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Q Island #2
Return to Q Island
Millions long to break out of quarantine. One man needs to break in.
The paleovirus has swept Long Island, turning residents into psychotic killers. A government quarantine traps Patrick in Connecticut, separated from his mother and pregnant sister on what all now call Q Island. When he loses contact with them, he fears the worst. His only chance to get back is to infiltrate the island as a guide for an illegal safari hunting the infected. But he arrives to find he’s more slave than guide, and the infected are fiercer than ever.
His sister Kim gives birth to Charlotte in the midst Q Island’s living hell, and begins a struggle to survive attacks by the infected and betrayal by family and friends. Kim’s love for her daughter gives her the strength to fight on, but if her brother doesn’t arrive soon, she won’t keep beating the odds.
But there’s something special about Charlotte, and others born under the contagion’s dark cloud. Will children like her prove to be the salvation the islanders pray for, or the last pieces in the puzzle of infected domination?
The paleovirus has swept Long Island, turning residents into psychotic killers. A government quarantine traps Patrick in Connecticut, separated from his mother and pregnant sister on what all now call Q Island. When he loses contact with them, he fears the worst. His only chance to get back is to infiltrate the island as a guide for an illegal safari hunting the infected. But he arrives to find he’s more slave than guide, and the infected are fiercer than ever.
His sister Kim gives birth to Charlotte in the midst Q Island’s living hell, and begins a struggle to survive attacks by the infected and betrayal by family and friends. Kim’s love for her daughter gives her the strength to fight on, but if her brother doesn’t arrive soon, she won’t keep beating the odds.
But there’s something special about Charlotte, and others born under the contagion’s dark cloud. Will children like her prove to be the salvation the islanders pray for, or the last pieces in the puzzle of infected domination?
360 pages, Paperback
Published April 27, 2017
44 people are currently reading
343 people want to read
About the author
Russell James
50 books219 followersRussell R. James was raised on Long Island, New York and spent too much time watching Chiller, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and Dark Shadows, despite his parents’ warnings. Bookshelves full of Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe didn’t make things better. He graduated from Cornell University and the University of Central Florida.
After a tour flying helicopters with the U.S. Army, he now spins twisted tales best read in daylight.
His wife reads what he writes, rolls her eyes, and says “There is something seriously wrong with you.”
He has published the novels DARK INSPIRATION, SACRIFICE, BLACK MAGIC and DARK VENGEANCE, the compilations OUT OF TIME and TALES FROM BEYOND, as well as numerous short stories. He founded the Minnows Literary Group.
He and his wife share their home in sunny Florida with two cats.
Drop by the website to kill some time with some short stories.
After a tour flying helicopters with the U.S. Army, he now spins twisted tales best read in daylight.
His wife reads what he writes, rolls her eyes, and says “There is something seriously wrong with you.”
He has published the novels DARK INSPIRATION, SACRIFICE, BLACK MAGIC and DARK VENGEANCE, the compilations OUT OF TIME and TALES FROM BEYOND, as well as numerous short stories. He founded the Minnows Literary Group.
He and his wife share their home in sunny Florida with two cats.
Drop by the website to kill some time with some short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 10, 2017
Return to Q Island is the sequel to Russell James' excellent horror/disaster novel Q Island. I was surprised to find a sequel was written because the first book was fairly tight and conclusive in the story it told. Yet here we are and it's quite a good sequel, in many ways better than the first. But more importantly, you do not need to read the first to enjoy the second. Once the setting is rehashed we begin with anew protagonist and a new setting. Return to Q Island can be easily read as a stand-alone book.
