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New Year Island
THE STAKES ARE HIGH...
Ten strangers, recruited by an edgy new reality show and marooned on an abandoned island overrun by wildlife. One dies in a horrible accident.
Nine realize they are all past survivors, alive only because they’ve beaten incredible odds once before. One by one, their hidden secrets are revealed.
Eight discover they are trapped. Caught in a game so deadly that the most terrifying experiences of their lives were only its qualifying round, they must now face the greatest danger on the island… each other.
There’s nothing deadlier than a survivor-type whose back is against the wall. And one of them is not who he or she claims.
Seven fight to escape.
Six try to solve the mystery of who lured them there and why.
Five… Four…
Will anyone survive New Year Island?
Ten strangers, recruited by an edgy new reality show and marooned on an abandoned island overrun by wildlife. One dies in a horrible accident.
Nine realize they are all past survivors, alive only because they’ve beaten incredible odds once before. One by one, their hidden secrets are revealed.
Eight discover they are trapped. Caught in a game so deadly that the most terrifying experiences of their lives were only its qualifying round, they must now face the greatest danger on the island… each other.
There’s nothing deadlier than a survivor-type whose back is against the wall. And one of them is not who he or she claims.
Seven fight to escape.
Six try to solve the mystery of who lured them there and why.
Five… Four…
Will anyone survive New Year Island?
720 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2013
134 people are currently reading
682 people want to read
About the author
Paul Draker
2 books50 followersPaul Draker writes tightly-plotted, gritty modern thrillers that combine a well-crafted mystery whodunit with gripping psychology and relentless suspense. Each novel is an immersive roller coaster thrill ride, filled with twists that keep the reader guessing, right up until the last page.
Writing and storytelling are nothing new for Paul. In sixth grade, when he was nine, a classmate liked a story he wrote, and took it home. The horrified parents called the school and demanded that whoever wrote it be sent to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist asked Paul if he could keep a copy of the story... and then asked Paul to sign it for him.
Paul currently lives in Palo Alto, California, with his wife and three daughters. An avid scuba diver, he has spent much time underwater in Palau, Yap, Honduras, Thailand, Hawaii, the Florida Keys, the cenote caverns of the Yucatan, the Caribbean, the Virgin Islands, Caicos, and the "Red Triangle" off California's coast. He also enjoys skiing, swimming, and windsurfing, and has had extensive tactical training in firearms. After one too many high-speed motorcycle crashes, he is no longer allowed to own open-class sportbikes, which is probably a good thing for him and everyone else.
Paul has worked in the aerospace/defense industry on a variety of classified and unclassified programs for DARPA, Navy, Army, and Marine Corps, ranging from strategic national missile systems to technology augmentation for small-team tactical infantry units. He has also led a Silicon Valley technology startup delivering massively-scalable custom Internet software to Fortune 500 clients including Hewlett Packard and Robert Half International, and headed a leading videogame studio developing mobile games for top-tier publishers such as EA, Disney/Pixar, Sega, Warner Brothers, THQ, and Glu. He holds advanced degrees in electrical and aerospace engineering from MIT, Stanford, and U.C. Berkeley. This broad-ranging engineering expertise lends impeccable technical authenticity to his stories.
Writing and storytelling are nothing new for Paul. In sixth grade, when he was nine, a classmate liked a story he wrote, and took it home. The horrified parents called the school and demanded that whoever wrote it be sent to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist asked Paul if he could keep a copy of the story... and then asked Paul to sign it for him.
Paul currently lives in Palo Alto, California, with his wife and three daughters. An avid scuba diver, he has spent much time underwater in Palau, Yap, Honduras, Thailand, Hawaii, the Florida Keys, the cenote caverns of the Yucatan, the Caribbean, the Virgin Islands, Caicos, and the "Red Triangle" off California's coast. He also enjoys skiing, swimming, and windsurfing, and has had extensive tactical training in firearms. After one too many high-speed motorcycle crashes, he is no longer allowed to own open-class sportbikes, which is probably a good thing for him and everyone else.
Paul has worked in the aerospace/defense industry on a variety of classified and unclassified programs for DARPA, Navy, Army, and Marine Corps, ranging from strategic national missile systems to technology augmentation for small-team tactical infantry units. He has also led a Silicon Valley technology startup delivering massively-scalable custom Internet software to Fortune 500 clients including Hewlett Packard and Robert Half International, and headed a leading videogame studio developing mobile games for top-tier publishers such as EA, Disney/Pixar, Sega, Warner Brothers, THQ, and Glu. He holds advanced degrees in electrical and aerospace engineering from MIT, Stanford, and U.C. Berkeley. This broad-ranging engineering expertise lends impeccable technical authenticity to his stories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
December 14, 2016
New Year Island by 'Paul Draker' is an amazing debut, that I finished within two days of first starting. I just had to know what happened next.
Ten strangers are invited to an island; all survivor types, all hoping to win $5,000,000 in a new reality TV Show. As everyone wants to win the prize, it doesn't take long before the worst in human nature starts to show itself; and the group numbers start to dwindle. Throughout the book we learn more about the contestants and why they were chosen to take part. There were plenty of twists and turns and the suspense nearly killed me at times. Some people say this book is a bit long, but I thought it was okay, and I read it on my mobile.....though I did lose my equilibrium for a few days. It was worth it though and I will probably read it again.
Ten strangers are invited to an island; all survivor types, all hoping to win $5,000,000 in a new reality TV Show. As everyone wants to win the prize, it doesn't take long before the worst in human nature starts to show itself; and the group numbers start to dwindle. Throughout the book we learn more about the contestants and why they were chosen to take part. There were plenty of twists and turns and the suspense nearly killed me at times. Some people say this book is a bit long, but I thought it was okay, and I read it on my mobile.....though I did lose my equilibrium for a few days. It was worth it though and I will probably read it again.
