An American family exploring Melbourne, Australia find themselves fighting for their lives on a private Island run by a crazy clan. If you have ever fancied the life of a pirate, Benchley might disabuse you of those desires. Their lives were brutal, with harsh penalties for any infraction of the arbitrary rules, and certainly the scurvy bastards that Maynard and his son encounter are indicative of the unpredictable and untrustworthy men you’d be sharing the life with. year old Heather Baxter has recently moved from Seattle and met and married Tom, a widowed doctor. He’s older than her and has two kids, teenager Olivia, and 12 year old son Owen. They live in a beautiful house, are financially sound, but although Heather tries her hardest, the kids won’t accept her after losing their mom in the last year. pg 83) "And look before Danny gets here, maybe we could come to an arrangement and present it to him as fait accompli," Tom suggested.

When a select group of influencers and journalists receive an exclusive invitation to a luxury resort in the Maldives, it seems like the ultimate press trip. After an unfortunate accident, the O’Neils take possession of Heather and her family. It’s a fight for their lives as Heather takes charge to save her family. Will they make it off the island? Water runs out. The roof leaks. A tree is about to be blown over. A grouse has smashed the window, a net has disappeared. After quite a few mediocre thrillers in a row, I really enjoyed my trip to The Island. I liked, but didn't love The Chain, I thought that book was intriguing, but got bogged down and tedious midway through. This one for me avoided that pitfall by propelling the storyline forward. I generally dislike books with long periods of chasing and hiding and more chasing (I mean, the original title for this one was The Chase), but this novel had enough action and intensity to keep me involved rather than bored.Early spring is the safest time, a secure margin between the city’s anxiety and the consummated summer, which is green and contented and friendly. There are no boats going between islands, the sand is untouched, and the island has taken a small stealthy step toward wilderness. In an unusual move, Kani and Ntshona were named co- Tony Award nominees (and eventual co-winners) for Best Actor in a Play for both The Island and Sizwe Banzi Is Dead.

There’s the joy of lifting heavy stones, of getting a tree trunk out of the water with a lever and balancing techniques, of steering the boat around the point in a strong southwesterly. Everything is depleted, moldy, spent. What the sea brings won’t remain in the swelling surf, it travels impatiently on, the ground is stripped naked by the winds, and the beach foam travels all the way to the windows, blinding them. But as soon as Baxter family arrives to the island, they lose their way and suddenly a woman in blue dress riding a bike comes out from the side road, Tom honks the horn and hits the breaks but BAM! Something terrible happens that will change the family’s life forever! Tove Jansson (1914–2001) was the author of the Moomins series for children. She was also the author of six novels and five books of short stories for adults. The final scene is their performance of Antigone. After John-as-Creon sentences Winston-as-Antigone to be walled up in a cave for having defied him and done her duty towards her dead brother, Winston pulls off Antigone's wig and yells "Gods of Our Fathers! My Land! My Home! Time waits no longer. I go now to my living death, because I honored those things to which honour belongs". The final image is of John and Winston, chained together once more, running hard as the siren wails.

The forgotten possibility of life as a gift suddenly becomes thinkable. The fire burns in the stove. One curls up to sleep and recognizes the silence and makes friends with oneself. If the name Peter Benchley means anything to you, then you probably know him as the author of "Jaws." That novel gets something of a bad rap. Everyone says the movie is better than the original book, and they're right. But the latter still has its moments. The best bits are all the chapters written from the shark's perspective. Benchley grew to love and respect real-life sharks--so much so that he pretty much renounced "Jaws" in his later years.

The Island,” which I have translated here for the first time into English, was originally published in 1961 in a travel magazine, Turistliv i Finland . At once a short story, an essay, and a prose poem, the piece reads both like a sketch for The Summer Book (published eleven years later) and a vignette of Klovharu, the island where Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä, her partner, built a summerhouse in the mid-60’s. Word to the wise. Might not be a good idea not to give in to children when they demand a side trip to an island that visitors are warned to avoid. Also, one never knows when skills from the past will prove integral in times of danger. Heather has been underestimated her entire life, but she knows that only she can bring her family home again and become the mother the children desperately need, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them alive.I didn't like Heather's character much in the beginning, but she really comes into her own as the book progresses, as do her two spoiled stepchildren, Olivia and Owen. The least said about Tom, their father, the better. I did enjoy the main character, Heather. She was a fighter and clearly, underestimated by many. She never gave up and I can get behind that. In the self-evident madness of solitude, I was convinced that unknown catastrophic animals were drawing their circle of doom around the house. An American family’s trip to see koalas and Australian wildlife becomes a life-and-death situation after they kill an innocent woman in a car crash and her family seeks revenge.