Book Review: Shark by PK Hawkins

For Simon, the trip was supposed to be a once in a lifetime gift: a journey to the Amazon River Basin, the land that he had dreamed about visiting since he was a child. His enthusiasm for the trip may be tempered by the poor conditions of the boat and their captain leading the tour, but most of the tourists think they can look the other way on it.

Except things go wrong quickly. After a horrific accident, Simon and the other tourists find themselves trapped on a tiny island in the middle of the river. It's the rainy season, and the river is rising. The island is surrounded by hungry bull sharks that won't let them swim away. And worst of all, the sharks might not be the only blood-thirsty killers among them.

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. Instead, they'll be lucky if they make it out with their lives at all.

My Review: 
Six tourists are going on a boat trip down the Amazon, for differing reasons. They have all chosen a cheap off season trip  but were not expecting a boat that is falling apart, a drunk captain steering it and a storm brewing on the horizon. When the boat starts speeding along the water in the dark, the passengers decide that the captain has to be stopped  but in the struggle the book is damaged and starting to sink, the survivors forced to swim for the nearest land. However their sanctuary turns out to be a small area of land in the middle of the river and with tides rising, they have to find a way to the mainland. The problem is, there are bull sharks in the river just waiting for the chance at a meal.

I always look forward to these 'boat trips go wrong' scenarios as there is so much potential to them. I love the setting of the Amazon river because it is the kind of place where you can believe anything can happen. New species of plants, insects, arachnids are always being found in the deepest, darkest parts of this environment so it is ideal for a horror setting. Bull sharks are a species known to be able to survive in fresh and sea water so they are the ideal choice for a sharks in the river plot. I love sharks, I'm fascinated by them and too scared of them to set foot in the sea, and I can't get enough of reading about them.

It is a creature feature book and the plot is quite typical of what you find in the genre. We have the group of people on their trip, the disaster striking, the danger awaiting them and how they are going to find a way out of the mess. It is a plot that has a lot of tension with the fear of the sharks and the realisation that by morning, their sanctuary will be gone and they will have to take their chances in the water if they can't come up with a plan. What they don't know is that one of them is a serial killer who came on the trip to get away from the crimes and quietly hide and plan their next move. In their twisted mind, if the others were to die, it would increase their chance of surviving so the survivors are going to have fear of this person as well as the sharks. It was an interesting twist to add in and made being on the island even more dangerous.

I liked our MC Simon. He had loved the idea of visiting the Amazon on a tour and was finally getting the chance to do it. He has knowledge of the area from reading countless books about the area and knows what kind of trouble they are in from the start. The one thing he didn't have was the common sense to refuse to get on the disaster of a boat with a drunk captain. Seriously, what were they thinking!!! I liked that it was Simon who was trying to use his brain to save them rather than just giving in. He comes up with several ideas to try rather than the last resort of swimming for the bank. 

My one issue was that when Simon was executing the boat plan, I was struggling a little to actually understand the plan and what exactly he was doing. I just found it hard to get a picture of it in my head but that might just have been me on a bad night rather than an issue with the writing itself. I did enjoy the plot. It was of course a bit far fetched in places but I expect that in creature feature horror, and I don't mind it as long as the book entertains and this one certainly did, so I don't have any complaints. The book just gets straight into the disaster without padding and a ton of introduction. It keeps a good pace up throughout and the sharks are a constant menace which is what I wanted. 

This is the second book I've read by the author, the other being Titanoboa which was also set in the Amazon, and I hope there are more to come.

Read June 2018.
4 stars.