I've been a fan of Steve Alten ever since I first read Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror back in 1997, but I usually reserve these books for summer reading and my Don't Go Near the Water reading challenge, so why I'm reading it right before Christmas when I should be reading Christmas Horror novels is a mystery to me.
Nightstalkers picks up shortly after the events of Hell's Aquarium. Thanks to all those eaten by the Megs, the Tanaka Institute is being inundated with lawsuits that are driving the institute into bankruptcy. Add to that the stress of knowing Angel's offsprings Bela and Lizzy are loose, so to say the situation is creating a strain on Jonas and Terry's marriage would be an understatement. David, Jonas's son, is depressed and suicidal over the death of his girlfriend, who was eaten by a Liopleurodon, and he feels that the only way to free himself from the nightmare he's trapped in is to kill the creature that caused it. What follows is more of what we've come to love about the Meg series -- aquatic dinosaurs long thought extinct wreaking havoc and eating people to their heart's content.
Reading one of the Meg books with its recurring cast of characters is like visiting with old friends. Fast-paced and action-packed, these books always hold me in their thrall. The only problem I had with this particular entry is the presence of Zachary Wallace, the central character of Alten's The Loch and its sequel, Vostok. Now, I loved The Loch, but Alten jumped the megalodon with Vostok, bringing in aliens, UFOs, and time travel, and, unfortunately, the author drags all that baggage into Nightstalkers, earning a number of eye rolls from me and causes enough of a distraction to lose half a star from the total rating, bringing what could've been a 5 star read to a 4.5. Don't let that minor glitch dissuade you from diving in and swimming with the megs. If you like creature features, or if you like plain ol' dinosaur mayhem, I definitely recommend checking out this series.
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