Venom Reef is the sequel to Poison Bay, and is set around two months after the end of Poison Bay (which I didn’t realise at first, because Poison Bay released in 2015 … so it’s been a few years since I read it). While you don’t have to read Poison Bay to enjoy Venom Reef, I would certainly recommend reading the two books in order if you plan to read both.
Venom Reef brings journalist Callie Brown and photographer Jake Metcalfe to Stanford Island, a remote island in the Great Barrier Reef which serves as a combination luxury resort and marine biology research station.
No sooner have they arrived on the island than the action starts: another guest has an unwelcome meeting with a poisonous jellyfish—one that shouldn’t be in this part of the reef—but her life is saved thanks to an untested antivenom.
But that’s only the start of the story.
What should be seven days on a beautiful tropical island interviewing scientists about their research soon turns into a nailbiting fight for life, similar to Poison Bay. It doesn’t take long for Callie then Jake to get suspicious about what exactly is being researched, who is funding the research, and who could be behind the life-threatening incidents … because surely they’re not accidents.
Throw in some oddball characters, an unexpected jellyfish invasion, unseasonal weather, and a character with a point to prove who isn’t too fussed about how far they have to go to prove their point, and we have the makings of an excellent thriller.
I never knew exactly where the story was going to go, which kept me up reading well past bedtime so I could know the characters I liked were safe (or not), and try to guess the identity of the evildoer. As always, I couldn’t guess the who or the why, but that just made the story better.
Recommended for thriller readers, especially those looking for a fast-paced adventure with no bad language or compromising scenes.
Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.
Belinda Pollard and Gracewriters
Belinda Pollard is an Australian Christian author, editor, and podcaster. She hosts the Gracewriters podcast with fellow Australians Donita Bundy and Allison Joy, and their tagline is simple yet ambitious:
Christian Writers Changing Popular Culture
The Gracewriters discuss writing with grace notes, a term musicians will know well. In music, grace notes are non-essential ornamental notes that add to the overall feeling of the piece. In Gracewriters terminology, grace notes are those notes which aren’t strictly essential to the plot, but which add an ornamental reminder of God’s grace.
Those notes of grace are evident in Venom Reef.
It’s not “classic” Christian fiction, but Jake is clearly a Christian character who does his best to represent Jesus to Callie and the people around them.
About Venom Reef
Television journalist Callie Brown leaps at the chance to make a documentary on an idyllic tropical island—even though she’s not sure about working with Jack Metcalf again.
In a remote corner of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, some of the world’s most venomous creatures are yielding compounds that could change the face of medical research forever.
When nature turns against the island’s inhabitants, is it a freak occurrence or something more sinister? As danger escalates, Callie and Jack will have to stop fighting each other and start fighting for their lives.
But first, they must work out who among the dwindling group of survivors is determined to destroy them…
Hi Iola, This book sounds like a great read! Thanks for sharing your review. It’s not categorised as Christian fiction at Amazon, and I’m glad you mentioned the Christian worldview that will make the book more appealing to readers who like thrillers with faith elements in the story. 😊
Thanks Iola. I really enjoyed Poison Bay so am looking forward to reading this one. I think there’s a big market for this category of fiction – not blatantly Christian but with genuine faith illustrated and a Christian world view. PB is a book you could give to your non-Christian friends as well as your Christian friends.