August 29, 2024
I have a sweet spot for books, tv shows, and movies that depict groups of people competing and eliminating each other in challenges based on social skills, physical ability, and mental acuity. Hunger Games, Survivor, The Genius, Series 7, Battle Royale... all of that. I love it! I especially love Survivor, which I've watched since the first season. Lessons I've learned from watching Survivor have actually influenced the way I approach work; namely, the importance of empathy, emotional intelligence, recognizing differing agendas, and building a team while respecting individual perspectives. When I look at tv on the whole, Survivor should be a 3 star show - it is highly enjoyable yet also often corny and predictable and full of questionable choices made by the producers and host. But it is a 4 star show to me because its subject is something that I find completely fascinating.
New Year Island has a lot of flaws too. Gaps in logic; some risible melodrama and rote dialogue; an ending that is bizarrely over-the-top. [per Survivor edgic: OTTN5] Normally I'd rate this 3 stars for being a fun excursion (and 3 stars is a positive rating, for me at least). But because I connected quickly and deeply with its themes, this is a 4 star book for me. Plus it is fucking exciting! I stayed up all night to read the remaining 9/10ths - and this is over 700 pages. I have staying power for these kinds of books.
Denise Stapley, a sex therapist from Iowa, won Survivor 25: Philippines - an excellent season. Her high level of emotional intelligence and ability to read a room allowed her to correctly assess her fellow contestants' emotional states and to position herself as simultaneously competitive, trustworthy, and non-threatening. Kim Spradlin, a bridal shop owner from Texas, won Survivor 24: One World - a terrible season. Her ability to win physical challenges was impressive; even more impressive was her skill at empathizing with both allies and competition. That empathy allowed her to say just the right things at just the right times, gaining trust from everyone due to her ability to understand everyone's motivations, triggers, and goals.
New Year Island posits that empathy and emotional intelligence are key to being a survivor: that ability to understand others and to recognize their emotions and motivations, even if they are the competition or a threat. The novel's protagonist is an executive at Pixar; throughout the book we see her continually empathize with her competition and find ways to understand their motivations and thought processes. Even if they do things that shock or upset her, she automatically tries to understand and often justify their actions by putting herself in their shoes and trying to imagine their personal context. An unusual but rather perfect protagonist for this sort of thriller.
Richard Hatch, a corporate consultant from Rhode Island, won Survivor Borneo - the first season of the series. Richard immediately recognized that "Survivor" was a game and not just a tropical excursion or an exercise in living off of the land. Correctly reading the underlying agenda of the show itself, he helped form Survivor's first alliance, and together they decimated their naive, idealistic competition. Danni Boatwright, a sports talk show host from Kansas, won Survivor 11: Guatemala - an underrated season. She correctly read the agenda of the show's producers and editors, and how their goals could impact her game. So she chose to play her own game by not telling them about her strategies, knowing that production's knowledge of her tactics could influence questions posed by the show's host - and which could in turn reveal her strategy to her fellow players.
Two of New Year Island's most compelling characters are its villain and the object of that villain's wrath. Both are, in their own special ways, psychopaths. The villain is a perfect representation of reality tv's often toxic tendency to vilify its cast members over the very traits for which they have been cast - to create edits that often punish participants for being themselves. The villain's target is another perfect representation - that of the player who is all too aware of editing, how narratives and personas can be constructed, and so is able to hide their true motivations and goals behind a persona and narrative that they have created themselves.
Earl Cole, an advertising executive from California, won Survivor 14: Fiji - a divisive season. He sailed to an easy win with a team he had built himself - a group of disparate players who, under Earl's calm leadership, united against a group of physically dominating alpha males. Yul Kwon, a legal consultant from New York, won Survivor 13: Cook Islands - a satisfying but often tedious season. Set back by turncoat teammates, he used their betrayal to rally his remaining teammates as underdogs. Both players clearly understood that despite there only being one winner of the game, forming a team was necessary to get to that win. Just as importantly, they realized that forging a very specific sort of group identity - the underestimated, undervalued underdogs - was both an empowering and an irresistible way to bring people together in order to accomplish a common goal.
New Year Island never forgets the importance of a team, even though the rules of its own game also mean there is only one winner. Our heroine is a master at team-building and it was fascinating watching her create her team and then connect with them individually, on a personal level, while moving them all towards a common goal. And each of the 10 contestants are given their fair share of coverage by the author, their moments to shine (or to horrify); although Camilla is a very sympathetic protagonist through whom we view the unfolding events, Draker doesn't stint on any of the other characters. They are each given memorable personalities, moments in the spotlight, and intriguing backstories; eventually they are turned into what most readers want: underdogs fighting against an unfair system.
Tony Vlachos, a cop from New Jersey, won Survivor 28: Cagayan - an impressively unpredictable season. He played one of the most nimble yet brazen games in the history of Survivor, full of narrow escapes and outrageous shenanigans and shifts in alliances and thrilling blindsides. Sandra Diaz-Twine, a secretary from Washington, is the only two-time winner - in Survivor 7: Pearl Islands (best season of the show) and Survivor 20: Heroes vs. Villains (second best). Her strategy was much more straightforward: be yourself... don't overthink it... vote out anyone who isn't Sandra... just make it to the end and tell the jury what they want to hear so you can get their vote. She's my favorite Survivor.
New Year Island is my favorite sort of page-turning thriller: exciting and unpredictable, a narrative that twists and turns, characters that pop off of the page, a story that has equal amounts of touchy-feely empathy and ruthless competition. It was exactly what I wanted it to be.
