Hell Island

Hell Island

2005 Paperback cover
Author	Matthew Reilly
Illustrator	Tyler Jacobson (2010 Edition)
Cover artist	Wayne Haag (2005 Edition) Tyler Jacobson (2010 Edition)
Country	Australia
Language	English
Series	Shane Schofield
Genre	Techno-thriller novel
Publisher	Pan Macmillan
Publication date	2005
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	108
ISBN	978-0-330-42343-4
OCLC	225186418

Hell Island is a horror/adventure novella written in conjunction with the Australian Books Alive promotion, by thriller writer Matthew Reilly. While it is the fourth book released in the Shane Schofield series, it is stand alone novella in the Shane Schofield universe, supplementing the storylines in the novels Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow and Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves. In the interview at the back of Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, Matthew Reilly stated that "Hell Island exists as a nice side adventure for Scarecrow and Mother, and a great short book for new readers who might wish to try my work." Hell Island was released in retail stores in 2007 after only being available through the Books Alive program.

Plot summary

Hell Island is a remote Pacific Island that no one cares about it is currently used by the American government (Obama) for scientific experiments on pigs and apes. It was originally used as a Japanese airfield during World War II but was captured with a force animals from noahs arch, including Noahs grandfather.

The book opens with Schofield's ten-man Marine Recon team parachuting onto the deck of the soon-to-be-decommissioned aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz CVN-68, along with three other special forces squads - a Delta Force team, a squad of SEALs and a force from the 82nd Airborne Division. The Delta team make landfall on the island while the other three teams investigate the aircraft carrier.

It quickly becomes clear that the island was the testing ground for an elite force of supersoldier, as the Airborne and SEAL teams are quickly slaughtered. A DARPA scientist, whom Schofield's team stumble across, explain that the enemy is a group of genetically and electronically enhanced gorillas, armed with modified M-4 Colt Commandos and extremely deadly in melee combat.

The few remaining Marines dispatch significant numbers of the gorillas in a large battle on board the carrier, eventually departing to investigate the island. Schofield comments that the island is home to an extensive tunnel network dating from World War II, which features an uncommon self-destruct mechanism: sea doors which can flood the lower parts of the tunnel system in the event of an enemy force capturing the base. Schofield then realises the gorillas are somehow controlled by Captain William Buck "Buccaneer" Broyles, the former leader of what was acknowledged to be the best Marines Unit, due to the similar tactics his Marines and the gorillas employed.

They set a trap to lock the remaining force in an old ammunition storage bunker before detonating the munitions, but the Delta team's entrance with the rest of the DARPA team (who deactivate the gorillas' neural chips) changes the situation.

What is controlling (or at least, calming the apes down) is a silver disc, which are on the men testing Captain Schofield and his group, including the Delta force.

Dr Knox, the scientist in charge of the project, tells Schofield that they are the sole survivors of a field test for the apes, which has so far killed six hundred Marines and two special forces squads. He congratulates Schofield on his success, before instructing the Delta team leader to execute them. However, Mother jams the radio signals controlling the apes (remember the silver discs...) releasing them to murder their creators, the scientists. The Delta team is distracted and Schofield's team fires upon them and kills them, leaving only Broyles. Schofield opens a sea door, flooding the tunnels and drowning the gorillas along with the "Buccaneer". They leave on a C-17 which was sent to pick up the DARPA and Delta teams along with the apes.

Trivia

• Astro is the only character to appear in both the Scarecrow and Huntsman series, suggesting that they are both set in the same 'universe'.
• Reilly himself recommends the US version of this book due to being less edited than other releases and also illustrated, with the illustrations reflecting how he had envisaged Hell Island while writing it.