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MEG #7
Meg: Purgatory
Steve Alten continues the story that began in the New York Times bestselling novel turned international blockbuster, MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror
Jonas Taylor returns in the next entry in the bestselling MEG series, MEG: Purgatory. Having managed to contain the liopleurodon and captured the megalodon in the Arabian Sea, Jonas soon discovers that there are even more creatures lurking in the deep waters of the world.
Jonas Taylor returns in the next entry in the bestselling MEG series, MEG: Purgatory. Having managed to contain the liopleurodon and captured the megalodon in the Arabian Sea, Jonas soon discovers that there are even more creatures lurking in the deep waters of the world.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 14, 2022
6 people are currently reading
1544 people want to read
About the author
Steve Alten
62 books1,360 followersSteve Alten grew up in Philadelphia, earning his Bachelors degree in Physical Education at Penn State University, a Masters Degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Delaware, and a Doctorate of Education at Temple University. Struggling to support his family of five, he decided to pen a novel he had been thinking about for years. Working late nights and on weekends, he eventually finished MEG; A Novel of Deep Terror. Steve sold his car to pay for editing fees. On September (Friday) the 13th, 1996, Steve lost his general manager’s job at a wholesale meat plant. Four days later his agent had a two-book, seven figure deal with Bantam Doubleday.
MEG would go on to become the book of the 1996 Frankfurt book fair, where it eventually sold to more than a twenty countries. MEG hit every major best-seller list, including #19 on the New York Times list (#7 audio), and became a popular radio series in Japan.
Steve’s second release, The TRENCH (Meg sequel) was published by Kensington/Pinnacle in 1999 where it also hit best-seller status. His next novel, DOMAIN and its sequel, RESURRECTION were published by St. Martin’s Press/Tor Books and were runaway best-sellers in Spain, Mexico, Germany, and Italy, with the rights selling to more than a dozen countries.
Steve’s fourth novel, GOLIATH, received rave reviews and was a big hit in Germany. It is being considered for a TV series. MEG: Primal Waters was published in the summer of 2004. A year later his seventh novel, The LOCH, hit stores — a modern-day thriller about the Loch Ness Monster. Steve’s eighth novel, The SHELL GAME, is about the end of oil and the next 9/11 event. The book was another NY Times best-seller, but the stress of penning this real-life story affected Steve’s health, and three months after he finished the manuscript he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Steve’s ninth novel, MEG: Hell’s Aquarium, is considered to be the best of the best-selling MEG series. Steve says his best novel is GRIM REAPER: End of Days. The story, a modern-day Dante’s Inferno, takes place in New York when a man-made plague strikes Manhattan.
Steve’s novels are action-packed and very visual. He has optioned DOMAIN, MEG and The LOCH to film producers. Steve has written six original screenplays. His comedy, HARLEM SHUFFLE was a semi-finalist in the LA screenwriting contest, his comedy MINTZ MEATS was selected as a finalist at the Philadelphia film festival as was his psychological thriller, STRANGLEHOLD. Steve’s reality series, HOUSE OF BABEL won at Scriptapalooza. He has also created a TV Drama, PAPA JOHN, based on his years coaching basketball with Hall of Fame coach John Chaney.
Over the years, Steve has been inundated with e-mail from teens who hated reading …until they read his novels. When he learned high school teachers were actually using his books in the classroom (MEG had been rated #1 book for reluctant readers) Steve launched Adopt-An-Author, a nationwide non-profit program designed to encourage students to read. Teachers who register for the program (it’s free) receive giant shark posters, free curriculum materials, student-author correspondence, an interactive website, and classroom conference calls/visits with the author. To date, over 10,000 teachers have registered, and the success rate in getting teens to read has been unprecedented. Steve now spends half his work week working with high schools. For more information click on www.AdoptAnAuthor.com
As an author, Steve has two goals. First, to continue to work hard to become a better storyteller and create exciting page turning thrillers. Second, to remain accessible to his readers. Steve reads and answers all e-mails, uses the names and descriptions of his loyal fans as characters in all his novels, and even hires readers as editors, depending on their particular expertise.
