Is Steve Alten actually evolving into a decent writer? Steve Alten, you ask - the same dude who wrote The Trench? Yes, the same Steve Alten who wrote Meg 4: Hell's Aquarium (which meant that not only did he write Meg 4 but he also had to write Meg 3: Primal Waters to get there) is potentially becoming a better writer.
Really?
Really.
Alten, of course, is the guy best known for the book pictured above: Meg which was a slam bang ride of a thriller which featured a sixty-foot shark as the protagonist. This novel was a best selling phenomenon for several reasons:
1) It was nearly impossible to put down. This was Jaws for the next generation and made people scared to go in the water again. It was not exactly the most "literary" of novels, but I have seen worse and Alten's ability to create tension and a shattering conclusion was virtually unmatched.
2) This was Jurassic Park for the freaking ocean! The main character was a disgraced former Navy Deep Sea diver / paleontologist (wow, it was more believable then I remember) who spotted a Meg years before the main narrative and panicked, killing a sub team in the deep ocean. Naturally, he goes back to the Trench and is proven right and finds some redemption. The novel was also able to inform the wide variety of readers about the Marianas Trench, which even to this day remains mostly unexplored. Alten used this to create a fascinating lost world where literally anything - even a massive shark not seen since the bloody Jurassic period - could be waiting.
3) Finally, the book came out at the write time and the right time. It was able to capitalize on the summer reading season (when everyone reaches for a page turner) and also on the success of Jurassic Park the movie. Everyone wanted more prehistoric giants and this book, like it or not, delivered.
Of course, Alten was unable to sustain the massive amount of hype and went through several Meg movie options, never really finding the right spot for development (seriously, will someone just make this movie so we can pan it already!). Then, he rushed a sequel which was critically panned and had an even worse sales reception. He looked like a one hit wonder, doomed to James Rollins-esque obscurity.
Then something happened.
Alten seemingly decided not to write crap anymore. His next effort Domain was about the Mayan Doomsday propehecy of 2012. While, it was written on the level of Steinbeck, Alten's research and theories / predictions were staggeringly well thought out. Keep in mind this is the guy who wrote Meg and 4(?!) sequels. For him, Domain was a massive and potentially alienating novel. He showed no fear in moving away from his core base of fans and he should have been massively rewarded for it. Domain is a fascinating novel that works on more than just a simplistic sketch outline and included more history than most textbooks.
Naturally, Alten wrote a sequel: Resurrection (which explored the concept of the afterlife / religon), and then several Meg books.
Not helping my cause Steve, not at all...
However, just when he seemed ready once again to drift into obscurity Alten went all in with The Loch a book which dealt with the history of the Lochness Monster and theorized on what it may actually be. Alten had written another "creature feature" but this was a well documented and thoroughly researched book (seriously...this book has more info and more up to date facts than Scientific American) that was impossible to put down. (Currently it is being fast tracked for a movie). Yet, on a different level Alten also showed an increasing maturity as a writer - his characters were a littler deeper, his plot more thought out. The Loch, which I devoured in a couple of days, was a surprisingly good read that really opened my eyes to a lot of Scottish History that tends to be neglected.
At that point, Alten, although lacking huge success had the makings of a solid career. Unfortunately he went through publishers like Michael Jordan went through poker tables and did not have the steady consistency he needed.
It is borderline miraculous then that this next book was as...small sigh...good as it was. Actually. I love The Power of the Dog which detailed the history of the rise of the Mexican Drug Cartels and Alten's next book The Shell Game reads like the big oil version. It was a stunning book, again, deeply researched and his conclusions are incredibly insightful. Of course it does needs to be taken for what it is - a "thinking persons" thriller. That said, it was a harrowing, powerful and ultimately poignant read. I know, I know. It takes a "what if" we run out of oil scenario and turns it into a sprawling epic of corruption. Yes...sprawling epic. At this point in his career this is Alten's The Power of the Dog, he may never write another book as good, but you keep hoping he will.
Take the number of Amazon.com reviews for The Shell Game: currently 115 (all the one star reviews are attacks on Alten's his "biased, nonsense opinions" - as they are anti-republican...to say the least) and the overall rating stands at an average of 4.5 stars. That is pretty impressive and I implore you to read this book as it may not be a classic but it is a darn good read. You will learn something and you will enjoy it. (Please...please...please learn something and enjoy it!)
It is his next book, due out in October, titled Grim Reaper: End of Days that has me excited to read a Steve Alten book again. I know, I cannot believe I am writing this, yet here we are at the end of a very long post in which I have now convinced myself I am more of a Steve Alten fan then I originally thought.
Yet, this is also the guy who wrote Meg's 1 - 4 (Steve, just so we are clear, I will take back this entire freaking column if you write Meg 6).
Why, you may ask, am I so excited for this book by a man who has written 4 books about giant, prehistoric sharks? Check out the description on Alten's website which posits it as a cross between The Stand and Dante's Inferno (random, but I can actually see it working well), and has it as classic hero journey through good and evil and the nature of redemption. Oh, and the style is allegedly "reminiscent of (wait for it, wait for it...) Cormac McCarthy". Wow.
October suddenly cannot come fast enough...I am excited about a Steve Alten book.
Steve if you must turn this into a new series (and I am not so crazy about "end of days" being hitched to the title - just nitpicking) please make it a trilogy. We are in the midst of great trilogies and, let's face it, book #4 is always kind of a letdown.
Steve, just saw the cover for Meg 5 for the love of...
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