself from the window to allow the water to flood the hotel? And every so often the author would throw out terms from out of the blue just to make it sound like he knew what he was talking about. And all you could do was chuckle.

And the ending?!?! OMG, I wanted to throw the book across the room . If I hadn't been reading a digital copy, I probably would have, but I didn't want to damage my Kindle. It was probably the worst part of the book. It's literally like giving a kitten a boop on the nose and telling it to be good.

Sadly, though, the author doesn't pursue what could probably have been one of the more interesting aspects of the book, and that's the old tribesmen that appear at the beginning and the end. You get the feeling that the megalodon is kind of a guardian spirit that rises up to protect the islanders and their way of life, almost like Godzilla defending Japan, but that aspect is never explored.

Overall, this book was a major fail for me, and if you are in the market for a big fish story, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a wonderful book.All is not well at the posh new under sea resort. Opening day becomes a day of disaster with untested systems malfunctioning and a supposedly extinct shark showing up to ramp up the danger. This thriller had me on the edge of my seat. Who will survive and will our shark expert be able to deal with the monster!! I would love to read more about Coco and her expertise with sharks!!

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that's certain to become a movie. It's a modern day "Jaws" tale: a thrilling adventure with mayhem and destruction, not to mention one badass shark. I blasted through the book because no matter where I was when I stopped reading for the night, I couldn't wait to get back and see what happened next.

[Jim Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read

Pace, action and tension, this book has it all. Thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Was difficult to put down, I had to finish it. Thoroughly recommended to anyone who likes this genre.

[Tori Schoen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like monster books, just wanted something easy so definitely not expecting much...but this is really bad, even rating on such a low scale. The writing was bad. If you want an escape, look elsewhere.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good story. Adventure with a monster.

[c · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow that was so bad, it was almost funny. Almost.

[Wyshona D. Lawson]

