One of the intriguing possibilities of current cryptozoology is the survival of the fearsome giant shark, Megalodon, whose fossilised remains have been found in strata dated as recently as 10,000 years old. With a size mooted at roughly twice that of the living great white, Megalodon is clearly a predator to seize the imagination. Two novels have recently appeared starring the cartaliginous giant.
Charles Wilson's novel is by far the more sober of the two, a tale of ordinary people confronted by something horribly extraordinary. The story takes place in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast and among the river estuaries, as first two boys disappear and then further frightening occurrences take place. One of the central protagonists is a divorced marine researcher who strikes up a deep relationship with a similarly mature woman, but there are no scenes of torrid passion. Wilson's writing is restrained, so much so that in the scenes of Megalodon attack we feel the horror and the paralysing fear as landlubbers or casual sailors sudden realise the huge size of what is about to kill them. In many ways Wilson's book is reminiscent in this way of Peter Brenchley's Jaws.
Alten's novels are far more lurid, his heroes and villains being scientists, divers or mavericks who are regular sailors and divers of the deepest parts of the ocean. Like Wilson, Alten places the putative sharks in the depths of the Pacific, although the writers use different devices to draw their creatures into conflict with mankind. Alten also lays on the sex, hi-tech gadgetry and villainous machinations in chunks, particularly in the second novel where a shaven-headed maverick lurks around the Marianas Trench in a gigantic futuristic submarine, quoting Latin and dispatching his enemies in equal measure. Nevertheless Alten does manage to spin a riveting tale, entwining human vice and fearsome supposedly extinct creatures to make an enjoyable read that is not too implausible.
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