One more gif of Sandra being delightful:
New Year Island is a real place!
New Year Island has a lot of flaws too. Gaps in logic; some risible melodrama and rote dialogue; an ending that is bizarrely over-the-top. [per Survivor edgic: OTTN5] Normally I'd rate this 3 stars for being a fun excursion (and 3 stars is a positive rating, for me at least). But because I connected quickly and deeply with its themes, this is a 4 star book for me. Plus it is fucking exciting! I stayed up all night to read the remaining 9/10ths - and this is over 700 pages. I have staying power for these kinds of books.
Denise Stapley, a sex therapist from Iowa, won Survivor 25: Philippines - an excellent season. Her high level of emotional intelligence and ability to read a room allowed her to correctly assess her fellow contestants' emotional states and to position herself as simultaneously competitive, trustworthy, and non-threatening. Kim Spradlin, a bridal shop owner from Texas, won Survivor 24: One World - a terrible season. Her ability to win physical challenges was impressive; even more impressive was her skill at empathizing with both allies and competition. That empathy allowed her to say just the right things at just the right times, gaining trust from everyone due to her ability to understand everyone's motivations, triggers, and goals.
New Year Island posits that empathy and emotional intelligence are key to being a survivor: that ability to understand others and to recognize their emotions and motivations, even if they are the competition or a threat. The novel's protagonist is an executive at Pixar; throughout the book we see her continually empathize with her competition and find ways to understand their motivations and thought processes. Even if they do things that shock or upset her, she automatically tries to understand and often justify their actions by putting herself in their shoes and trying to imagine their personal context. An unusual but rather perfect protagonist for this sort of thriller.
Richard Hatch, a corporate consultant from Rhode Island, won Survivor Borneo - the first season of the series. Richard immediately recognized that "Survivor" was a game and not just a tropical excursion or an exercise in living off of the land. Correctly reading the underlying agenda of the show itself, he helped form Survivor's first alliance, and together they decimated their naive, idealistic competition. Danni Boatwright, a sports talk show host from Kansas, won Survivor 11: Guatemala - an underrated season. She correctly read the agenda of the show's producers and editors, and how their goals could impact her game. So she chose to play her own game by not telling them about her strategies, knowing that production's knowledge of her tactics could influence questions posed by the show's host - and which could in turn reveal her strategy to her fellow players.
Two of New Year Island's most compelling characters are its villain and the object of that villain's wrath. Both are, in their own special ways, psychopaths. The villain is a perfect representation of reality tv's often toxic tendency to vilify its cast members over the very traits for which they have been cast - to create edits that often punish participants for being themselves. The villain's target is another perfect representation - that of the player who is all too aware of editing, how narratives and personas can be constructed, and so is able to hide their true motivations and goals behind a persona and narrative that they have created themselves.
Earl Cole, an advertising executive from California, won Survivor 14: Fiji - a divisive season. He sailed to an easy win with a team he had built himself - a group of disparate players who, under Earl's calm leadership, united against a group of physically dominating alpha males. Yul Kwon, a legal consultant from New York, won Survivor 13: Cook Islands - a satisfying but often tedious season. Set back by turncoat teammates, he used their betrayal to rally his remaining teammates as underdogs. Both players clearly understood that despite there only being one winner of the game, forming a team was necessary to get to that win. Just as importantly, they realized that forging a very specific sort of group identity - the underestimated, undervalued underdogs - was both an empowering and an irresistible way to bring people together in order to accomplish a common goal.
New Year Island never forgets the importance of a team, even though the rules of its own game also mean there is only one winner. Our heroine is a master at team-building and it was fascinating watching her create her team and then connect with them individually, on a personal level, while moving them all towards a common goal. And each of the 10 contestants are given their fair share of coverage by the author, their moments to shine (or to horrify); although Camilla is a very sympathetic protagonist through whom we view the unfolding events, Draker doesn't stint on any of the other characters. They are each given memorable personalities, moments in the spotlight, and intriguing backstories; eventually they are turned into what most readers want: underdogs fighting against an unfair system.
Tony Vlachos, a cop from New Jersey, won Survivor 28: Cagayan - an impressively unpredictable season. He played one of the most nimble yet brazen games in the history of Survivor, full of narrow escapes and outrageous shenanigans and shifts in alliances and thrilling blindsides. Sandra Diaz-Twine, a secretary from Washington, is the only two-time winner - in Survivor 7: Pearl Islands (best season of the show) and Survivor 20: Heroes vs. Villains (second best). Her strategy was much more straightforward: be yourself... don't overthink it... vote out anyone who isn't Sandra... just make it to the end and tell the jury what they want to hear so you can get their vote. She's my favorite Survivor.
New Year Island is my favorite sort of page-turning thriller: exciting and unpredictable, a narrative that twists and turns, characters that pop off of the page, a story that has equal amounts of touchy-feely empathy and ruthless competition. It was exactly what I wanted it to be.
One more gif of Sandra being delightful:
New Year Island is a real place!
August 16, 2017
I seem to be the only naysayer. The book was interesting, suspenseful, intriguing, etc. until it droned on and on and on in the same vein. There would be a contest, and there would be a problem, accident or death - on and on and on. The timeline became redundant and the plot drifted from one horrific act to another. It was sooo long; the only 700 page book I have ever read are works written by Tom Clancy. This drivel was not worth my time. It alludes to LORD OF THE FLIES and THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, so actually it is NOT very original! One is left guessing who the antagonist might be, but the book became so laboriously long, this reader got to the point of, "WHO CARES"? There is good character development, but the motivation of the antagonist isn't developed that well. The reader knows he is seeking revenge, but only one person (not TEN) should have been the object of his sadistic hatred. I think this would make a good movie, but it bogged down in a literary format. Also, this book's genre is HORROR, not a suspense thriller. The psychological suspense paled in comparison to the predominant sadism, savagery and incredibly vile guts and gore.
