This is a very good debut book. It holds the fascinating premise that an entirely different ecosystem could have evolved on Earth without interacting with any other ecosystem. A small island smack-dab in the center of the Pacific Ocean, a thousand miles from anything, is the setting for this story. A splinter of an extinct ecosystem of crustaceans survived on this island and continued to evolve without the interference of mammals, birds or insects. What would such an ecosystem look like after millions of years? Would it be possible for intelligent life to have arisen? These were obviously the questions that intrigued the author.
The story begins with a reality TV show ship answering a distress call to an uncharted island. Their enthusiasm to explore the island, with no caution, results in a massacre. The military shows up, predictably, and with our protagonist, a botanist from the TV show crew, try to understand what this island means to our own existence. And the conclusion is: disaster and extinction of all we know. These new species are violent and unstoppable; if loosed anywhere else in the world they would decimate all species they encountered.
So, I figured this would be a predictable conclusion – simply the answer to the question: what happens if one of the species escapes the island? I was pleasantly surprised when the author took a right turn and did something unexpected. The plot was interesting and the characters sufficiently fleshed-out. The author spent a great deal of the book describing this ecosystem and its inhabitants – to the story’s detriment, I think. One of the problems that writers fall into when they become enamored with an idea, is that they forget they need to tell the story, as well. While there was enough exposition to be tedious, and enough description of the horrific creatures of the island to keep me awake at night, there was also enough story to keep me interested. But it didn’t get really good until near the end so you’ll have to have a little patience. I’ll be looking for the sequel. ~~ Catherine Book.
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