The Meg: A Series by Steve Alten

The Meg is the “megalodon”, a precursor, or big brother, to the great white shark. Actually, a great white is punny compared to this gunga-sized dude.

The Meg is the author’s attempt to give you the thrills, chills, of a man-guzzling creature through the point of view of  a marine scientist. Steve Alten fails, in my humble opinion. A great deal of telling vs showing. Are we spoiled by the Spielberg movie, Jaws? I think so…as this book has ‘movie’ screaming to be made. The author even says so in a strange mid-book prolog.

Steve Alten, the author, is doing his best to describe the shark  and it’s bloody sculduggery, primary what the book is about – description. And, some of us just gotta see it. This written conveyance of such undersea perils just didn’t do it for this reader.

You may find it peachy. There are several stellar reviews, so it’s probably just me. The unabridged edition of The Meg is 10.5 hours of listening, narrated by Sean Runnette. Took me a while to get used to his monotone reading – sounds like he has a lisp. Maybe a reading by a more vivacious narrator would make a better book — Scott Brick?

Release in April of 2014 by Tantor Audio. There are a number of books in the series, but … not for me.