April 12, 2014
The premise was a great idea however the book dragged on and could have been done in half the time (and pages). Definitely not a short read...
March 23, 2014
The plot premise seems interesting, but after enduring 500+ pages with another 200+ to go, I skipped to chapter 227, (that is not a typo), the end. The first third of the book held promise, but the plot became convoluted and overly long, failing to deliver the psychological tautness I expected. I suggest that this "independently published author" use an editor for his next try.
September 28, 2013
What happens when you abandon ten people, all survivors of disasters of one sort or another, on a tiny island populated only by seals and sea birds? The prize: five million dollars. No, this isn't the plot of TV land's latest reality show, but of Paul Draker's blockbuster novel, New Year Island. There are hundreds of hidden cameras everywhere on New Year Island, and the mastermind, Julian, has cooked up some truly Machiavellian challenges for these highly competitive contestants.
Within the book's 700+ pages, the author has plenty of room to develop his characters, which he does with style. He also makes the island setting so real that you feel like you're there. Don't let the length of New Year Island discourage you, because it careens along from one harrowing, unexpected situation to another. The cast arrives on the island at nightfall, and are instantly attacked by a monstrous elephant seal. They soon realize that their scanty luggage has been tampered with, leaving each with a critical disadvantage with which to cope. To "balance" the scales, Julian finds a way to provide each with one particular advantage, although none of them knows in advance how that edge might be put into play. Terrifyingly, the list of problems that they must contend with quickly grows to include food and water shortages, great white sharks, and, not surprisingly, each other. The dire situation brings out the worst in each of them, stimulating their psychological flaws, and in Lord of the Flies fashion, the contestants find themselves at each other's throats. Then the first among them dies....
New Year Island is a seat -of -the- pants, turn- on- a -dime sort of horror tale, in which the true horrors are not supernatural but contained within the participants themselves. Barely contained. Don't expect a happy ending, with all the survivors returning home to bask in their fame. Isn't gonna happen.
Within the book's 700+ pages, the author has plenty of room to develop his characters, which he does with style. He also makes the island setting so real that you feel like you're there. Don't let the length of New Year Island discourage you, because it careens along from one harrowing, unexpected situation to another. The cast arrives on the island at nightfall, and are instantly attacked by a monstrous elephant seal. They soon realize that their scanty luggage has been tampered with, leaving each with a critical disadvantage with which to cope. To "balance" the scales, Julian finds a way to provide each with one particular advantage, although none of them knows in advance how that edge might be put into play. Terrifyingly, the list of problems that they must contend with quickly grows to include food and water shortages, great white sharks, and, not surprisingly, each other. The dire situation brings out the worst in each of them, stimulating their psychological flaws, and in Lord of the Flies fashion, the contestants find themselves at each other's throats. Then the first among them dies....
New Year Island is a seat -of -the- pants, turn- on- a -dime sort of horror tale, in which the true horrors are not supernatural but contained within the participants themselves. Barely contained. Don't expect a happy ending, with all the survivors returning home to bask in their fame. Isn't gonna happen.
October 5, 2013
Ten strangers are given $5,000 and a chance to win $5,000,000 in a reality show similar to Survivor. These ten people are all survivors of life in one way or the other. They are stranded on New Year Island, and abandoned island off of San Francisco and inhabited by seals and sea lions. With hidden cameras filming their every move, and contests to accumulate points, these ten are in for the ride of their lives!
Weighing in at over 700 pages, this is one hell of a book. With that many pages, the author has developed his characters, location, plot filled with suspense, drama and action. Some potions it was convoluted and lost me. I believe that the book could have been trimmed down without losing its effectiveness. I also believe the ending was so far out there that it disappointed me. I still enjoyed most of it though.
Weighing in at over 700 pages, this is one hell of a book. With that many pages, the author has developed his characters, location, plot filled with suspense, drama and action. Some potions it was convoluted and lost me. I believe that the book could have been trimmed down without losing its effectiveness. I also believe the ending was so far out there that it disappointed me. I still enjoyed most of it though.
February 11, 2015
Hi, my name is Becky. It's been 3 months since I last watched Sharknado on Syfy. (Hi Becky).
Ok, I have an embarrassing love of B rated horror movies! I mean, come on! Random strangers stuck on an island, creepy creatures at every turn, crazed maniacs, a mysterious host with a complex plot... What's not to love?! Yes, the plot is uber cheese (but smart and original at the same time) and the relationships are a bit far fetched. But the writing is great, no issues with grammar, punctuation, that crap you almost come to expect with indie books on Amazon. At the end of the day (or weeks, this book was hella long!) I enjoyed myself, bit my nails, tried to guess the plot, everything I love about reading. So you get 4 stars Mr. Draker!
Ok, I have an embarrassing love of B rated horror movies! I mean, come on! Random strangers stuck on an island, creepy creatures at every turn, crazed maniacs, a mysterious host with a complex plot... What's not to love?! Yes, the plot is uber cheese (but smart and original at the same time) and the relationships are a bit far fetched. But the writing is great, no issues with grammar, punctuation, that crap you almost come to expect with indie books on Amazon. At the end of the day (or weeks, this book was hella long!) I enjoyed myself, bit my nails, tried to guess the plot, everything I love about reading. So you get 4 stars Mr. Draker!