If I could give this book a -3 I would. Here is my review:
Okay, there are so many things wrong with this book that I am not quite sure where to start.
I guess the first place I should start with wrong is with Amazon, and for people giving it four and five stars (or being paid to give it four or five stars) that persuaded me it might be an okay novel. And then, I guess it was wrong to pay the .99 for this book, but you know, sometimes, you get gems on those Kindle Daily Deals.
Now, on to the actual book itself. ******SPOILERS AHEAD******* BUT REALLY, YOU SHOULD KEEP READING, BECAUSE I CAN SAVE YOU THE MONEY OF BUYING THE BOOK, BUT YOU CAN STILL GET ALL THE LAUGHS OF THIS LUDICROUS NOVEL. I could possibly overlook that there is this hotel underwater that is going to open, but has so many glitches that no inspector who wants to keep his job would let said hotel actually open. Some of these glitches are as follows. You have a hotel underwater, and a) there are only two exits—the tram tunnel and the pressurized dive lock. There is no second tram tunnel, no escape tunnel, no exit from the top of the two towers THAT ACTUALLY POKE OUT OF THE LAGOON, and no second dive lock. So, if the first exit (tram tunnel) gets bitten and then broken by a meg, the only way to get out would be the dive lock. If the meg busts up the dive lock, you’re screwed. Does this add a bit of suspense to the novel? A bit, but added to the fact that b)the escape pods have never been tested—ever—with humans or without—in them, and you just have to go, “Come on!” Then c)when the escape pod is deployed with six humans in it, and it sinks to the bottom because of the human weight added to the FURNITURE THAT WAS IN THE ROOM BECAUSE EACH GUEST ROOM IS AN ESCAPE POD, you have to wonder who the hell hired these engineers, and where in the world did they go to school? Next, d)you have a marine biologist just out of school who is the hotel’s go to for anything related to the water or things in the water, but when she tries to tell you something is wrong, you berate her because she is a woman and because she is young. Nice job, Mr. Author Man. Nice job. And e)the boss is loco—coo coo for cocoa puffs loco, and I think if there were going to be an underwater hotel, the investors would probably call for some sort of mental stability test for the managers and employees since they’ll be living 60 feet below the surface of the water and could, conceivably, die, or try to kill each other, at any point.
Now, I could have overlooked all of that, because, believe me, I love cheesy, corny, bad movies—Sharknado, Dinoshark, Jersey Shore Shark Attack, Dino Croc versus Super Gator, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus—and even though they’re so bad they’re good, and even though they have some huge plot holes, since they pretty much stick with shark and croc lore and fact, I let them get away with a few things.
But this book, no. I cannot.
So I ask, 1)why would a premier hotel that is getting ready to open its doors hire a just graduated, wet behind the ears marine biologist? Wouldn’t they fight to get the best in the world? I can think of no answer except it would be fun to have a 22 year old named Coco as a main character.
2)How can aforementioned Coco survive not one hyperventilating to saturate her lungs with oxygen so she can swim to the surface not once, but twice, and survive?
3)How can aforementioned Coco make it out of the bar, with the meg stuck in the glass of the building, thrashing about, and swim to the surface, and out swim the damn shark to the shallows without being killed? Let’s get this girl on the Olympic team.
4)How can Coco’s “love interest” (and I put it in quotes because there is not one whit of chemistry between them) cut open a hole in the side of the building so she can swim out of the bathroom and not flood the whole damn tower that was already filling up with water from the bottom up? Wouldn’t the majority of the water from said bathroom hole rush down? But, she did have the bathroom door closed. And it was flimsy wood, so I am sure it stayed intact. And (almost) all the people that were stuck there, in the semi-flooded tower, they are rescued—by use of an escape pod that actually works because since the first one was a major flop, the engineers have worked out the kinks to get them working! Makes so much sense, right?
5)Why does the meg bite dolphins in two but eat humans?—never answered From the shark’s perspective, we get that these warm things taste good, but heck, wouldn’t a dolphin, too?
6)Why does the meg play with the aforementioned sunken escape pod like a cat with a ball?—never answered
7)WHY THE HELL DOES COCO KEEP GOING BACK IN THE DAMN WATER?????????????????
8)WHY DOES HER BOSS TRY TO KILL HER? I still don’t get this part. He needs her back on staff after she quits, he pretty much begs her, and then ten minutes later, he tries to kill her. For real. I’m not joking. Why? Who knows except he’s crazy.
9)The old men at the beginning that know the water has been disturbed, why don’t we get to see them again at the end? There is mention of them on the hillside, but no going back to them? Another plot hole.
10)At the end, do you want to know how Coco gets rid of the shark? She dives really deep in the mini-sub, and then she puts it to sleep using the arm on the sub to rub under its snout. I kid you not. She hypnotizes the shark (which can be done, but if you have a mega-aggressive shark, that is 60 feet long, and you hypnotize it, I really don’t think it’s going to snap out of it and say, “Little human, you just aren’t worth it today!” and swim away. No. And even when she stops, even though this shark has been driving her deeper and deeper into the water (400 ft. down), playing with her sub just like the escape pod, it just lets her go. It swims off into the dark black deepness and leaves her alone, but not before she catches it on her Go-Pro.
But, all of that aside, the thing that tore me up the most was this: Coco said, on more than one occasion, and other characters saw, THE SHARK BACK UP as it tries to escape situations. THE MARINE BIOLOGIST DOES NOT THINK IT IS WEIRD THAT THE SHARK BACKS UP. Now, you may not have wanted to be an ichthyologist when you were younger, but I did, and I am a pretty big shark nerd, and folks, let me tell you, SHARKS CANNOT BACK UP, THEY CANNOT SWIM BACKWARDS, THEY CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT. THEY CANNOT SUDDENLY STOP OR SWIM BACKWARDS, OR BACK UP. THEIR PECTORAL FINS DO NOT BEND UPWARD LIKE OTHER FISH’S FINS. SHARKS USE GRAVITY TO FALL AND CHANGE THEIR POSITION IN THE WATER, BUT THEY CANNOT SWIM BACKWARDS. Even in Deep Blue Sea it is hinted that the makos swim backwards because their brains are so large and smart—it’s almost like they have opposable thumbs! No explanation here and no one finds it weird!
And another thing wrong with this book was that I finished it. Several years ago, I stopped making myself finish books I did not like, unless I had to read them for school. But I finished this one because I kept hoping……
I guess the thing most wrong with this novel is that it did not, in any way, shape, or form measure up to Steve Alten’s Meg books. Please, please, please, before you consider reading this book, check out Meg: Origins, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, The Trench, Meg: Primal Waters, Meg: Hell’s Aquarium, and coming Summer 2016: Nightstalkers! I’ll even give you the link to his Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Steve%20Alten/e...
I found The Trench first, and it was at a Kmart at the beach. I picked it up and devoured it in two summer days as the salt water licked my feet. It wasn’t until a year or two later that I realized that it wasn’t the first book in the series. Now, I’ve read them all and plan to read the next. Please, check Alten out before you buy any other megalodon books. I do not think you will be sorry!

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book because the blurb reminded me of the old disaster movies—The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno—and I was right. Hotel Megalodon is a very fancy, one of a kind, underwater hotel built on a reef in Fiji. Unfortunately, the building of the hotel right on the edge of an extremely deep underwater chasm has attracted the attention of a sixty-foot beast that the world thought had died out sixty million years ago. What follows is a sort of Jaws on steroids. Chesler had me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning as the prehistoric shark begins making its first appearances and James White, the owner of the new hotel, refuses to believe that anything is going wrong with his grand opening.

White makes a great villain for this story—in many ways much better than the megalodon who is only a force of nature—not evil. Even as disaster strikes and people start to die, White is more interested in covering up the problem than in saving people’s lives. Worse, he has no problem trying to murder, Coco, our heroine to further his schemes. Every bit of the attempt to rescue the hotel guests is complicated by White’s sociopathic nature and it adds substantially to the stress.

Coco makes a great heroine. She’s intelligent and brave if sometimes more than a bit rash and foolish. It’s easy to care what happens to her because she cares what’s happening to everyone. In fact, she over cares at a couple of points and it is my major problem with the story. After nearly dying helping several people escape to the shore, Coco herself gets free and immediately goes back to the hotel to see if she can help anyone else. By this time the hotel is cut off and underwater, so returning wasn’t easy, but that’s not my problem with her move. She makes no effort to alert people to what’s happening. Yes, there have been some reports from the guests she rescued, but one would think that a marine biologist and employee of the hotel might be more successful in raising public attention to the danger the remaining guests and staff are facing. There is never any talk about getting naval help (even if it were to say, no ships could arrive for forty-eight hours) and not nearly enough attention given to the reporters who are on scene trying to understand what’s gone wrong.

That being said, this is action-packed adventure which gives 99% of its attention to the action. The ending was also not at all what I was expecting, but I liked it very much. If you think Jaws isn’t scary enough to keep you out of the water, you might want to book a room at Hotel Megalodon.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Jacques Hollands · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a bit critical of the only two books I have read that were written by Rick Chesler. My gripe was that there was very little of what the books' titles referred to. For example, The Guardians of Atlantis hardly had any action in Atlantis, and The Yeti was more a book on the difficulties of climbing Everest. While they were both good books in their own way, I felt cheated, considering their titles. Sure I like both burgers and pizzas, but if I order a pizza, I will be disappointed if I am served a burger.

So what about Hotel Megalodon? Admittedly, it was not bad. The shark was "there" the whole time. My only disappointment was that I listened to the audiobook. While the narrator was very good at reading general passages, I disliked most of his characters' voices. The voice he used for one of the main characters, James White, grated on me. It was supposed to be an Australian accent, but he was way off. The character came across as a petulant child (not helped by the script, I suppose).

I wish there were a bit more urgency and suspense while building to the climax. It was, at times, a bit lethargic, and characters would make the most bizarre decisions. If one is willing to look past these issues, one will be entertained. The book probably deserves 3.5 stars, but I feel this book is aimed more at young adults and didn't quite invoke emotion in me. It is a fun holiday read, but no more.