So what is the setting? A ancient and vicious virus has ravaged Long Island, New York turning people into violent creatures . Their bite, and the spores that explode from their corpses once they are killed, can infect others. The government has quarantined the entire island, hence the nickname Q Island, leaving even the uninfected to survive on their own. Barely recovering addict Kim Mitchell, along with her alcoholic mother Nicole and her selfish uncle are one such family huddling in a shell of a town trying to survive. Kim is pregnant and about to give birth to her child not knowing if it will be normal or, as they call the infected, Paleo. Kim's brother Patrick is in Connecticut and has not had contact with his sister and mother for months. He decides he will return to Long Island and attempt to find his family even if it means he too will be stranded with no way to get back to the mainland
Return to Q Island is horror of the post-apocalyptic science fiction type. But mostly I see it as an adventure novel. The excitement of the read is in Patrick's attempt to rescue his family which leads to plenty of harrowing incidents and terrifying discoveries. There is also the clear hint that the Paleos may be changing and Kim's new child may have something to do with it.
As seen with Q Island and the recent Cavern of the Damned. Russell James' forte is the horror adventure novel. This book is a pretty damn good example of it. There is the tense feel of an epidemic/apocalyptic novel and it never really lets up on the horror of the situation. Patrick starts out naive but weathers through some nightmare occurrences and comes out as the unexpected heroic type. Kim does not start out promising but motherhood seems to agree with her and she become an essential character as the plot develops. There are also the expected villains, some of them maybe being a bit too stereotypical. The book's main strength is its creativity once we get past our strong heroes and cookie-cutter villains. What may sound like a zombie novel by any other name takes a few turns here and there and stays original and interesting
Overall, Return to Q Island is a nice addition to the apocalyptic and...dare I say it?... zombie sub-genre. Highly recommended to those who like daring deeds and post-apocalyptic style adventure.
So what is the setting? A ancient and vicious virus has ravaged Long Island, New York turning people into violent creatures . Their bite, and the spores that explode from their corpses once they are killed, can infect others. The government has quarantined the entire island, hence the nickname Q Island, leaving even the uninfected to survive on their own. Barely recovering addict Kim Mitchell, along with her alcoholic mother Nicole and her selfish uncle are one such family huddling in a shell of a town trying to survive. Kim is pregnant and about to give birth to her child not knowing if it will be normal or, as they call the infected, Paleo. Kim's brother Patrick is in Connecticut and has not had contact with his sister and mother for months. He decides he will return to Long Island and attempt to find his family even if it means he too will be stranded with no way to get back to the mainland
Return to Q Island is horror of the post-apocalyptic science fiction type. But mostly I see it as an adventure novel. The excitement of the read is in Patrick's attempt to rescue his family which leads to plenty of harrowing incidents and terrifying discoveries. There is also the clear hint that the Paleos may be changing and Kim's new child may have something to do with it.
As seen with Q Island and the recent Cavern of the Damned. Russell James' forte is the horror adventure novel. This book is a pretty damn good example of it. There is the tense feel of an epidemic/apocalyptic novel and it never really lets up on the horror of the situation. Patrick starts out naive but weathers through some nightmare occurrences and comes out as the unexpected heroic type. Kim does not start out promising but motherhood seems to agree with her and she become an essential character as the plot develops. There are also the expected villains, some of them maybe being a bit too stereotypical. The book's main strength is its creativity once we get past our strong heroes and cookie-cutter villains. What may sound like a zombie novel by any other name takes a few turns here and there and stays original and interesting
Overall, Return to Q Island is a nice addition to the apocalyptic and...dare I say it?... zombie sub-genre. Highly recommended to those who like daring deeds and post-apocalyptic style adventure.
September 25, 2017
Exciting
Really enjoyed it. Interesting take and idea on hive mind. Great characters and I look forward to reading the next book.
Really enjoyed it. Interesting take and idea on hive mind. Great characters and I look forward to reading the next book.
October 14, 2017
Although this is a sequel to Q Island, this definitely stands up on its own. Having said that, if you haven’t read Q Island before you read this you will want to read it when you’ve finished. This post-apocalyptic story is all the scarier for the realism and the sense that ‘it could just happen’.
