Following on from the previous review of Mr Einstein's Secretary, the tiny novella Hell Island, which comes in at 117 pages, was written in 2005 and is one of Matthew Reilly's earlier writing efforts. I picked up the original 2005 Books Alive paperback edition for $2 in a local op-shop in 2023 and devoured it in 2 hours.
While it is the fourth book released in the Shane Schofield series, it is a standalone novella in the Schofield universe, supplementing the storylines in the novels Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow and Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves.
The blurb sets the scene.
It is an island that doesn't appear on any maps. A secret place, where classified experiments have been carried out. Experiments that have gone terribly wrong... Four crack special forces units are dropped in. One of them is a team of Marines, led by Captain Shane Schofield, call-sign: SCARECROW. Nothing can prepare Schofield's team for what they find there. You could say they've just entered hell. But that would be wrong. This is much, much worse.
Like all the Scarecrow books, it's tbe usual adrenalin packed non-stop action from cover to cover.
Blending science fiction and hard core action, Hell Island is a reminder of how good Matthew Reilly really is and a taste of this action master at the top of his game.
Matthew Reilly has to be my favourite action writer.
5 stars for me.
