Customer Reviews

Meg: Primal Waters

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must be one of the only people who was not as impressed with this novel as the previous two. I couldn't get into it from the very beginning with the Daredevils wanting to take Jonas on their voyage. The whole thing became a story by numbers with people dying in obligatory ways.

Meg was very interesting and fun and the Trench was absolutely fantastic in my opinion because it raised the stakes of the first book and introduced much more tension and, most importantly, it rounded out the characters and had a tight plot. But, because I didn't believe the story for once in this book the tension and horror was gone for me. It just seemed to be like one of those "paint by numbers." I bought this book as soon as it came out because I enjoyed the first one and loved the second. I'm sad to say I was sorely disappointed in this one. It's a shame because no one writes about the Meg shark the same way that Steve Alten does.

I knew Reality TV's influence stretched far...but when it pops up in a book, I know things are going to Hell. In my opinion stick with the first two, vastly superior novels and don't read this one. Oh, and catch the Meg movie that is finally being made because it will be exciting.

Now in his sixties, married to Terry and living in Tampa with her and their two teens, Jonas Taylor feels old and tired as financial sharks surround him demanding payments of past due bills. Jonas nostalgically thinks back to his glory days when he was in his mid forties and captured Angel the prehistoric Megalodon shark that terrorized the Mariana Trench. However, that was the highlight film of his life; now he owes a ton of money and has to deal with a recalcitrant female teen.

When the top-rated reality TV show Daredevils offers Jonas a chance to provide expert commentary on a contest in the South Pacific, he leaps at the opportunity. Taking his daughter with him, Jonas joins the TV show.

Meanwhile Terry investigates whale beachings off Vancouver Island. Neither of the spouses is aware that they have entered the latest feeding zone of "Megs" and will soon be battling for their lives as they did before (see MEG and THE TRENCH).

The third exciting Prehistoric Jaws vs. humans thriller is fast-paced especially Megs who steal the show once again. Steve Alten refreshes his series through Jonas is aging not so gracefully as he wonders how two decades have almost past since he had his fifteen minutes of fame and now has a chance to recapture somewhat his glorious past. Much of the action is similar to the previous novels with the shark feeding, man vs. man disputing, and shark vs. hero/heroine scenes, but the aging cast makes it seem new leading to a swimmingly fine time for the Megsters.

Harriet Klausner

Meg: Primal Waters is the latest Megalodon popcorn-fest from the fertile, albeit somewhat turgid imagination of Steve Alten. Once again, Marine Biologist Jonas Taylor finds himself pitted against Carcharodon Megalodon, the prehistoric ancestor of the Great White Shark. (One would imagine that after his experiences in Meg: A novel of Deep Terror, and The Trench, Taylor would have taken up residence in Iowa, or some other similarly landlocked state, but as my grandmother was fond of saying, some people never learn.)

Primal Waters starts some 18 years after the The Trench, with Jonas and his wife playing flustered parents to a couple of kids right out of cliché' central: The sexy teen tramp, and the too-smart for his own good son with a hankering for adventure. The fun begins when Jonas is propositioned to appear on a reality show called Daredevils, which is, in reality (pun intended.....), an elaborate ruse to lure Taylor to his death at the jaws of yet another Megalodon. Meanwhile Jonas wife, Terry, is off on an adventure of her own, trying to recapture the escaped Angel, the Antagonist of the previous book. In case two Megs weren't enough, Angel is being pursued by her amorous son. Me so horny!! And speaking of horny, Mr. & Mrs. Taylor each engage in a dry-humping almost-affair, and I suppose the fact that neither one consummates the relationship is supposed to be reassuring and sweet, but I just found the casual manner they adopt to be kind of creepy and off-putting. Not exactly the way to endear readers to your characters, Mr. Alten.

Alten isn't much of a prose stylist, and his characters have always been extremely two-dimensional and Primal Waters is no exception. The addition of "The Daredevils" doesn't do much for the book; they're all virtually interchangeable, and when they start to become fish food, it's hard enough to recall which one just got chewed on, let alone muster up any sympathy for them. The mystery villain behind the reality show/snuff movie conspiracy is another example of Alten's sloppy storytelling: While Alten happily regurgitates the events of the previous 2 novels ad nauseum, he NEVER tells us just why this guy hates Taylor so much, aside from a few nebulous references that he never expands on. I suppose it would be easy enough to check my copy of The Trench, but......who cares? If the author couldn't make more of an effort, why should I? The book is saved by the frequent use of shocking, savage, grotesque violence, which is just what the Doctor ordered....If only there were more of it, and it were used on characters we actually gave a damn about.

The book is peppered with the ridiculous set-pieces we've come to expect from Alten, including a shark attacking a World Series game (!) and a parasailer dipping in and out of the jaws of an attacking Meg. The stuff of mindless summer blockbusters, to be sure. The stuff of a worthwhile reading experience.......? Probably not. Primal Waters ends with the promise that " Jonas Taylor will return." Whether or not that is a threat is up to you.