The deadly paleo virus has separated families and loved ones. It’s incurable. The prospects are ever bleaker. Those infected and confined on Q Island have become targets for a sick minded bunch of thrill-seekers who delight in hunting them down and killing them. But in this bleak world there is still some humanity. Still some hope. Patrick, stranded on the outside, is doing the unthinkable. He wants to get back in. He is desperate to be reunited with his pregnant sister but he doesn’t even know if she has survived, or has succumbed to the rampant virus. To get to her, he must do the unthinkable. Enlist with the organisers of the hunts – a decision which leads him into even more danger than he could have imagined.
With its journey thorough despair, hope, challenges and danger, Russell James presents a dystopian tale that doesn’t let up. The characters go through hell and the reader joins them in this superbly crafted story you won’t want to put down. I know I didn’t. Russell James never disappoints.
The deadly paleo virus has separated families and loved ones. It’s incurable. The prospects are ever bleaker. Those infected and confined on Q Island have become targets for a sick minded bunch of thrill-seekers who delight in hunting them down and killing them. But in this bleak world there is still some humanity. Still some hope. Patrick, stranded on the outside, is doing the unthinkable. He wants to get back in. He is desperate to be reunited with his pregnant sister but he doesn’t even know if she has survived, or has succumbed to the rampant virus. To get to her, he must do the unthinkable. Enlist with the organisers of the hunts – a decision which leads him into even more danger than he could have imagined.
With its journey thorough despair, hope, challenges and danger, Russell James presents a dystopian tale that doesn’t let up. The characters go through hell and the reader joins them in this superbly crafted story you won’t want to put down. I know I didn’t. Russell James never disappoints.
October 31, 2017
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Although a sequel, I believe this book can be read alone. The separation of a family because of a paleovirus impels young Patrick to try to reunite with his family on Long Island. Brutal and graphic, nevertheless, the author captures the desperation and willingness to do pretty much anything to find his family. Well written.
Although a sequel, I believe this book can be read alone. The separation of a family because of a paleovirus impels young Patrick to try to reunite with his family on Long Island. Brutal and graphic, nevertheless, the author captures the desperation and willingness to do pretty much anything to find his family. Well written.
March 20, 2018
I'm really impressed with the second Q Island installment. Review for Monster Librarian forthcoming.
November 5, 2017
Paleos vs. the uninfected
While this is called a sequel of Q ISLAND by the author, I don't know if I agree with that label. The happenings in this book take place a year after the events in the first book but there is NO crossover of characters. I would say this is written in the Q ISLAND world but is a totally separate story.
I did enjoy this story. Patrick is a Dispossessed Person - originally from Long Island, New York but not able to return there from Connecticut because of the paleovirus. But he desperately wants to get back to Q Island because his mother and pregnant sister are trapped there. This is a story of his journey, fighting paleos and humans alike.
I don't think you HAVE to read QUITE ISLAND to enjoy this book but it's a great story and does have the backstory of the paleovirus explained in it.
I received this book from MLG Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would leave an unbiased review.
While this is called a sequel of Q ISLAND by the author, I don't know if I agree with that label. The happenings in this book take place a year after the events in the first book but there is NO crossover of characters. I would say this is written in the Q ISLAND world but is a totally separate story.
I did enjoy this story. Patrick is a Dispossessed Person - originally from Long Island, New York but not able to return there from Connecticut because of the paleovirus. But he desperately wants to get back to Q Island because his mother and pregnant sister are trapped there. This is a story of his journey, fighting paleos and humans alike.
I don't think you HAVE to read QUITE ISLAND to enjoy this book but it's a great story and does have the backstory of the paleovirus explained in it.
I received this book from MLG Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would leave an unbiased review.
April 1, 2019
Nobody writes a zombie tale quite like Russell James. I've always been a fan of the zombie genre, but I've found myself a bit jaded with it over recent years. Too much of it is the same thing just regurgitated and packaged a little differently. I understand that it's about the undead but that doesn't mean that the story can't have some heart and soul to it! That's what you get in Return to Q Island - a story that packs more than a little punch and brings to mind the Romero era of zombies when there was a deeper story to tell than just rotting flesh and gore.
