New Treasures: Island 731 by Jeremy Robinson
Two weeks ago, we announced the winners of our contest to suggest who should be writing the Cthulhu Mythos today. Each of the winners received a copy of the new anthology Weirder Shadows Over Innsmouth. One of the more intriguing entries came from Donald Nutting, who wrote:
Island 731 by Jeremy Robinson had me curled up in the fetal position whimpering and scared for my life; if he can do that about a kaiju, then he could do it with Cthulhu.
I had to admit I wasn’t familiar with Jeremy Robinson, but it didn’t take long to rectify that. I tracked down a copy of Island 731, released in paperback last February. I’m not sure how I missed it, because it looks right up my alley.
Mark Hawkins, former park ranger and expert tracker, is on board a research vessel on the Pacific. But his work is interrupted when the ship is plagued by a series of strange malfunctions and the crew is battered by a raging storm… The next morning, the beaten crew awakens to find themselves anchored in the protective cove of a tropical island — and no one knows how they got there. The ship has been sabotaged, two crewmen are dead, and a third is missing. Hawkins spots signs of the missing man onshore and leads a small team to bring him back. But they soon discover evidence of a brutal history left behind by the island’s former occupants: Unit 731, Japan’s ruthless World War II human experimentation program. As more of his colleagues start to disappear, Hawkins begins to realize the horrible truth: That Island 731 was never decommissioned and the person preying on his crewmates may not be a person at all — not anymore…
Jeremy Robinson is also the author of seven Jack Sigler thrillers, including the latest, Cannibal, on sale in hardcover this month. Island 731 was published in hardcover on March 26, 2013, and in paperback by St. Martin’s Press on February 25, 2014. It is 384 pages, priced at $7.99 for both the paperback and digital versions.
The scary thing about this book is that many aspects are based in fact. Look up Project 731. Look up the great garbage patch. I don’t want to say anything more because I don’t want spoil the surprises.
I loved this book, Nemesis, and Maigo. Robinson is a talent. You are right John, this crowd will love it.
John, this actually came out in paperback last year-Feb 25, 2014
I hate to be a dissenting voice, but I didn’t care for Island 731 very much. The first 3/4 of the book are interesting, but I didn’t find it to be anything special. The last 1/4 of the book it goes off the rails and becomes so over the top and unbelievable I almost put the book down, which I rarely do. Yes, I realize it’s SF and there are supposed to be fantastic things that make it so, but I couldn’t get past them in this. It’s a shame, because I had high hopes for it, having heard good things about Robinson.
> The scary thing about this book is that many aspects are based in fact. Look up Project 731.
Ape,
Ugh! Thanks for the tip — I was wholly unaware of Project 731. And now that I know about it, I am thoroughly disgusted. Seriously, I wish I could wash that out of my brain.
> John, this actually came out in paperback last year-Feb 25, 2014
Sigh. Right you are. Not sure how I managed to think that was this week, but I did.
I’ve fixed the post — thanks for the correction.