MEG would go on to become the book of the 1996 Frankfurt book fair, where it eventually sold to more than a twenty countries. MEG hit every major best-seller list, including #19 on the New York Times list (#7 audio), and became a popular radio series in Japan.
Steve’s second release, The TRENCH (Meg sequel) was published by Kensington/Pinnacle in 1999 where it also hit best-seller status. His next novel, DOMAIN and its sequel, RESURRECTION were published by St. Martin’s Press/Tor Books and were runaway best-sellers in Spain, Mexico, Germany, and Italy, with the rights selling to more than a dozen countries.
Steve’s fourth novel, GOLIATH, received rave reviews and was a big hit in Germany. It is being considered for a TV series. MEG: Primal Waters was published in the summer of 2004. A year later his seventh novel, The LOCH, hit stores — a modern-day thriller about the Loch Ness Monster. Steve’s eighth novel, The SHELL GAME, is about the end of oil and the next 9/11 event. The book was another NY Times best-seller, but the stress of penning this real-life story affected Steve’s health, and three months after he finished the manuscript he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Steve’s ninth novel, MEG: Hell’s Aquarium, is considered to be the best of the best-selling MEG series. Steve says his best novel is GRIM REAPER: End of Days. The story, a modern-day Dante’s Inferno, takes place in New York when a man-made plague strikes Manhattan.
Steve’s novels are action-packed and very visual. He has optioned DOMAIN, MEG and The LOCH to film producers. Steve has written six original screenplays. His comedy, HARLEM SHUFFLE was a semi-finalist in the LA screenwriting contest, his comedy MINTZ MEATS was selected as a finalist at the Philadelphia film festival as was his psychological thriller, STRANGLEHOLD. Steve’s reality series, HOUSE OF BABEL won at Scriptapalooza. He has also created a TV Drama, PAPA JOHN, based on his years coaching basketball with Hall of Fame coach John Chaney.
Over the years, Steve has been inundated with e-mail from teens who hated reading …until they read his novels. When he learned high school teachers were actually using his books in the classroom (MEG had been rated #1 book for reluctant readers) Steve launched Adopt-An-Author, a nationwide non-profit program designed to encourage students to read. Teachers who register for the program (it’s free) receive giant shark posters, free curriculum materials, student-author correspondence, an interactive website, and classroom conference calls/visits with the author. To date, over 10,000 teachers have registered, and the success rate in getting teens to read has been unprecedented. Steve now spends half his work week working with high schools. For more information click on www.AdoptAnAuthor.com
As an author, Steve has two goals. First, to continue to work hard to become a better storyteller and create exciting page turning thrillers. Second, to remain accessible to his readers. Steve reads and answers all e-mails, uses the names and descriptions of his loyal fans as characters in all his novels, and even hires readers as editors, depending on their particular expertise.
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October 29, 2025* october 28th 2025 see below for new information. Keep checking back as I'll add new info as I get it.
How can there be ratings for this book? Come to that how can six people be currently reading a book that not only hasn't been published yet, but it's not even been written yet. So this review isn't a review it's a message concerning the current state of play with this book. A little background first concerning my dealings with the author.
I love the meg series. It's great fun. But... Steve Alten isn't a particularly nice guy when you talk to him. When book 6 was released he made it hardcover only via his website. He encouraged his fans to buy multiple copies in order to sell on Ebay. This meant if you lived outside of the USA the costs of the book were prohibitively expensive. Unfortunately his stated Ebay policy to those fans who bought multiple copies was sell them high meaning his "fans" who couldn't get the book directly were being ripped of on Ebay with his permission. After several lengthy emails with alten I vowed that books 6 and 7 would be the last books of his I would buy, even if the series didn't finish. His attitude was appalling. Incredibly self centred and arrogant. His whining about not being respected in the book publishing world continues to this day. He was and I quote, 'a big name author who deserved a big publishing deal.' His solution was to prevent the publication of book 6 commercially for quite sometime until he relented and tor eventually published it allowing fans the chance to actually read the book. Book 7 is also being published by tor but alten is at it again. Book 7 will be a bare bones version from tor but if you pay a lot more you get one with illustrations that he is again encouraging fans to buy extra copies of for extortionate Ebay sales. He is also doing 7 leather bound editions of each book. These are "gifts" to his fans with lots of extras and a price to match. I love the meg series but I have little time for alten himself. So to the new book.