October 24, 2018
Summary:
3 1/2 stars. Not a 4-star book but definitely better written than most 3-star books, which is why I'm rounding up... as well, of course, on the strength of the first book, which still has me aglow. 'Return', however, falls far short of the sheer thrills of the first installment and I wasn't surprised that the author mentions some hesitancy to having 'come back' at all after the stand-alone thrills of the first tome. This book paints humanity in some really REALLY nasty ways, so you've been warned!
Review:
While still a very well written and exciting book - this are the sum total of the positive aspects - 'Return to Q Island' falls far short of the original Q Island story in several ways. Gone are all the 'cool' and one-of-a-kind introductions to how the virus started and/or spreads, gone are a host of sympathetic characters (not all of whom met their demises in various poetically un-/just ways either), gone really was the joyous uniqueness that made 'Q Island' one of my top reads of the year. 'Return' unfortunately falls into the same trap that several zombie serials do, namely, it just focuses on how when the chips are down, humans essentially turn into total complete a-holes and self-serving scumbags. Doesn't matter if you're a drug dealer, a thug or even a preacher: chances are, you're a total jerk!
Which I guess is another way of saying there are very few characters in this book to root for if any at all. Again, something the author wrote in his epilogue surprised me in that he found the first book lacked heroes. I completely disagree as the sheer courage most of that cast showed was extremely poignant. Heck, even in the process of saving his family (well, at least those he didn't kill), I found Patrick's seemingly abrupt changes to be disappointingly brutal rather than inspiring. Yes, I know he had a few bad days but geez! In addition, bringing the new aspect of 'eusocial' characteristics into the mix was at best a bit of a yawner in terms of the paleo development or evolution if you will. And definitely not something I'd be asking a ditzy biology major to teach me...
Finally, even though I didn't really expect a 'cure' per se to materialize, I would have liked to have seen more of the external effort at play, that is, beyond just essentially turning millions of Americans into displaced war refugees. Geez, I know the current administration hates anyone not listed in Forbes Top 500, but my optimism remains intact enough to think we might rise above something like this - not only as a nation, but hopefully as a species!?! Probably not is the message here...
Oh well, we can always look back and say 'should have stopped while we were ahead'. But then again, hindsight is 20/20.
3 1/2 stars. Not a 4-star book but definitely better written than most 3-star books, which is why I'm rounding up... as well, of course, on the strength of the first book, which still has me aglow. 'Return', however, falls far short of the sheer thrills of the first installment and I wasn't surprised that the author mentions some hesitancy to having 'come back' at all after the stand-alone thrills of the first tome. This book paints humanity in some really REALLY nasty ways, so you've been warned!
Review:
While still a very well written and exciting book - this are the sum total of the positive aspects - 'Return to Q Island' falls far short of the original Q Island story in several ways. Gone are all the 'cool' and one-of-a-kind introductions to how the virus started and/or spreads, gone are a host of sympathetic characters (not all of whom met their demises in various poetically un-/just ways either), gone really was the joyous uniqueness that made 'Q Island' one of my top reads of the year. 'Return' unfortunately falls into the same trap that several zombie serials do, namely, it just focuses on how when the chips are down, humans essentially turn into total complete a-holes and self-serving scumbags. Doesn't matter if you're a drug dealer, a thug or even a preacher: chances are, you're a total jerk!
Which I guess is another way of saying there are very few characters in this book to root for if any at all. Again, something the author wrote in his epilogue surprised me in that he found the first book lacked heroes. I completely disagree as the sheer courage most of that cast showed was extremely poignant. Heck, even in the process of saving his family (well, at least those he didn't kill), I found Patrick's seemingly abrupt changes to be disappointingly brutal rather than inspiring. Yes, I know he had a few bad days but geez! In addition, bringing the new aspect of 'eusocial' characteristics into the mix was at best a bit of a yawner in terms of the paleo development or evolution if you will. And definitely not something I'd be asking a ditzy biology major to teach me...
