Wow! If you liked Jaws you'll like this one! Kind of graphic sometimes but that only makes it seem so real and after Jaws I wouldn't go in the ocean and after this one I know I won't go swimming!

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The Tanaka Institute located at the beautiful coast of Monterey, California, holds the most desired attraction for shark fans and therefore the most dangerous monster ever captured alive: Angel, the Carcharodon megalodon and her litter of five pups. Since the pups are getting too big for the aquarium and "casualties" have already happened, Jonas Taylor faces decisions on how to handle their space problem. The offer from Dubai to buy two of the pups and some submersibles comes just in time as the animals become more and more annoyed with each other. Maybe this will keep the activists threatening to boycott the aquarium away for a while.
He reluctantly agrees to send his young son David with the sharks to keep an eye on them and also to teach a group of pilots how to handle the submersibles.

David didn't anticipate that the main goal wasn't to get him as a teacher but rather get him into diving the depths of the dangerous Phantalassa. He is lured into the deep dive with more than the possibilty to never come back.

Jonas knowing what awaits his son deep down has to react when he learns his son's submersible is missing.

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What an adventure packed in a single book that easily could have been two books with two themes ! I couldn't get enough of the happenings in the Institute and on David's
excursion into the difficult to imagine depths of the ocean.
Having read all of the MEG books I easily say this one is the best of them all.
The pups are food for your nerves, never letting you sit back in your seat and relax. The book mostly keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering how crazy one would be about a movie and a movie it should be.

Meet old characters of the Taylor family and their closest friends and get to know the new generation of Taylors' and their friends, most certainly building the foundation for more dangerous adventures.

All I can say is, that I want more and already took out the older novels to re-read them again.

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I've already read the first 3 books in Steve Alten's Meg series. The first one established the fact that there are some large prehistoric sharks still surviving in this world; sharks where the infants are born at the size of a modern day Great White. The second one built upon it, exploring the possibility that there could be other surviving monster carnivores in the depths of the Pacific. The next two books in the series delve deeper into the world in which those creatures live and explores how they can be exploited.

Meg: Hell's Aquarium explores the concept that someone in this case, an oil-rich Dubai prince would consider opening a tourist attraction featuring those fantastic creatures. Obtaining a Meg is no longer a challenge, as our protagonist Jonas Taylor has a surplus in his artificial lagoon outside of Monterey, California and the pups have outgrown the space he has available for them. But the OTHER creatures ones that not even Taylor's Tanaka Institute has on display those present a real challenge to collect. The prince purchases several of Taylor's submersibles along with the sharks, and hires Taylor's son to train a crew to pilot them. BUT will those subs and their crew be able to handle the monsters of the Pacific depths?

I have enjoyed all 4 books currently available in the Meg series. I appreciate the interaction that the main characters have, and their obvious love and concern for each other. The science this, I'm not as comfortable with. Ironically, it is because of just how close Alten's world is to our own. It doesn't take a big leap to imagine that unknown creatures unknown MONSTERS inhabit some unexplored area of the Pacific Ocean. Or that they might be lured out of that area of the ocean at some point. I personally find it much harder to take a baby step into a new world than a full-fledged leap, and it is precisely this kind of small gap between our current world and the one Alten describes that we must bridge. However, I don't have a strong enough issue to not enjoy each one of the 4 books Alten has currently released. (The 5th is at some point of development and will be released at some point or another the author states that he is hoping to tie it into a movie release!)

I'll be among the first in line to read #5, tentatively titled MEG: Night Stalkers when it comes out.

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If the SyFy channel ever options Alten's books for movies or even a miniseries, I will happily watch. This book is gloriously goofy, with ancient marine predators like Megalodon and Dunkleosteous and Kronosaurs seeming to come back from the dead (even though they've been alive the whole time, living near the Phillipine Sea Plate) and battle each other for control of the seas.

The central character here is David, Jonas and Terry Taylor's 22 year old son, who has been asked by an Arabian prince to pilot a submersible into the deepest ocean realms to find prehistoric creatures for the world's largest aquarium being built in Dubai. Meanwhile, Angel has birthed Meg pups, who are killing the tourists and bringing the wrath of the animal activists to the Tanaka Institute, in a decent if badly executed subplot.

These books are literary junk food, but they're a lot of fun to read. The characters aren't all that memorable, at least the human ones; the Megs will probably haunt your dreams.

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Loved the whole series. Can't wait until the next one comes out.

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I have to say this is one of the better books in the Meg series. It has nonstop action and a lot of twists and turns. I enjoyed reading this book and can't wait for the next one to come out.

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Wow! This was one of the more exciting Meg stories - so many shocks and a fun, new plot. Angel's pups are just fascinating! The pictures were a pleasant surprise. There were, however, a few minor editing errors that were a bit distracting, but otherwise it was a fun, exciting book - worth the wait! I can't wait to see what happens next - I am surprised and VERY pleased that the series is continuing on!

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