Oh yes, because its Jaws (helicopter scene), Jaws 3D (theme park), Fear Factor, Deep Blue Sea (lagoon/barbed wire scene), and MTV Gone Wild (Candy girls) all wrapped into one.

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the Trench, and think the author is an incredible writer, but this book seemed like he threw Meg and The Trench into a can, picked out a bunch of pages, pasted them together, and added some filler.

The shark mating scene, the stuff about the Meg and her pups, the Marianas, an evil person bent on getting Jonas to find/be eaten by the Meg, trying to trap Angel in the Lagoon...yeah, I already read that in the last book.

As much as I was disappointed by the book, if I win the lottery, I am TOTALLY helping Alten get The Trench on the big screen.

Without exposing plot elements, I can come right out and say Alten's third Shark book accomplishes a feat touched upon in his previous installments, but fully mastered in his third one. To say that his grasp of terror has improved is an understatement, and I believe this can only come from placing well-known characters from his earlier books and putting them in situations that compromise their place on the food chain. I actually caught myself wanting to read to the end of the passage just to see if he/she lives or dies, but then forcibly restraing myself in order to read the words that preceded the horror that I suspected to come. Whether or not it happened is moot, but I was afraid it would. That is why this book was good.

By building up characters throughout the story only to have them slaughtered in an almost anticlimatic fashion, Alten proves that regardless of personal character, all you are to a Megalodon is one more addition to its ravenous stomach.

It was to my understanding that a contest was held before the initial writing of PW to include a number of real person's names as characters. Now that I have read the list, I just have to mention something to whomever Wayne John Ferguson really is, "Next time, step away from the side before you start bragging."

Those interested in reading Primal Waters must realise that this book is more like the original novel, as opposed to the second book, with its James Bond-esque villains and fantastic schemes of villainy. The book does carry a rather wicked villain, but all in all, he's not so...Spy Movie as Benedict & Celeste Singer.

All in all, more sharks = more killing, and here's hoping for something even bigger still in the 4th book, MEG takes Manhatten (speculative title)

well from the moment i opened this book to the moment i closed it, i was amazed. yes, we can't prove all these points but science knows that there was a meg, we also can't prove there aren't still some out there,,,the way this book is written, you might get a little shaky the next time you go in the ocean,,,, hehehe. better than jaws. this hits on actual reality and science that we all may be able to believe in. i asked steve how he did research on these theories and its incredible what he has done to write these books. top notch

This was a fun book to read. I am a huge fan of ocean stories and ocean fiction, and the idea of a megalodon shark showing up just sounded like more fun than a Jaws marathon. Steve Alten does not disappoint. (How did this guy slip under my radar for so long?) Unfortunately, despite the fact that my 9-year old also loves shark fiction, he will have to wait a few years to read this book - there is also more than a "hint" of sex. It's fairly explicit in some scenes. (If you are reading this, Steve, I need a G-rated copy for my son.) All in all a really great book!

I admit I am a fan of Steve Alten - I've bought all his books as a result of his first book in the Meg series.

Primal Waters is the best and hopefully not the last in this series.

The characters are real here and have been fleshed our very well in each of the 3 to date novels.

If you like suspense, shark tales or simply just good writing then this book is for you. There really isn't anything more you could ask from this book - except maybe a 4th novel in the series (which seems to have been left open at the end)

I put Mr. Alten right up there with my other "Must read" novels that I look for each year - with Grisham, Pierson, Gerritsen, Johannsen and so on. You won't be dissappointed!

This book can be read as a stand alone but I would suggest purchasing the other 2 MEG books and reading the 3 in order!

Rob Galardi
Rochester, NY

I've waited for this book for months though it seems like years since I finished reading its predessor, "The Trench", a book I read in one sitting due to the inability to put it down as it was so gripping!
I'm happy to say this one is even better! It features not one, not two, but three of the books central character - Cacharodon Megalodon - Meg for short.
The story flies along at a riveting pace, bringing back all my favourite human characters too, including Jonas, Terri and their two kids. Plus it introduces us to a lot of new food, sorry, I mean characters we've not met before.
I hope to hell that Steve Alten writes the fourth book, I know for one that now I've heard of its existence and read part 3, if it isn't made I'm gonna be real sore/disappointed!
And I promise you now, if you thought "Jaws" was the ultimate shark movie, read the books "Meg", "The Trench" and then this one, help Steve get Hollywood to make the film he wants them to, and then see it and go near the water again if you dare!!!
Seriously, the Meg's make Jaws look like a stickleback!!!

This is not only a good book, I believe it is the best so far out of the 3!!! I was skeptical when Steve posted that he was going to write a third book, due to the fact that the first two were so good, how could he possibly top them? Well, my doubts were put to rest in about the first 10 pages of "Primal Waters". Keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you think twice before swimming in the ocean. In my opinion, the "MEG" series has much more bite than JAWS!