Finally, even though I didn't really expect a 'cure' per se to materialize, I would have liked to have seen more of the external effort at play, that is, beyond just essentially turning millions of Americans into displaced war refugees. Geez, I know the current administration hates anyone not listed in Forbes Top 500, but my optimism remains intact enough to think we might rise above something like this - not only as a nation, but hopefully as a species!?! Probably not is the message here...
Oh well, we can always look back and say 'should have stopped while we were ahead'. But then again, hindsight is 20/20.
July 16, 2023
Another amazing book by Russell James! As usual, I am hooked from chapter one and can not stop reading until the end. He is a masterful storyteller and has such an amazing imagination. You won't be disappointed with this read!
My only complaint is that with it being a sequel, I thought we would learn more about the characters from the first book, but Return to Q Island is more of a standalone book.
My only complaint is that with it being a sequel, I thought we would learn more about the characters from the first book, but Return to Q Island is more of a standalone book.
May 31, 2024
This book had me questioning whether or not something like what the characters were experiencing and going through could possibly happen. Because of that it made it so much scarier than the first one, because honestly it could. I chad a hard time putting this book down, and any chance I got to either talk about it or read it that’s what I was doing. Easily one of my top for the year so far.
October 1, 2020
Return to Q island is the story about a brother and sister who have been split up due to an outbreak of a virus on Long Island, New York. The island has been quarantined by the government and those who have been left on the island have to fend for themselves against those that have contracted what is known as the paleo virus. This plague causes it's victims to develop glowing red eyes, black bulging veins, superhuman strength and the rage to kill every living thing around them.
The story starts with Kim and the birth of her daughter Charlotte. Rumor was that all babies born on Q Island would be born infected and while in the clinic holding her baby she misses seeing a moment on Charlotte that lets the reader know that something may be amiss with her seemingly perfect daughter. Meanwhile her brother Patrick is working on the mainland and has not heard anything from his sister and mother in months and decides to find a way to get onto the island which is strictly forbidden. He finds a way by joining a group on what he is told is a "hunting trip" where rich people pay to get smuggled onto the island for the thrill of killing paleos. Patrick quickly finds out that he is basically now a slave to the group and will not have a way to get to his sister who has started showing signs of the infection.
After everything goes wrong on the hunting trip he manages to escape and make his way back to his family only to stumble into a plot that his relatives have made to steal his niece and sell her off to a gang. The gang is killed by a group of paleo's who take Charlotte to a campground they have taken over. Charlotte is somehow psychically linked to the paleo's
Overall I really enjoyed the story. It had a unique story line and an unusual setting. The author stated it was written as a stand alone story but that another book could be coming. I would definitely read the next story since this one did have some plot points I would like to see follow up on.
The story starts with Kim and the birth of her daughter Charlotte. Rumor was that all babies born on Q Island would be born infected and while in the clinic holding her baby she misses seeing a moment on Charlotte that lets the reader know that something may be amiss with her seemingly perfect daughter. Meanwhile her brother Patrick is working on the mainland and has not heard anything from his sister and mother in months and decides to find a way to get onto the island which is strictly forbidden. He finds a way by joining a group on what he is told is a "hunting trip" where rich people pay to get smuggled onto the island for the thrill of killing paleos. Patrick quickly finds out that he is basically now a slave to the group and will not have a way to get to his sister who has started showing signs of the infection.
After everything goes wrong on the hunting trip he manages to escape and make his way back to his family only to stumble into a plot that his relatives have made to steal his niece and sell her off to a gang. The gang is killed by a group of paleo's who take Charlotte to a campground they have taken over. Charlotte is somehow psychically linked to the paleo's
Overall I really enjoyed the story. It had a unique story line and an unusual setting. The author stated it was written as a stand alone story but that another book could be coming. I would definitely read the next story since this one did have some plot points I would like to see follow up on.
November 18, 2024
After reading Q Island I had to make sure to read this one as well. Definitely different from the other one but I still enjoyed the characters and storylines. Definitely didn't disappoint, this author knows his stuff and I will continue to read his books.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews