In Adrian McKintys new breakneck thriller, The Island, an American family visiting Australia takes a chance on an afternoons diversion, paying for an hours time on a private island outside Melbourne, hoping that the sight of a few koalas will help heal their rifts. But a tragic accident soon changes everything, with the family pushed to the very limits of safety, endurance, and morality. For several hundred pages, your heart will not stop pounding. McKinty, a veteran noir writer, has brought tremendous style to his new turn as a thriller author. Above all he has a way with characters of finding the core of their humanity, and putting that core to the test. With The Island, hes at the very top of his game. In the lead-up to the books release, I caught up with him to discuss moral dilemmas, literary islands, and the 1970s thrillers that inspired his stunning new novel.
Dwyer Murphy: Youre becoming the bard of families pushed to the brink of morality, survival, the bonds that hold them together. How did it happen?
Adrian McKinty: I had the idea for The Chain and then I wanted to do a follow up that was thematically similar but NOT a sequel. So something must have been brewing in my head
Murphy: What was the first germ of the novel for you? It feels like an intensely personal story, and yet one thats almost universally relatable. So how did it start?
McKinty: During lockdown I had some writers block and I was talking to my agent about the next book and I said I didnt really have any ideas that I liked. We got to talking about 70s movies (I love 70s movies) and I mentioned a sort of Deliverance moment Id had:
About five years ago my wife and I were driving on an island on a remote part of Australia. Wed taken the ferry over and the vibe was immediately odd. There were men walking around with shotguns broken over their shoulders (apparently shooting rabbits) and when we stopped at a farm to get some lunch we found out that everyone on the island was basically one large extended family. Everyone knew about us coming over on the ferry and a conversation wed had with the ferryman that we were from Melbourne had somehow been relayed all over the island. We had lunch at the farm and I cracked a joke that failed badly. (There was a barn behind me and I said is that where you keep the wicker man?) We were pretty spooked out by the place and I was keen to get back on the last ferry back so I was driving the car, fast. Suddenly out of the spinifex a woman on a bicycle turned onto the main road. She was wearing a hearing aid and the battery must have been off because she didnt see or hear us. I honked the horn and slammed on the brakes and just missed hitting herShe continued on with her bike ride oblivious to us behind her. As a kind of joke I said to my wife, If wed hit her we wouldnt have got off this island alive. Very seriously she replied, no, we wouldnt have.
I told my agent that story and he said no you did hit her, thats the next book.
Murphy: Why a private island? This outlier space, beyond the realm. Theres a great tradition of islands in mystery and thrillers, but this one feels distinct.
McKinty: There really wasnt much creativity here to be honest. I put it in a real place with the actual landscape, actual temperature, actual flora and fauna. Its not called Dutch Island in real life because Im sure the actual people there are lovely and I dont want to upset them. But everything else is pretty much as is
Murphy: Once were on the island, the story takes on this almost gothic atmosphere. Were there certain books or movies you were looking to in order to capture the place and the way you wanted it experienced?
McKinty: I wanted this to be a sort of 70s movie updated to 2022. My models were Deliverance, First Blood, Rogue Male and I Spit On Your GraveBut I wanted to update those tropes to a 2020s sensibility and my style. But again, being perfectly honest, it was one of those books that more or less wrote itself once I had set up the initial parameters. Terrible things happen but theyre all logical things once the initial inciting incident takes place.
Murphy: The family comes from Seattle, which seems in many ways the polar opposite of Australia, or at least the version of it theyre experiencing. Why those two locales?
McKinty: I knew Seattle quite well so thats one reason. And I liked the idea of someone whod never experienced extreme heat dealing with that for the first time. Also I liked the idea that Puget Sound and Southern Victoria are in fact linked by this one crazy species of migratory bird, the Shearwater, that endlessly summers in both places crossing 8,000 miles of Pacific to do so. The Shearwater becomes a motif for Heather in the book.
Murphy: At the heart of the story is a moral dilemma. A moral failing, followed by an incredibly complex calculus of relative sins and necessities. How did you map out the internal arguments that would need to unfold, and how did you put those on the page?
McKinty: I loved the idea that the American family actually is at fault in the first place. They start the whole damn thing and then try to weasel their way out of it. And I loved the husband and wife thinking in real time about what to do about it. The moral dilemma has to be real and believable, something we could all see ourselves doing in extremis.
Murphy: Can you tell me a little about the evolution of your literary style? With The Island, it seems to me youve really honed a particular set of aesthetic choices that were coming into focus withThe Chain and are sharpening here.
McKinty: The Island is only my second thriller. Every other book Ive written is a species of noir. With noir, atmosphere and character are everything. You can have a character listening to say Exile On Main Street for three pages, smoking Camels, and looking at the rain. I love that shit. But in a thriller thats an extravagance. As a noir writer I had to learn a different way of telling a story in a thriller environment. You need to be economical with your words. Every scene should matter. Every scene should either illuminate character or turn a wheel of the story. If it doesnt it has no place in your manuscript. When I go back to writing noirs again Ill dig on music and weather and atmosphere but in my thrillers Im trying to learn the discipline of keeping the text lean and tough.
Read more here:
Adrian McKinty on Family, Survival, and Finding Inspiration in 1970s Thrillers - CrimeReads
- You could own this private island off the Florida Keys for $75 million - AOL - February 27th, 2024 [February 27th, 2024]
- From $389k: Who owns Qlds private islands, what they paid - Courier Mail - February 27th, 2024 [February 27th, 2024]
- The World's 16 Most Expensive Private Islands to Visit - Yahoo Finance - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- Cruise lines will pay new tax on private islands in the Bahamas - FOX 35 Orlando - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- Michael Stern's JDS Development Sued Over Private Air Travel - The Real Deal - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- YouTube Star MrBeast Takes Over Royal Caribbean's Private Island - Cruise Hive - January 30th, 2024 [January 30th, 2024]
- 7 Private Islands In The U.S. That You Can Book For Less Than $1,000 A Night - TheTravel - January 30th, 2024 [January 30th, 2024]
- Peter Island Resort Re-Opens with Luxurious New Amenities in 2024 - St Vincent Times - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Jeffrey Epstein's Controversial Private Island To Be Turned Into Resort: Report - NDTV - January 7th, 2024 [January 7th, 2024]
- Where is Jeffrey Epstein's island and what happened there? - KRTV NEWS Great Falls - January 7th, 2024 [January 7th, 2024]
- UK Royal Had Orgy With Minor Girls On Private Island, Epstein Files Reveal - NDTV - January 7th, 2024 [January 7th, 2024]
- World's best private island resorts - Cond Nast Traveller India - January 7th, 2024 [January 7th, 2024]
- Dont hurry, be happy at Fijis carefree Kokomo Private Island - Style - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- How to Visit the Pacific Coast of Panama, According to a Travel Expert - Travel + Leisure - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Fresh Puerto Rican Tostones and Stone Crab Highlight New ... - PR Newswire - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Progressive White Women in Shambles After Taylor Swift Becomes ... - The Hard Times - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- If You Can Take the Cable Car to the Colosseum, You're in Vietnam - The New York Times - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Hot property: five homes for sale on the Canary Islands - Financial Times - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Where to Relocate: Cayman Islands with KPMG Cayman Islands - The Fintech Times - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- 10 budget-friendly island resorts for a cheap beach vacation - USA Today - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Talk Show Host Patricia Bryan Sues Police and Government | Loop ... - Loop News Cayman - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Insulators in Farasan Islands Reserve to protect birds - Arab News Pakistan - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Iconic Piece of New Disney Ship Arrives at Shipyard - Cruise Hive - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- The worlds tiniest island is for sale - The Spaces - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- WHAT'S NEW IN THE BAHAMAS IN OCTOBER 2023 - PR Newswire - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- New Zealand named one of the friendliest countries in Conde Nast ... - New Zealand Herald - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- Annual Cruise Hive Awards Open for Best Ships, Cruise Lines and ... - Cruise Hive - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- The best islands in Europe: Readers' Choice Awards 2023 - Cond Nast Traveller - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- Islands in the sun - Irish Post - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- Relax and unwind: where travellers find well-being and peace in the ... - Euronews - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- What Prigozhin's Death Reveals About Russia Mother Jones - Mother Jones - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- SERHANT. Achieves $4 Billion in Volume at Three Year Milestone - PR Newswire - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- supports British Virgin Islands with debt management reform ... - Commonwealth - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- Discovering Easter Island and Pitcairn by boat - Yachting Monthly - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- Cleanup from Maui fires complicated by island's logistical ... - Greenfield Daily Reporter - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf to Hold Fifty-Ninth ... - United Nations - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- HSBC appoints