[Snot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was honestly great. I enjoyed every second of it and wanted to read it 24/7. My only comments are that some worded was weird and repetitive. Also the end felt really rushed - like there was so much of the story left that could have been told but the author couldn't figure out how to wrap it together. Still, I really liked this book and want to read more like it for sure.

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Изпълнението е по-скоро за три звезди, но добрата идея, която и аз имах за разказ, макар вече да се обезмисли, както и култовото заглавие, качват рейтинга ми до четворка. Подробно ревю в Цитаделата:
https://citadelata.com/hotel-megalodon/

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not Your Normal Megalodon Story. Other than taking place near a trench in the Pacific Ocean, this isn't your typical Megalodon story at all. With this one, the terror takes place in an enclosed-ish island/ reef area with the trench just outside the reef, and thus the terror is a bit more immediate. Definetly an interesting take on the subgenre, and one that is perfectly safe to read when in the Atlantic or Caribbean - neither of which have ever (to my knowledge) featured a Meg story. :D

[chucklesthescot · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Triton Undersea Resort is an exclusive new hotel complex built on a coral reef. The day before the guests arrive, Coco the marine biologist is test driving the small sub and has an encounter with a megalodon, something James White the resort manager does not want to believe. As the guests arrive, something has destroyed the air conditioning system and as the guests decide to go back to the surface, the shark decides to feed...

I'm a big fan of the films Jaws and Deep Blue Sea and I can never resist shark stuff so I just had to get my hands on this one. It is another of those plots that you can imagine on the SF channel but it is good b movie fun! Our main character is a stong woman called Coco who is an expert diver and the resort tour guide and marine biographer. She is sure that she saw a megalodon but convincing others of what she saw is more difficult, especially when her boss is obsessed with the upcoming opening. Her best friend/potential boyfriend Mick is the only one who seems willing to help her through the book. James White is the typical bad boss-obsessed with making money, willing to compromise safety to save some money and throws his weight around when he doesn't like what he hears. He finally realises that Coco was right when guests are already dying and his focus beomes covering up his mistakes.

The plot is interesting. A megalodon has been attracted to the new resort and we first see it when it hits Coco's sub and damages it. Coco reports the incident, and despite several dolphins also going missing, James is more concerned about the sub not being available for tourists to rent. The next day when the guests arrive, the shark has damaged the air conditioning unit, leaving it uncomfortably hot below the surface and guests are keen to get back up to a cooler climate. It is as the underground transport starts to go up the tunnel that the shark attacks, flooding the tunnel area with water, which is witnessed by Coco who rushes to help.

Things are going to get bad for everyone else in the hotel with their only exit flooded and damaged. James is already seeing his project falling apart and is trying to think of a way out of the mess, and with Coco knowing that he failed to react to her warnings, he is seeing her as a loose end that he wants to tie up. Coco is more focused on how to get herself and the guests out of the hotel. Several ideas are possible but the shark is continuing to attack the building, creating more flooding and destruction. There is always something happening in the plot and Coco seems to face one crisis after another. While some reviewers are not impressed by a lack of reality, I found it entertaining to read which is more important to me than reality.

We know that the shark is constantly lurking in the dark depths around the hotel, so there is plenty tension through the book as you wonder where it is going to pop up next. There are frequent shark attacks on the building which disrupts their plans and leads to the resort gradually becoming flooded. How are they going to get back up to the surface? Adding in the lengths James is willing to go to to silence Coco adds a different sub plot to enjoy. (pardon the pun)

If you enjoy a bit of mad monster mayhem, you might well enjoy this.

[Brian's Book Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

They thought it was the perfect getaway. Little did they know…

The perfect luxury hotel built underwater in the oceans surrounding the Fiji Islands. What could go wrong? All of the simple things had all been planned for, even the major catastrophic things were thought about. But, no one planned for a long-extinct shark to show up and start showing an interest in the hotel and it’s guests both inside and outside of the hotel walls. Marine Biologist Coco Keahi has seen this shark first hand and must enter the water more than she’d like to help others and herself. This prehistoric shark has other things in mind for Coco.