11.06.2023.
As of this date meg purgatory is has not been started by alten. He has yet to finish the 3 odd year delayed third loch book. His latest information is that meg will be started early next year (2024) it is unlikely to appear in print before 2025. Book 7 will be the final alten book I buy. If he once again changes his mind and writes another book (books 5 and 6 were meant to be the last) then I will not buy it. Many will see this as a negative post. It is. It's also so frustrating as I championed alten in the late nineties getting people to read the books. Even when he rewrote the first book twice(!) I bought them and into the 2000's I recommended him to everyone. I no longer feel I can recommend him. My feelings towards his work has unfortunately been coloured by the author's contempt for his fans. I want to read book 7. I want to read the full series again when it's complete. I just can't support his attitude, his low opinion of fans and his inflated opinion of his own abilities, an opinion not shared by many in the publishing world.
* July 1st 2023
I'm furious. He's done it again. Book 7 will now not be published by tor. It will only be available via his website for a high price. Again he is encouraging multiple purchases for resale. He estimates it will take approximately 20 months to write. Considering he hasn't started yet that means having a preorder on for at least two years! Probably a lot longer when you take how long the loch 3 is behind. I have to say it. No commercial release means I'm done with alten. I'm not being ripped off with extortionate prices for a book that should be standard hardback novel price. Add in the overseas postage and it's just not affordable in this time of financial trouble. Alten is so out of touch. Instead of using the movies to get a wider audience by reprinting the series and releasing the new book in stores he is asking loyal fans to purchase the set as a "legacy" special for over $500! That doesn't include postage. Hopefully book 7 will get a commercial release at some point. I think it took 18 month to two years for book 6 to hit stores. As I say though. No commercial release? No more alten. His arrogance, his contempt for his fans, I can't accept it anymore. Stop being greedy and release your books in a format fans around the world can actually enjoy, not just your USA fans. As you can probably tell, I'm a bit upset...
*Quick update 29.02.2024
So we have an update. Alten has been ill, he's recovering and that's fine. But his message then deteriorated into his usual unpleasantness to fans. So to confirm loch 3 unfinished. Meg 7 not started. Then he starts to berate fans over the 7 very expensive exclusive hardback meg legacy books. He complains that after the "oldest and most loyal megheads" purchased 500 copies of the 2500 out of 5000 needed to print the books in the next year less than 200 more have been sold. Meaning the cost of this set will rise significantly. The first book is $72 not included postage. The full sets range from $436-508 not including postage. He is asking for preorders for the full set. Yet book 7 isn't written. He is very annoyed people are not ordering the books and can't seem to understand why.
My guess? People are not willing to pay a fortune for books they a, already own and b, may actually never receive if they never get printed considering books 1 and 2 were due before the meg 2 movie was released making them about 8 months late!
Alten then has a go at people complaining on Facebook about the loch 3 and meg 7 delays. He once again is very dismissive of print on demand suggestions. Saying he is a published author not a print on demand author!
One of my favourite writers is Bob Mayer. Years ago he set up his own publishing company and reprinted his entire back catalogue via Amazon. All his new books get printed on demand as his fans purchase them. Last year he published four novels, three of which he had a publishing deal for. He rejected the offer after being told the trilogy should be be published one book a year. He released them over three months and he has another four novels out this year. I once mentioned print on demand to alten and was unimpressed by his reaction.
It was 2018 when meg 6 was released and 2020 before you could buy it via a bookseller for a reasonable price. I think people who have preordered loch 3 perhaps have a right to ask where it is without being condescended to!
So that's the situation now. I grow ever more tired of Alten's attitude to fans. He has certainly lost the respect of this fan. I can't say I'm even bothered now if meg 7 never sees the light of day. Its rather sad that, especially after championing him for years.
*22nd may
So alten now says loch 3 will be this summer but it and meg 7 will not be available in stores. He then gloats about how expensive copies will be if you haven't bought it direct by talking about meg 6 but the price mentioned for that book didn't include the very high delivery costs. Here is what he said.
Quote:
"The novel (meg 7) is the first thing I focus on after LOCH-3 is sent off to the printer. It should take me 12-15 months to complete the first draft. TOR Books resold me the pub rights so A & M Publishing will be handling the hardbacks. If you own a MEG: Generations hardback you know this is a very good thing. The $27.95 books are currently selling on E-bay for over $500.00 ... IF you can even find one.
The LOCH-3 & MEG-7 will not be sold on amazon or in bookstores, they must be pre-ordered at (his website)"
So it's prove you are a true "fan" if you live outside the USA by paying a high price for postage or get ripped off on Ebay with alten's permission. If meg 7 doesn't get a commercial in store/online release like meg 6 eventually did then fine. I'll just accept that the author doesn't care about people reading the book just how much he can get people to pay for it. But it means I won't be reading the final book of the series. It means I won't read alten ever again.
*6th August 2024
Just received what amounts to a pity party from alten. I get he has been ill but then he goes into a rant about having no money and that film deals have been on hold and he is struggling for money. He then complains about the fact that of his 15k Facebook followers less than 1% have preordered the meg legacy books. If a 1000 books are bought it will keep him afloat he says. He can't seem to understand that if someone is following him on Facebook then they very probably already have the meg series and very probably are very reluctant to pay the huge price for the six books they already have and a seventh that is looking increasingly unlikely to ever be actually written. Loch 3 is still unfinished. It was meant to be out now (for the umpteenth time!) He is even complaining about people complaining about the book not being out yet.
He even says that when the legacy books are printed as numbers drop the price will increase! Why? He says once books are printed the overrun books i.e. those not preordered will be listed at $622 when the number of books left drops below 40 the price goes to $733 and below 30 left it goes to $744! Why? It hasn't cost him anymore to have them printed. He is just ripping off fans! At this rate I won't be reading book 7. Two reasons. One it may just be unaffordable to most people. And two I'm not convinced it will ever come out.
*20.11.24
latest news is he won't finish heaven's lock until March 2025. So don't hold your breath for meg 7 coming anytime before 2026/27 if at all!
* 22.01.25
Latest news from Alten is loch 3 is still a few months away (at least) and then he is going to write his memoirs which I quote "I didn't realise I had so much to be angry about" unquote. The alten self pity party continues... add to that he is continuing to encourage fans to buy multiple copies of his extortionate meg legends collection for Ebay resales at even more extortionate prices. I genuinely don't think we will get meg 7. If we do I imagine it will be quite some time before we do. I'd like to be wrong but I fear I'm not.
* 14.5.25
So latest news is the loch three is still months away. As an obvious consequence meg 7 has not been started yet and will not see publication until at least (and very probably many, many years later) 2027.
*15.07.25
Latest news is... loch 3 still being written. Unlikely to see print until 2026, so as you can imagine meg 7 will not see print until 2027/28 if at all. And yet he continues to push fans to buy the 7 legacy book set despite book 7 not existing!
*30.08.25
So latest news is Loch 3 (now 7 years late) is still incomplete and should be ready for Christmas but we've heard that before. He estimates it will take 15 months to write Meg 7. However it's so far taken 7 years to write Loch 3 so we know it will probably be a lot more than 15 months. He describes Loch 3 as his "shogűn" referencing James cavell's famous work which I think shows alten's over inflated opinion of himself!
*28.10.25
No news on Meg 7 but his loch three synopsis sounds ridiculous. He's now also saying that it will be 30-45 days before it's finished but he's announced similar things before. The bit I find disgraceful is that he is, going to add a surcharge to all of those people who preordered the book all those years, ago as its longer than planned! What a charmer he is...
How can there be ratings for this book? Come to that how can six people be currently reading a book that not only hasn't been published yet, but it's not even been written yet. So this review isn't a review it's a message concerning the current state of play with this book. A little background first concerning my dealings with the author.
I love the meg series. It's great fun. But... Steve Alten isn't a particularly nice guy when you talk to him. When book 6 was released he made it hardcover only via his website. He encouraged his fans to buy multiple copies in order to sell on Ebay. This meant if you lived outside of the USA the costs of the book were prohibitively expensive. Unfortunately his stated Ebay policy to those fans who bought multiple copies was sell them high meaning his "fans" who couldn't get the book directly were being ripped of on Ebay with his permission. After several lengthy emails with alten I vowed that books 6 and 7 would be the last books of his I would buy, even if the series didn't finish. His attitude was appalling. Incredibly self centred and arrogant. His whining about not being respected in the book publishing world continues to this day. He was and I quote, 'a big name author who deserved a big publishing deal.' His solution was to prevent the publication of book 6 commercially for quite sometime until he relented and tor eventually published it allowing fans the chance to actually read the book. Book 7 is also being published by tor but alten is at it again. Book 7 will be a bare bones version from tor but if you pay a lot more you get one with illustrations that he is again encouraging fans to buy extra copies of for extortionate Ebay sales. He is also doing 7 leather bound editions of each book. These are "gifts" to his fans with lots of extras and a price to match. I love the meg series but I have little time for alten himself. So to the new book.
11.06.2023.
As of this date meg purgatory is has not been started by alten. He has yet to finish the 3 odd year delayed third loch book. His latest information is that meg will be started early next year (2024) it is unlikely to appear in print before 2025. Book 7 will be the final alten book I buy. If he once again changes his mind and writes another book (books 5 and 6 were meant to be the last) then I will not buy it. Many will see this as a negative post. It is. It's also so frustrating as I championed alten in the late nineties getting people to read the books. Even when he rewrote the first book twice(!) I bought them and into the 2000's I recommended him to everyone. I no longer feel I can recommend him. My feelings towards his work has unfortunately been coloured by the author's contempt for his fans. I want to read book 7. I want to read the full series again when it's complete. I just can't support his attitude, his low opinion of fans and his inflated opinion of his own abilities, an opinion not shared by many in the publishing world.
* July 1st 2023
I'm furious. He's done it again. Book 7 will now not be published by tor. It will only be available via his website for a high price. Again he is encouraging multiple purchases for resale. He estimates it will take approximately 20 months to write. Considering he hasn't started yet that means having a preorder on for at least two years! Probably a lot longer when you take how long the loch 3 is behind. I have to say it. No commercial release means I'm done with alten. I'm not being ripped off with extortionate prices for a book that should be standard hardback novel price. Add in the overseas postage and it's just not affordable in this time of financial trouble. Alten is so out of touch. Instead of using the movies to get a wider audience by reprinting the series and releasing the new book in stores he is asking loyal fans to purchase the set as a "legacy" special for over $500! That doesn't include postage. Hopefully book 7 will get a commercial release at some point. I think it took 18 month to two years for book 6 to hit stores. As I say though. No commercial release? No more alten. His arrogance, his contempt for his fans, I can't accept it anymore. Stop being greedy and release your books in a format fans around the world can actually enjoy, not just your USA fans. As you can probably tell, I'm a bit upset...
*Quick update 29.02.2024
So we have an update. Alten has been ill, he's recovering and that's fine. But his message then deteriorated into his usual unpleasantness to fans. So to confirm loch 3 unfinished. Meg 7 not started. Then he starts to berate fans over the 7 very expensive exclusive hardback meg legacy books. He complains that after the "oldest and most loyal megheads" purchased 500 copies of the 2500 out of 5000 needed to print the books in the next year less than 200 more have been sold. Meaning the cost of this set will rise significantly. The first book is $72 not included postage. The full sets range from $436-508 not including postage. He is asking for preorders for the full set. Yet book 7 isn't written. He is very annoyed people are not ordering the books and can't seem to understand why.
My guess? People are not willing to pay a fortune for books they a, already own and b, may actually never receive if they never get printed considering books 1 and 2 were due before the meg 2 movie was released making them about 8 months late!
Alten then has a go at people complaining on Facebook about the loch 3 and meg 7 delays. He once again is very dismissive of print on demand suggestions. Saying he is a published author not a print on demand author!
One of my favourite writers is Bob Mayer. Years ago he set up his own publishing company and reprinted his entire back catalogue via Amazon. All his new books get printed on demand as his fans purchase them. Last year he published four novels, three of which he had a publishing deal for. He rejected the offer after being told the trilogy should be be published one book a year. He released them over three months and he has another four novels out this year. I once mentioned print on demand to alten and was unimpressed by his reaction.
It was 2018 when meg 6 was released and 2020 before you could buy it via a bookseller for a reasonable price. I think people who have preordered loch 3 perhaps have a right to ask where it is without being condescended to!