January 22, 2017
The blurb made me want to listen to this book. I bought and downloaded it and began listening immediately, interrupting my other listens. It started out well, reminding me of Agatha Christie's "And Then There were None" and Anthony Zuiker's "Whodunnit" series, both of which I enjoyed. I thought it odd that we only heard a few backstories before jumping into the game.
And that's when it all started to fall apart. Camilla is one of my least favorite protagonists ever. Ever. I'm fairly sure that the Pope would give up on the intrinsic goodness of people before she would. And that pacifists everywhere would be more likely to understand that it's okay to let evil killers die before she would. And her fixation on Juan? Absolutely bizarre. To be honest, I think I stuck with this book because I didn't want to miss the part where Camilla came to a gruesome end. I even rooted for some of the crazier folks in hopes that she would be eliminated. I think the author only introduced the scientists so that someone would be more fanatically obsessed with something than Camilla in an attempt to normalize her. It didn't work.
It was the immunity to death that truly ruined the book. There are survivable injuries and fatal ones. And ones that could be survivable with emergency care but fatal without. In this book, though, people survived EVERYTHING. It felt like the author wanted to maim but not destroy, which is why this book took 20+ hours to listen to.
Foe people debating whether or not to listen, I'll warn you now...you will spend 700 pages hearing about a charity that does nothing except take orphans to Disneyland. Honest to God. A charity designed around the idea that Peter Pan and Cinderella will make a kid feel better about being an orphan. I still haven't wrapped my mind around that one.
And that's when it all started to fall apart. Camilla is one of my least favorite protagonists ever. Ever. I'm fairly sure that the Pope would give up on the intrinsic goodness of people before she would. And that pacifists everywhere would be more likely to understand that it's okay to let evil killers die before she would. And her fixation on Juan? Absolutely bizarre. To be honest, I think I stuck with this book because I didn't want to miss the part where Camilla came to a gruesome end. I even rooted for some of the crazier folks in hopes that she would be eliminated. I think the author only introduced the scientists so that someone would be more fanatically obsessed with something than Camilla in an attempt to normalize her. It didn't work.
It was the immunity to death that truly ruined the book. There are survivable injuries and fatal ones. And ones that could be survivable with emergency care but fatal without. In this book, though, people survived EVERYTHING. It felt like the author wanted to maim but not destroy, which is why this book took 20+ hours to listen to.
Foe people debating whether or not to listen, I'll warn you now...you will spend 700 pages hearing about a charity that does nothing except take orphans to Disneyland. Honest to God. A charity designed around the idea that Peter Pan and Cinderella will make a kid feel better about being an orphan. I still haven't wrapped my mind around that one.
July 3, 2016
A thrilling, entertaining book about a group of "reality show" contestants who are left on an experimental island to engage in contests to see who will win a $5 million prize but who ultimately end up fighting to stay alive when things don't go as they planned. I was a bit nervous about the length (713 pages) from an author I had never read before but the pace never lags and it entertained me from start to finish. The writing is better than I expected which helps pull off the over-the-top plot without leaving you feeling like it's nothing more than utter silliness. You buy into the story and get pulled along wondering who will survive in the end. I will read more by Draker based on the success of this one. Highly recommended.
December 24, 2013
Exciting and fast paced! Although it is a long book (over 1500 pages on Nook), the tension was non-stop and allowed you to really get to know the characters and with all their complexities. Like all good books I love, I hated to see it end. This would make a great movie.
December 22, 2025
4.6*
Un thriller salvatge que és, en essència, un 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑛𝑒 d'Agatha Christie actualitzat per al segle XXI: deu desconeguts atrapats en un escenari aïllat, amb passats secrets i algú que no és qui diu ser entre ells. Draker pren la fórmula clàssica i la submergeix en l'univers contemporani dels reality shows extrems i l'explotació mediàtica. Deu supervivents de traumes diferents són portats a una illa deserta de Califòrnia amb la promesa d'un premi de milions de dòlars, però el concurs es converteix aviat en una cacera mortal on ells són les preses.
L'autor aprofita l'estructura clàssica per explorar la psicologia dels personatges sota pressió extrema. Els capítols curts i els canvis de perspectiva creen un ritme addictiu i una sensació constant de perill. La claustrofòbia de l'escenari s'intensifica per una trama que exigeix la suspensió de la incredulitat, elevant les apostes a nivells de thriller d'acció. Alguns girs i la plausibilitat dels desafiaments poden semblar extrems, però serveixen al to general d'espectacle i supervivència. Com en l'obra de Christie, el major misteri no és només "qui ho fa", sinó com sobreviuran els que queden i quines veritats amagades esclataran.
En resum, un thriller dur, sense concessions, on la influència clàssica es combina amb una crítica moderna a l’espectacle del sofriment i als primers símptomes de xovinisme.
Un thriller salvatge que és, en essència, un 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑛𝑒 d'Agatha Christie actualitzat per al segle XXI: deu desconeguts atrapats en un escenari aïllat, amb passats secrets i algú que no és qui diu ser entre ells. Draker pren la fórmula clàssica i la submergeix en l'univers contemporani dels reality shows extrems i l'explotació mediàtica. Deu supervivents de traumes diferents són portats a una illa deserta de Califòrnia amb la promesa d'un premi de milions de dòlars, però el concurs es converteix aviat en una cacera mortal on ells són les preses.