The narration for Hotel Megalodon was done by Andrew Tell and he did a wonderful job. Yes, most of the story were from the point of view of a female — he still does a great job voicing her inner and outer monologues. Along with the other characters in the book. There was never a time I felt confused or unsure of who was speaking. Tell was a really good choice for narration and the quality of the audiobook was great.

This was another book that I’d had buried on my “to read” list for quite some time, so I feel lucky that I was able to get a copy to review on audiobook. Ever since I read “Meg” by Steve Alten I was hooked. I’ve always had an obsession with sharks and after reading about the Megalodon I was hooked even more (pardon the puns).

Chesler obviously has some knowledge of these sharks and what is said about them in the history books. The sizing and predatory nature of them were really well done in this book. And I didn’t feel like it wasn’t all plausible (yes, even though it’s a thought to be extinct shark).

The action scenes were incredibly well done. Chesler has a wonderful way of writing these short and tight action scenes that only take minutes in the book out into these wonderful drama-filled scenes. He does all of this without making the reader feel like they’re being left out to sea. Walking that tightrope between too much and not enough.

Now that I’ve finished Hotel Megalodon, I will definitely be looking for more books from Chesler. I hope that more of them are audiobooks too!

Overall if you like fast-paced stories with strong characters — this book is for you. If you want to read a wonderful story about a huge shark and seemingly unending danger — Hotel Megalodon should be right up your alley.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

[Jamey Goodyear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hotel Megalodon by Rick Chesler is a story to rival any SyFy Shark Week movie.

On an atoll that is part of the Fiji islands a developer has decided to create a unique vacation experience. James White has built a hotel complex that includes an underwater hotel made of a thick durable plastic glass. The views of the reef and marine life are incredible.

Coco Keahi is a fresh out of college with a degree in marine biology. She has accepted a position to be the resident expert for the guests at the new underwater hotel. She can't believe her luck in landing this job. She will also be doing tours in a mini submersible. However, her luck is about to change.

This story follows a predictable path, but is very fun to read. It moves along swiftly with mass destruction and new construction technology that doesn't work well, especially when being attached by an ancient fish. Great cliffhangers at the end of the chapters too. I didn't want to put it down, had to find out what was going to happen next.

I recommend this book for those of any age who like the shark week type movies, disasters, and adventure stories.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I think I would have liked it if there were not so many grammar errors and sentence structure issues. It is a struggle for me to see past bad writing sometimes. With that being said, I do applaud the author on a good book with my favorite topic: Megalodon. I can't wait for Shark Week 2020 and I will recommend this to my shark loving friends, this year, when we start reading books with sharks as the focus.

[Terry Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, don't ever let me go to an underwater hotel. Would have been great except for a couple of things. Won't say what they are because it would ruin the suspense of the book. I really liked Coco, and hope there will be more of her in future books. But definitely hope that White never shows up again. He's bad news and thinks he's brilliant. Hah!

[Theresa Pollara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise ala Crichton

This book started off slow. Other than the main character the character development was sparse. The plot was very interesting and made for a good read. Toward the end the plot began to loop and could have been shortened a little.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Undersea hotel is attacked by a prehistoric Megalodon shark. Good quick read but could have been so much better. If you're looking for a better megalodon series try Steve Alten's Meg series or if you're an all shark lover try the excellent Apex predator series from Carolyn McCray.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hotel megalodon sounds like a place I would have liked to visit - until the megaldon showed up. There is a unlikely hero and Murphys law is in full swing. I really enjoyed the book. I didnt want to put it down. Wanted to see how they were going to fix everything.,

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chesler is stellar as always. Great nautical tale. An underwater hotel and A MEGALODON! What more could you ask for?

[Mandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish this.

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two main characters were the most obnoxious, unbelievable people ever.