So that's the situation now. I grow ever more tired of Alten's attitude to fans. He has certainly lost the respect of this fan. I can't say I'm even bothered now if meg 7 never sees the light of day. Its rather sad that, especially after championing him for years.
*22nd may
So alten now says loch 3 will be this summer but it and meg 7 will not be available in stores. He then gloats about how expensive copies will be if you haven't bought it direct by talking about meg 6 but the price mentioned for that book didn't include the very high delivery costs. Here is what he said.
Quote:
"The novel (meg 7) is the first thing I focus on after LOCH-3 is sent off to the printer. It should take me 12-15 months to complete the first draft. TOR Books resold me the pub rights so A & M Publishing will be handling the hardbacks. If you own a MEG: Generations hardback you know this is a very good thing. The $27.95 books are currently selling on E-bay for over $500.00 ... IF you can even find one.
The LOCH-3 & MEG-7 will not be sold on amazon or in bookstores, they must be pre-ordered at (his website)"
So it's prove you are a true "fan" if you live outside the USA by paying a high price for postage or get ripped off on Ebay with alten's permission. If meg 7 doesn't get a commercial in store/online release like meg 6 eventually did then fine. I'll just accept that the author doesn't care about people reading the book just how much he can get people to pay for it. But it means I won't be reading the final book of the series. It means I won't read alten ever again.
*6th August 2024
Just received what amounts to a pity party from alten. I get he has been ill but then he goes into a rant about having no money and that film deals have been on hold and he is struggling for money. He then complains about the fact that of his 15k Facebook followers less than 1% have preordered the meg legacy books. If a 1000 books are bought it will keep him afloat he says. He can't seem to understand that if someone is following him on Facebook then they very probably already have the meg series and very probably are very reluctant to pay the huge price for the six books they already have and a seventh that is looking increasingly unlikely to ever be actually written. Loch 3 is still unfinished. It was meant to be out now (for the umpteenth time!) He is even complaining about people complaining about the book not being out yet.
He even says that when the legacy books are printed as numbers drop the price will increase! Why? He says once books are printed the overrun books i.e. those not preordered will be listed at $622 when the number of books left drops below 40 the price goes to $733 and below 30 left it goes to $744! Why? It hasn't cost him anymore to have them printed. He is just ripping off fans! At this rate I won't be reading book 7. Two reasons. One it may just be unaffordable to most people. And two I'm not convinced it will ever come out.
*20.11.24
latest news is he won't finish heaven's lock until March 2025. So don't hold your breath for meg 7 coming anytime before 2026/27 if at all!
* 22.01.25
Latest news from Alten is loch 3 is still a few months away (at least) and then he is going to write his memoirs which I quote "I didn't realise I had so much to be angry about" unquote. The alten self pity party continues... add to that he is continuing to encourage fans to buy multiple copies of his extortionate meg legends collection for Ebay resales at even more extortionate prices. I genuinely don't think we will get meg 7. If we do I imagine it will be quite some time before we do. I'd like to be wrong but I fear I'm not.
* 14.5.25
So latest news is the loch three is still months away. As an obvious consequence meg 7 has not been started yet and will not see publication until at least (and very probably many, many years later) 2027.
*15.07.25
Latest news is... loch 3 still being written. Unlikely to see print until 2026, so as you can imagine meg 7 will not see print until 2027/28 if at all. And yet he continues to push fans to buy the 7 legacy book set despite book 7 not existing!
*30.08.25
So latest news is Loch 3 (now 7 years late) is still incomplete and should be ready for Christmas but we've heard that before. He estimates it will take 15 months to write Meg 7. However it's so far taken 7 years to write Loch 3 so we know it will probably be a lot more than 15 months. He describes Loch 3 as his "shogűn" referencing James cavell's famous work which I think shows alten's over inflated opinion of himself!
*28.10.25
No news on Meg 7 but his loch three synopsis sounds ridiculous. He's now also saying that it will be 30-45 days before it's finished but he's announced similar things before. The bit I find disgraceful is that he is, going to add a surcharge to all of those people who preordered the book all those years, ago as its longer than planned! What a charmer he is...
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