Eighteen years have passed since Angel, the Megalodon shark broke free of the Tanaka Lagoon and returned to the Mariana Trench. Meanwhile, Jonas Taylor-adventurer, has become Jonas Taylor, middle-aged father of two, overwhelmed by mountains of bills and the daily strife of raising a family. But life is about to change.

A Hollywood television producer wants Jonah to join his new survival series: Daredevils. For the next six weeks, two teams of crazy daredevils on a South Pacific Ocean voyage on-board a replica of a Spanish Galleon will try to outperform one another in front of the cameras.
Jonas needs the money, and the job seems easy enough-doing color commentary. But behind the scenes, someone else is pulling the strings. And before it's over, Jonas, Terry, and Mac will again come face to face with the most dangerous creatures ever to stalk the Earth.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 83 reviews)

Lukewarm story, edging on boring

When they came out onto the market a few years back, Alten's first two Meg novels were instant hits. They were new in their action pace, main character (read: the Meg!) and setting (deep oceans). As such, I found them absolutely reinvigorating and spent nightly hours jumping from one page to the next in order to absorb as much material as possible.

Then, a few years later, came "Meg, Primal Waters". I guess I must have gotten used to the main theme, characters and related features, as I did not manage to feel any emotion in the reading, beyond boredom perhaps. The hero is getting older, much more mentally than physically I should say. That's interesting but well... how should I say it... it's not nearly enough to generate any kind of excitement, is it? Will the next book of the Meg saga feature Jonas Taylor fighting the Meg in a wheelchair or a go-cart?? That would be funny, if nothing else!

Yes, true, Taylor's private life is a real mess, and about to get even worse, and that too is a faithful portrayal of our daily life. The Meg... erh... the MEG's are as violent and ruthless as ever -no change here, which is nice. There is a few interesting addition to the previous books with, for instance, the use of the media on sea -with its subsequent carnage. However, all of these things fell way short of making me want to read any potential follow-on book in this saga and/or from the same author. Quite simply, I am convinced that Alten has now reached his limits in terms of imagination and motivation towards his subject. The author's other venture into exploring Nessie's mystery was also quite lukewarm.

It might be a temporary low point in Alten's career as a writer. Let's hope so, as I would give the highest priority to putting my hands back on as thrilling a book as the first two of the Meg saga!
May 29, 2008

A personal favorite

This book is one of my personal favorite books. I stumbled across this series in my local library and instantly was sucked in; I couldn't wait for each book. When I got to this book I felt like I knew each of the main characters and could understand what they were thinking. Steve Alten makes you really feel the emotions of the characters and what is happening. By the end of the books you don't really hate the sharks you just have a very healthy respect for what they are and what they can do.
April 18, 2008

Can't wait for the next.

Picked this up in a bargain bin and I was lucky because I had just finished The Trench. Story is great with some of the happening a little out there but was still a very fun and enjoyable read. I can't wait for the fourth to come out sometime in 2009.
March 04, 2008

Creature fiction at its best

Steve Alten knows how to weave a tale of creature suspense, which puts his MEG series on top of some of my favorite creature fiction. MEG is up there with Tristan Egolf's CORNWOLF and Stephen King's CUJO in my book.

For those of you who haven't read the series, they tell of a man named Jonas Taylor, who--from the very beginning of the first book--is obsessed with Megaladons. After several different encounters throughout these years, Jonas is finally ready to retire, but the Tanaka institute is starting to loose money. After the lawsuits that happened when Angel killed a few teenagers, there was hardly any money left in the bank.

Now, Jonas is desperate, so desperate that he'll do anything for money. Little does he know that an old enemy is still alive.

Steve Alten's PRIMAL WATERS in the MEG series kept me reading the whole way through. I've always been a fan of the Jaws and other shark movies (including the very, very bad MEGALADON movie,) and the MEG series are a good way to get your dose of creature fiction.

Definitely something a horror/suspense/thriller fan should own.
January 31, 2008

Meg just keeps going... and going... and going...

This series just plains ROCKS!! I didn't start this series until this year and have read the books so fast that I now have to wait for #4!! Great!! Anyway... this book didn't start off as fast (0-60 in 3 seconds instead of the usual 1) as the first two it was still an awesome book! Steve is a writer with a talent to keep you until the very last page!

I will definately be checking out his other work. This book is definately worth the "Steve Alten" name.
September 03, 2007

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

The Trench
by Steve Alten

MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror
by Steve Alten

The Loch
by Steve Alten

Goliath
by Steve Alten

Domain (The Domain Trilogy)
by Steve Alten