L'autor aprofita l'estructura clàssica per explorar la psicologia dels personatges sota pressió extrema. Els capítols curts i els canvis de perspectiva creen un ritme addictiu i una sensació constant de perill. La claustrofòbia de l'escenari s'intensifica per una trama que exigeix la suspensió de la incredulitat, elevant les apostes a nivells de thriller d'acció. Alguns girs i la plausibilitat dels desafiaments poden semblar extrems, però serveixen al to general d'espectacle i supervivència. Com en l'obra de Christie, el major misteri no és només "qui ho fa", sinó com sobreviuran els que queden i quines veritats amagades esclataran.
En resum, un thriller dur, sense concessions, on la influència clàssica es combina amb una crítica moderna a l’espectacle del sofriment i als primers símptomes de xovinisme.
December 29, 2014
Wild and Crazy freaking LONG ass book. More review to come on Saturday.
Overall, liked it. LOTS of twists and surprises, most of which I saw coming, but not all, so even I was surprised, a few times.
New Year Island is a book about 10 strangers who are brought together for a reality tv show. They don't know at first, that they are all survivors of something major in their lives and they must use their survivor skills for the competition.
This book was quite interesting. There were a lot of twists and turns to the story, most of which I'm sad to say that I did see coming, but there were still enough things that I didn't, so that was good. Even with knowing some things coming, it was still enjoyable to read. It was quite a long book (725 pages) and it was really detailed with the lives of the different people on the island.
The contests weren't anything extraordinary, they were a tad different from what we think of when we think of reality shows today, but that made it more enjoyable. There were a few things I thought they were all dumb about, but it created drama, so I guess that's a good thing.
The main thing I didn't enjoy was a part of the book which focused on some people off the island. While it all pulled around together, it felt like it was taking it away from the main story. Stuff would be going on, some action or some suspense building and then it would take a chapter with the other people and it all halted for a few minutes, before getting back to it. I think the book would have been stronger without them at all.
Overall this book was really enjoyable. I love reality or game type books and this one was pretty good. It was different with the tasks that they needed to do, it wasn't the same old thing, so I really liked that. The stuff that was meant to be twists were all good, even though some of them were really obvious, other things weren't. I was still surprised at times, and it's really hard to surprise me.
I highly recommend the book to any one who is interested in any kind of reality or game being played books, books with action and with good character building. I'm glad that I read it, and glad that you all chose it for me, it was great!
Overall, liked it. LOTS of twists and surprises, most of which I saw coming, but not all, so even I was surprised, a few times.
New Year Island is a book about 10 strangers who are brought together for a reality tv show. They don't know at first, that they are all survivors of something major in their lives and they must use their survivor skills for the competition.
This book was quite interesting. There were a lot of twists and turns to the story, most of which I'm sad to say that I did see coming, but there were still enough things that I didn't, so that was good. Even with knowing some things coming, it was still enjoyable to read. It was quite a long book (725 pages) and it was really detailed with the lives of the different people on the island.
The contests weren't anything extraordinary, they were a tad different from what we think of when we think of reality shows today, but that made it more enjoyable. There were a few things I thought they were all dumb about, but it created drama, so I guess that's a good thing.
The main thing I didn't enjoy was a part of the book which focused on some people off the island. While it all pulled around together, it felt like it was taking it away from the main story. Stuff would be going on, some action or some suspense building and then it would take a chapter with the other people and it all halted for a few minutes, before getting back to it. I think the book would have been stronger without them at all.
Overall this book was really enjoyable. I love reality or game type books and this one was pretty good. It was different with the tasks that they needed to do, it wasn't the same old thing, so I really liked that. The stuff that was meant to be twists were all good, even though some of them were really obvious, other things weren't. I was still surprised at times, and it's really hard to surprise me.
I highly recommend the book to any one who is interested in any kind of reality or game being played books, books with action and with good character building. I'm glad that I read it, and glad that you all chose it for me, it was great!
January 1, 2015
First, let me say I read / listened to this book in audio format via audible.com. I always choose audio books whenever possible as the narrator breathes life into the stories with all their different voices and accents and excitement! This book in particular was an excellent choice for an audio book - highly entertaining! It was like I was listening to a movie!
Holy Moly was this ever a good book! I mean WOW!!! This is a horror / adventure / suspense / mystery / edge of your seat thrill ride and more. It's like survivor meets the hunger games. It was such a good read, I stayed up way to late just so I could finish it. This book had me on the edge of my seat. Every time I thought the story was coming to an end, something else would happen! It has so many twists and turns in it and some of the characters are really twisted too. If you like Steven King books, you will love this book too!
Someone had an idea to make a new reality show on a deserted island and it would only last 2 weeks. The contestants were wined and dined on a huge yacht (that turned out to be rented) and promised the winner of the event would get 5 million dollars tax free. Naturally the contestants all jumped on the idea and signed up. Little did they know that all contestants were chosen for a reason and that reason would be discovered down the road.
As the days go by contestants start to disappear and / or die. Everyone is suspicious about everyone else and no one trusts any one! The entire island has cameras every where. Then a few days in, the contestants are told that this is going to be an internet and pay per view betting sensation. People are actually betting on each contestant and what they think the contestants next moves will be. The contestants also learn they have several things in common with one of them being they are are a survivor of something in their past.
This book was just incredible! The author, Paul Draker totally blew my mind with this story. So well written and the imagination it took to come up with all the details. The narrator, Teri Schnaubelt is one of my favorite narrators and always entertaining with all her voices and accents! This book itself, is a fantastic bargain at 725 pages in book format or 23 hours in audio... what a deal!
Holy Moly was this ever a good book! I mean WOW!!! This is a horror / adventure / suspense / mystery / edge of your seat thrill ride and more. It's like survivor meets the hunger games. It was such a good read, I stayed up way to late just so I could finish it. This book had me on the edge of my seat. Every time I thought the story was coming to an end, something else would happen! It has so many twists and turns in it and some of the characters are really twisted too. If you like Steven King books, you will love this book too!
