Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror

This reissue of bestseller Alten’s 1997 Meg novel, the first in the series, shows how the original hasn’t aged well. Paleobiologist Jonas Taylor believes that Carcharodon megalodon, a gigantic ancestor of the great white shark, still exists. Seven years earlier, while piloting a Navy submersible in the Mariana Trench, Jonas thought he saw a “Meg” and, in his panic, rushed the sub to the surface, causing the death of two civilians aboard from “pressurization problems.” After spending three months in a mental hospital, he was dishonorably discharged from the Navy. When Jonas sees an image of a giant tooth embedded in another submersible too large for any known shark species, he joins a private expedition to investigate. Soon after it becomes clear that Megs have survived in an unusually warm area of the Mariana Trench, one manages to escape the depths and begin feasting on humans. Purple prose (“From the other side of the room, a pair of dark Asian eyes followed Jonas Taylor”) doesn’t help suspend disbelief or enhance engagement, and Alten favors gore over suspense. This monster movie in prose is no Jurassic Park. Agent: Danny Baror, Baror International. (May)