Matthew Reilly Hell Island

[Giovanni Gelati]

 

Are there any Scarecrow fans out there? I am definitely one. You can count me among those that have read everything that is available that Matthew Reilly has written, including the YA Hover Car series. The last time I posted
on a Matthew Reilly novel was for the Five Greatest Warriors novel (please
check the archives for that; I loved it). Here is what this short novel is
about:

“This revised edition of the short novel originally published in Australia is specially adapted for readers of all ages with reading difficulties. There is no hell like a man-made one...It is an island that
doesn't appear on any maps. A secret location where classified experiments have
been conducted. Experiments that have gone terribly wrong...When all contact
with this mystery island is inexplicably lost, four crack special-forces units
are brought in, their mission being to land on Hell Island and discover what
has happened. Nothing can prepare them for what they find there. You could say
they've just entered hell. Only that would be too gentle.”

When I picked this up from the library (yes, I do do that, the librarians are very nice to me, and it is an excellent resource), I was a bit surprised by the size of it, 128 pages. A Shane Schofield novel is usually
much longer than that and this bad boy had a few pictures in it to go along
with the story, very nice. I am going to give you a piece of the introduction
by Matthew Reilly. I found the genesis of this novel very interesting:

“Hell Island was originally written for an Australian Government initiative called Books Alive, the objective of which was to get Australians into bookstores and reading more. I was approached to write a short
novel, no longer than 110 pages that would be given away to Australians for
free for a month. I thought this was a fantastic idea and jumped at the chance.

I wrote Hell Island.

More than that, I set out to write 110 pages of the most kick-butt, over- the- top, blindingly fast action I could. It’s not often you get a chance to show your stuff to the general population for free, so I seized
the opportunity with both hands.”

I believe the last time we saw the Scarecrow he was nursing a beer sitting on a chaise lounge pondering life’s questions and his next move in life. I was hoping that Matthew Reilly would get back to the character
quickly, but I guess we Americans had to wait a bit. All that aside, this is a
fine ride with Mother, Scarecrow and a host of characters that come at the
readers fast and furiously. Reilly certainly packed a ton of action into such a
short space; he accomplished everything he set out to do. Putting it down is
not really an option, it is a nice cover to cover read, that moves fast and
hard. Reading this will not put you through hell, but make you an island as you
will not want to be bothered as you read it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
to all our wonderful supporters and readers, thanks so much for an incredible
2010.

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