The Trench [Import] [Hardcover]

Steve Alten (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Books (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747273448
• ISBN-13: 978-0747273448
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (253 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,438,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve 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 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. The release date was 10-10-10. His eleventh novel. PHOBOS: Mayan Fear is the third in the Domain series and will debut in the Fall of 2011 (Tor/Forge).

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 psychological thriller, STRANGLEHOLD, was selected as a finalist at the Philadelphia film festival and his 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.

For more information, contact the author at [e-mail]
or go to www.SteveAlten.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars entertaining but not a masterpiece, June 27, 2000

By 

jclay - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trench (Paperback)

The Trench was pretty good. The plot tended to get a little elementary with twists that one could see from a mile away. The ending was a little hokey with all the fighting in 36000 feet of water. I know the book was a work of fiction but it was also supposed to have an underlying truth to it as well. As opposed to the first book, Meg, I personally thought that this book was written better and was more entertaining. I won't reveal the ending to the people who havent read the book yet, but I was more pleased with the ending in The Trench than with Meg.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Meg is back and bigger than ever, April 24, 2003

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Trench (Paperback)

The giant prehistoric shark, star of Meg, is back.

Meg has been living in a water park as a tourist attraction. People pay to see the incredible shark (especially at feeding time). The lower pressures of the surface and regular feedings have allowed the shark to grow to more than 80 feet in length. It is now the greatest living killer in the water.

Well, guess what? Yup, the shark manages to escape and the hunt is on once again as Jonas Taylor must face the giant one more time.

But this is not just a repeat of the previous book. No, the meg wants to return to the trench it considered home. But there is more in the trench than we knew. A massive research station has traveled to the bottom for purposes to be revealed. There are also other nasty denizens from prehistory that have retreated to the trench bottom.

While the first book was an excellent action adventure, this on adds to that and becomes a techno thriller as the goings on at the trench bottom are revealed to the reader.

More, fun, more action and more giant shark. Another great read.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tasty Second Course, June 28, 2005

By 

K. Fontenot "Prairie Cajun Lives!" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Trench (Paperback)

Rarely do sequels outperform their predecessor, but in the case of Steve Alten's "The Trench," I think that the sequel is much better than the original. Not that "Meg" was a bad novel. In fact, I loved it. But "The Trench" seems to be better in that Alten seems to have grown as a writer.

This time around, there isn't just a prehistoric killer on the loose. This time we have international scandal, terrorists(including Osama bin Laden), spies, double-crosses, marital problems, etc. Not to mention that Angel, the original Meg's offspring, has decided to break free of the Tanaka Institute and head back home to the Mariana Trench.

The sinister Benedict Singer is the perfect villain in this book. I'm not giving anything away by stating this, because it is obvious right from the start that he is up to no good. Dr. Jonas Taylor returns, so does Mac, Terry, Masao and the AG II. A few new characters, namely the seductive and sexy Celeste, are also thrown into the chaos.

This book is much more suspenseful than the original, and the entire focus isn't on just capturing Angel, but all of the aforementioned problems as well.

Much like the original, the action is fast-paced and bloody. There is definitely a higher body count in this one, and the introduction of another prehistoric killing machine as well.

If you enjoyed the first "Meg" book, you'll definitely fall in love with "The Trench." I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Alten. I also recommend it to anyone who loves creature features, mystery, sci-fi, and adventure tales.