Someone had an idea to make a new reality show on a deserted island and it would only last 2 weeks. The contestants were wined and dined on a huge yacht (that turned out to be rented) and promised the winner of the event would get 5 million dollars tax free. Naturally the contestants all jumped on the idea and signed up. Little did they know that all contestants were chosen for a reason and that reason would be discovered down the road.
As the days go by contestants start to disappear and / or die. Everyone is suspicious about everyone else and no one trusts any one! The entire island has cameras every where. Then a few days in, the contestants are told that this is going to be an internet and pay per view betting sensation. People are actually betting on each contestant and what they think the contestants next moves will be. The contestants also learn they have several things in common with one of them being they are are a survivor of something in their past.
This book was just incredible! The author, Paul Draker totally blew my mind with this story. So well written and the imagination it took to come up with all the details. The narrator, Teri Schnaubelt is one of my favorite narrators and always entertaining with all her voices and accents! This book itself, is a fantastic bargain at 725 pages in book format or 23 hours in audio... what a deal!
September 8, 2013
We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival. - Winston Churchill
Wow, this is one lollapalooza of a doorstopper book! And it was exciting and worth cramping my wrist reading the 700+ pages.
First of all, I am one of the few people I know that has never seen the "Survivor" television series. I saw the promos and it just didn't draw me in.
So when I got "New Year Island" and saw what it was about I wondered (especially when seeing the hunormous tome) whether this was a book I was going to get very far into. It didn't take more than the first couple of pages - literally - to hook me and keep me reading my little eyes dry and bloodshot.
The cover art is perfect for the book. Excellent job there!
I loved the development of the characters. I loved the short chapters, keeping the momentum and suspense of the story barreling along. I love the way this debut author wrapped this story into a tightly wrapped package, jammed it into my brain so that now I can't get the gruesomeness and psycho-ness out.
Excellent story. Yes, there were a few unbelievable spots but this is fiction. I can shove my disbelief under the table for short periods of time when the writing is worth it. The story was well researched (coming partly I'm sure from the author's varied background) and well written and those two things made up for the unbelievability factor.
So, if you want to read an excellent book with a bunch of mostly unlikable characters that I consider to be one of the best books I've read in at least the last year, read this mystery/suspense/psychological thriller/action offering.
NOTE: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, which I have written. The mangled metaphors and invented words in this review are all mine.
Wow, this is one lollapalooza of a doorstopper book! And it was exciting and worth cramping my wrist reading the 700+ pages.
First of all, I am one of the few people I know that has never seen the "Survivor" television series. I saw the promos and it just didn't draw me in.
So when I got "New Year Island" and saw what it was about I wondered (especially when seeing the hunormous tome) whether this was a book I was going to get very far into. It didn't take more than the first couple of pages - literally - to hook me and keep me reading my little eyes dry and bloodshot.
The cover art is perfect for the book. Excellent job there!
I loved the development of the characters. I loved the short chapters, keeping the momentum and suspense of the story barreling along. I love the way this debut author wrapped this story into a tightly wrapped package, jammed it into my brain so that now I can't get the gruesomeness and psycho-ness out.
Excellent story. Yes, there were a few unbelievable spots but this is fiction. I can shove my disbelief under the table for short periods of time when the writing is worth it. The story was well researched (coming partly I'm sure from the author's varied background) and well written and those two things made up for the unbelievability factor.
So, if you want to read an excellent book with a bunch of mostly unlikable characters that I consider to be one of the best books I've read in at least the last year, read this mystery/suspense/psychological thriller/action offering.
NOTE: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, which I have written. The mangled metaphors and invented words in this review are all mine.
September 26, 2013
This is a great debut for author Paul Draker. A motley group of strangers is mysteriously contacted by a film studio to play in a 'real' survivor series. Perhaps they should have paid more attention when the studio spokesman lamented the lack of realism in current reality tv but they were all a little too blinded by the $5 million payoff for the winner.
As the survival part begins to turn real, the group fragments under the pressure. Carefully crafted poison pen 'bios' of selected players are released by their mysterious employers which maximize suspicion and distrust and cloak the present of the real enemy who is engineering disaster at every turn.
The characters are believable (mostly) and compelling. I cared about them even when I didn't know which one was the real (perhaps I mean the worst) villain. Several of the players are concealing unsavory pasts (to say the least). Even though this is a long novel, you won't realize it as you race through the pages to find out the truth.
Some of the previous reviewers have commented that certain events at the end were not believable. That is probably true, objectively speaking, but I couldn't have cared less at the time and still don't. The novel is a great thrill ride, its purpose is to entertain and it achieves that purpose magnificently. If you like thrillers, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
As the survival part begins to turn real, the group fragments under the pressure. Carefully crafted poison pen 'bios' of selected players are released by their mysterious employers which maximize suspicion and distrust and cloak the present of the real enemy who is engineering disaster at every turn.
The characters are believable (mostly) and compelling. I cared about them even when I didn't know which one was the real (perhaps I mean the worst) villain. Several of the players are concealing unsavory pasts (to say the least). Even though this is a long novel, you won't realize it as you race through the pages to find out the truth.
Some of the previous reviewers have commented that certain events at the end were not believable. That is probably true, objectively speaking, but I couldn't have cared less at the time and still don't. The novel is a great thrill ride, its purpose is to entertain and it achieves that purpose magnificently. If you like thrillers, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
September 1, 2013
I remember all those promos for the first Suevivor. Sixteen people on a deserted island, the last one standing wins a million dollars. Sounded good and one imagined the scenario. But of course that wasn't real.
