Because sometimes the best vacation stories are the ones you barely survive. The Thompson family arrives in Hawaii for their first long-awaited vacation to the tropics. It feels like their lucky day until an unexpected warning shatters the calm and sends the island into chaos. What begins as a desperate race to escape a catastrophic natural disaster quickly spirals into something far more disturbing. As they fight to survive, unsettling clues point to a second threat rising in the aftermath. One that may not be natural at all. The tide is turning. The window to escape is closing. They’re going to need more than luck.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. In the opening chapters, I was a little uncertain how characters and scenes would be paced, as I felt there wasn't much interaction or a real introduction to the family. I would have loved to see more dialogue and interactions between those characters, especially within the roles they play in this story. I didn't feel the need for every action to be described, especially as we, as readers, can fill in those gaps ourselves, which could have improved the flow of the narrative.
That aside, Cary has a real knack for building and maintaining tension in his writing. It left me feeling tense and sometimes a little shaken, especially after I put the book down to have short breaks between reading. The realism in the story really helped to shape the horror, and I think this made my emotions run much higher than in genres with more unnatural elements, as there were real-life stakes at play. The descriptive language used throughout really did create vivid and often terrifying imagery, which stuck with me long after scenes played out.
Cary made great use of limited spaces when setting scenes, which heightened the threat and made me feel quite claustrophobic, which is something I personally love in horror narratives.
Overall, worth a read. Its pacing is fantastic once the story gets going and will leave you feeling satisfied with its conclusion.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I couldn’t put it down, read half the book in one sitting. I really enjoyed the story & the characters. This would make a great movie! Highly recommended! Look forward to the author’s next book!
I enjoyed this book so much! Don't let the cover fool you it is quite the adventure of survival and team work, my first book by Cary and I'm definitely looking forward to more of his books in the future.
Mark and Lisa are ready to take their 2 children to a well Deserve vacation to Hawaii, with everything packed they head off to the airport to arrive at their final destination of relaxation of the beach and much needed rest from everyday life.
The family circle is very close and their bonding time is special, after arriving it isn't long until there is a news warning of a headed straight for them giving them only a few hours to get ready to get to safer higher ground.
Not making it in time they have to rely on each other to make it out of the damaged hotel, but the troubling water has Disturbed and damaged a top secret project that only a few people know about.
Leaving the family to run and survive the most terrifying thing they have ever seen, people who are infected aren't human anymore will bite and infect others turning them , but there is someone that can shed light on this devastating situation but help will not be what you think,