Head of Wealth and Personal Banking for Channel ... - Channel Eye - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- Downriver Dispatches - The Wahkiakum County Eagle - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- The 7 Best Private Villas and Escapes in Queensland Australia - Robb Report - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- 4 Picturesque Private Islands on Airbnb You Need to See to Believe - HGTV Canada - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Five of The Best Islands in Malaysia - British Muslim Magazine - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Best Islands and Resorts in the Caribbean - 86758 - Luxury Travel Magazine - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Luxury beyond boundaries: Exploring the world's most exclusive ... - TravelDailyNews International - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- 10 Island Destinations That Will Help You Plan A Budget-Friendly ... - TheTravel - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Caribbean resort outlines US$8 million rebranding overhaul - TOPHOTELNEWS - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Caribbean cruising gears up for one of its biggest years yet - Travel Weekly - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Citi Ultima Card review: Luxury private island access, supercar drive ... - AsiaOne - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Union pool recognized by training company | Local News ... - The Missourian - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Arctic Circle Express Train Journey in Lofoten Islands and Narvik ... - Luxury Travel Magazine - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- How Maui's Wildfire Sparked a Disaster Capitalist Power Grab for ... - Earthjustice - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Pres. inaugurates completed projects in three islands of Laamu atoll - Raajjemv - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- Insight: Boosting Resilience of Pacific Islands' Infrastructure - Mirage News - August 30th, 2023 [August 30th, 2023]
- These Are The 10 Best Islands To Visit In Europe This Summer - TheTravel - July 23rd, 2023 [July 23rd, 2023]
- Billionaire who visited Epstein island pours thousands into coffers of vulnerable Dem Senate races - Yahoo News - July 23rd, 2023 [July 23rd, 2023]
- MSC's Explora Journeys Takes Delivery of First-Ever Cruise Ship - Cruise Hive - July 23rd, 2023 [July 23rd, 2023]
- Paradise Found: Discover The 6 Best All-Inclusive Resorts in The ... - Wealth Of Geeks - July 23rd, 2023 [July 23rd, 2023]
- How to holiday in the Seychelles with a budget-friendly itinerary - New Zealand Herald - July 23rd, 2023 [July 23rd, 2023]
- New construction home on Long Island, a small town off the coast of ... - Press Herald - July 23rd, 2023 [July 23rd, 2023]
- Geopolitical duel in the Pacific: Solomon Islands security at risk as ... - The Interpreter - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Lake Champlain trip highlights paddling and campground amenities - Adirondack Explorer - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- Inside the subsea cable firm secretly helping American take on China - Reuters - July 11th, 2023 [July 11th, 2023]
- The ultimate holiday home? A $100 million private island in the Bahamas that starred in James Bond and Pirates of the ... - Country Life - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 8 Of The Best Private Islands To Rent In 2023 - Forbes - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Getting Scuba-Certified in Fiji Is the Best Way to Explore the Underwater World - Robb Report - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Find your own island in the sun amid the blissful atolls of the Maldives - Evening Standard - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse case: Deutsche Bank to pay $75 mn to settle a suit - Hindustan Times - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he's 'so sad' the bank had relationship with Jeffrey Epstein - CNBC - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Top seven luxurious private flight getaways in Texas - South West Londoner - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- What Are the Most Expensive Celebrity Divorce Settlements? - We Got This Covered - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Getting Scuba-Certified in Fiji Is the Best Way to Explore the Underwater World - Yahoo Singapore News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- AG nominee says more staffing, resources needed | News ... - Virgin Islands Daily News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Carefree and car-free: The glorious islands where vehicles are ... - Daily Mail - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Reinsurance firm supporting treatment centre fundraiser - Royal Gazette - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Corinthia to open luxury resort in Maldives - Times of Malta - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Investing in Scotland's islands - gov.scot - The Scottish Government - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Calls to make education 'more affordable' for Pacific island students - Stuff - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 14 Romantic Resorts with Private Plunge Pools - Islands - December 26th, 2022 [December 26th, 2022]
- Rainy Lake Island - Northern Ontario, Ontario , Canada - Private Islands - December 26th, 2022 [December 26th, 2022]
- Darby Island - The Exumas, Bahamas , Caribbean - Private Islands - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Private islands for sale in Queensland going cheap, but lifestyle has ... - December 18th, 2022 [December 18th, 2022]