What author Paul Draker has done is given us a thriller where such an event happens. Ten people are invited to participate: deserted island, contests, the winner gets five million(later doubled to ten).
What our contestants get though is so much more. This is as real as it will get for them. All have survived a horrenbdous event at some point in their lives. Now the contest is to see which one comes out on top once more.
Paul Draker knows how to write and his expertise and interests lend authenticity to his prose. His style makes a very long novel seem short as it flows along, sucking the reader in and not letting go until he's through. I knocked this one out over a day and a half, which included two sleeping periods and other activities.
Recommended.
What author Paul Draker has done is given us a thriller where such an event happens. Ten people are invited to participate: deserted island, contests, the winner gets five million(later doubled to ten).
What our contestants get though is so much more. This is as real as it will get for them. All have survived a horrenbdous event at some point in their lives. Now the contest is to see which one comes out on top once more.
Paul Draker knows how to write and his expertise and interests lend authenticity to his prose. His style makes a very long novel seem short as it flows along, sucking the reader in and not letting go until he's through. I knocked this one out over a day and a half, which included two sleeping periods and other activities.
Recommended.
January 14, 2016
Why did I wait so long to read this? I've had it on my Kindle seemingly forever; I even started it a time or two. It didn't grab me in the first page or two, but once I got past them (this time), it kicked into high gear. It grabbed me and didn't let go until the very end. Great characters, great pacing, tons of non-stop action. A book that I could barely put down for a couple of days.
This was a long book, clocking in at something like 720 pages (according to Goodreads). And it just kept going, piling one travail upon another on the cast of characters as they believe they are taking part in a reality TV pilot on a deserted (except for the seals and sea lions and birds) island off the coast of California. I found lots of characters to like, to hate, to wonder about, as I turned pages at breakneck speed.
One of the best thrillers I've read in a while. I wish I would have read it sooner...
This was a long book, clocking in at something like 720 pages (according to Goodreads). And it just kept going, piling one travail upon another on the cast of characters as they believe they are taking part in a reality TV pilot on a deserted (except for the seals and sea lions and birds) island off the coast of California. I found lots of characters to like, to hate, to wonder about, as I turned pages at breakneck speed.
One of the best thrillers I've read in a while. I wish I would have read it sooner...
March 16, 2015
Wow, this was a long book...
...a very long book at 720 pages (according to goodreads).
This book has short chapters which I think is why I kept putting it down all the time, or maybe I'm just not cut out for "lunkers" of this magnitude. I really liked this story, I just didn't like how long it took me to finish it.
While, it did lag sometimes, it was only for short periods. Upon reflection, those periods when it lags are when you should really be paying attention. There is scads of action in this book. The last quarter of the story is a nail-biter, and I did not see the end coming. There is a ton of characters to keep track of, but they make it all the more entertaining. I really could see this being made into a movie, albeit a long one.
...a very long book at 720 pages (according to goodreads).
This book has short chapters which I think is why I kept putting it down all the time, or maybe I'm just not cut out for "lunkers" of this magnitude. I really liked this story, I just didn't like how long it took me to finish it.
While, it did lag sometimes, it was only for short periods. Upon reflection, those periods when it lags are when you should really be paying attention. There is scads of action in this book. The last quarter of the story is a nail-biter, and I did not see the end coming. There is a ton of characters to keep track of, but they make it all the more entertaining. I really could see this being made into a movie, albeit a long one.
August 17, 2014
From the description of the book I thought this would be like the show survivor. I was so wrong because it's so much more. The book sets up each character with a great story, people who have survived something horrible. Each person has an equally terrible story of survival. They all are invited to what they think is a classic reality show. As the adventure unfolds they soon realize things are not what they seem. New Year Island is a great read, fast paced, suspenseful and thrilling. The 720 pages fly by and have you gripped in the action. This was the first book I've read by Paul Draker and it won't be the last. The suspense and mystery was fantastic and had me guessing until the end.
June 29, 2014
I've been fortunate this year that I've found quite a few really good books. New Year Island is certainly among the best of the best! Edge of your seat suspenseful thriller. Clear you calender for a long weekend. Once you get into this story it is almost impossible to put down. The one thing I can't understand is why hasn't Hollywood grabbed it for the big screen. Would make an excellent movie. I will be reading more by Paul Draker which is the biggest compliment I can give.
December 4, 2013
Wait, how was this book (according to my Nook) 1,500 pages? It flew by faster than any book be read. This book was wonderful: captivating from beginning to end, great character development (although I would have liked at least a few chapters from Natalie's perspective) and well written. Looking forward to what he writes next!
October 2, 2013
Awesome thriller! Kept me in suspense the entire book and I could not put it down. The best book of it's kind that I have read in quite a while. The short chapters add to the impact, expertly written.
I highly recommend......!
I highly recommend......!
November 26, 2013
I am really intrigued by how the story begins by introducing the characters with their back stories before revealing them in the present. This was a thriller that never stopped! It's as if I wanted the book to be literally paused when I took a break to do things like sleep or eat..lol
December 4, 2013
Wow! Now this would make a great movie!
January 17, 2014
Loved this book. Kept me wondering who that bad guy was for a very long time.
January 24, 2014
Kept me on the edge of my seat. Wow that was intense
September 13, 2014
Intriguing concept but in the end got too silly and too gruesome for my taste
October 17, 2014
Started out good, but was just too long and some of the things that happened were kind of dumb.
January 17, 2015
An awesome book,
Incredibly captivating plot.
Very we'll written .
Gripping, I loved it
Incredibly captivating plot.
Very we'll written .
Gripping, I loved it
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