Hell Island

“For stay-up-late, can’t-put-down ability,
Reilly is the master.”
—Brad Thor, New York Times bestselling author

“Reilly novels should come with health warnings.”
—The Daily Telegraph (Australia)

“Reilly makes you feel like a kid again; it’s a blast.”
—Booklist

In his latest “ROCKET-FUELED”
(Publishers Weekly) adventure series featuring
fearless hero Jack West, Jr.,
“MATTHEW Reilly has perfected the Indiana Jonesian quest novel”
(St. Petersburg Times). . . .

THE FIVE GREATEST WARRIORS

“Rip-roaring. . . . there are thrills and spills galore. . . . Outstanding. . . . A blinding read.”
—The Sun
(UK)

“Fast-paced. . . . Readers won’t be disappointed with this ‘boy’s own’ page-turner. . . . Reilly’s round-the-romp is full of mystery and promise. . . . It has a kind of movie formula that reads like a novelization of a Hollywood blockbuster, but for readers who enjoy pure adventure, impossible missions and good old-fashioned heroes, then
The Five Greatest Warriors
is an exhilarating ride.”

—The Independent Weekly
(Australia)

The titles in the Jack West, Jr., series are also
available as eBooks

More praise for Matthew Reilly’s
page-turning adventures

THE SIX SACRED STONES

“[A] video game in print.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“The wildly imaginative Reilly has taken inspiration from comics, video games, thrillers, and
Code
-style puzzle novels. . . . Thrilling.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Whisk[s] you through wave after wave of nonstop action on a cloud of exuberant improbabilities.”

—Booklist

“[T]his fast-paced international adventure will keep you turning pages. . . . Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
—The Star-Ledger
(Newark, NJ)

“Non-stop life-threatening action . . . not for the fainthearted. It’s a wild ride.”

—The Daily Telegraph
(Australia)

“Another winner. The interwoven combination of action and mythology . . . makes for the perfect winter beach read.”
—Library Journal

SEVEN DEADLY WONDERS

“An absolute bone crusher of a thriller!
Seven Deadly Wonders
had me turning the pages so fast I had blisters on my fingers.”

—Brad Thor,
New York Times
bestselling author

“A work of sheer exhilaration. . . . As exciting and entertaining a story as you’re likely to read.”

—Chicago Sun-Times

“Fun. . . . Reilly keep[s] the action coming.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Ancient history, heart-stopping booby traps, and wild adventure . . . a perfect book to jump-start your vacation beach reading.” —
Library Journal

“A nonstop roller-coaster ride.”
—Publishers Weekly

ICE STATION

“Some of the wildest and most sustained battles in an action thriller in a long time. . . . Nonstop action, lots of explosions—and a little bit of conspiracy.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Nonstop, brain-freezing action from page 1.”

—The Tulsa World

TEMPLE

“Reilly’s book has adrenaline in super-sized quantities.”

—Orlando Sentinel

“The action is relentless.”
—Charleston Post and Courier

AREA 7

“Reilly’s . . . most suspenseful blow-’em-up. The jet-boat chase through the blind chasms of Arizona’s Lake Powell puts the Bond books to shame.”

—Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)

ALSO BY MATTHEW REILLY

The Five Greatest Warriors

The Six Sacred Stones

Seven Deadly Wonders

Contest

Scarecrow

Ice Station

Temple

Area 7

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Introduction copyright © 2010 by Karanadon Entertainment Pty Ltd
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Copyright © by Karanadon Entertainment Pty Ltd

Originally published in Australia by Books Alive,
an Australian Government initiative developed through the
Australia Council for the Arts.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or
portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address
Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department,
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Pocket Books paperback edition October 2010

POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of
Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-1-4391-9133-0
eISBN-13: 978-1-4516-2708-4

It may surprise some people, but of all the books I’ve written,
Hell Island
has been the most rewarding. Allow me to explain.

As many readers will notice immediately, it is a lot shorter than my other novels. But there’s a reason for this.

Hell Island
was originally written for an Australian Government initiative called Books Alive, the objective of which was to get Australians into bookstores and reading more. I was approached to write a short novel, no longer than 110 pages, that would be given away to Australians for free for a month. I thought this was a fantastic idea and jumped at the chance.

I wrote
Hell Island
.

More than that, I set out to write 110 pages of the most kick-butt, over-the-top, blindingly fast action I could. It’s not often you get a chance to show your stuff to the general population
for free,
so I seized the opportunity with both hands.

Anyway, the initiative was a roaring success, with over a quarter of a million copies of
Hell Island
given away. (While Australian readers received the book for free, within days of its release, copies of the book found their way onto eBay, where Aussies were selling them to my American fans for fifty bucks!)

In the time since
Hell Island
’s original release, though, something strange has happened.

When I do book signings, I often ask my readers, “So, which was the first book of mine that you read?” The most common replies used to be
Ice Station
or
Contest
.

But these days, it’s
Hell Island
.

And I think the reason is: It’s short.

My books have a huge success rate with getting reluctant readers (especially teenage boys) into reading. And when you offer a reluctant reader a short novel, they think:
Okay, it’s only 110 pages, I can manage that.

And since
Hell Island
is a non-stop rampage of all-out action from start to finish—with special forces soldiers going up against an unstoppable and pitiless enemy—the reluctant reader gets into it, enjoys it, and goes on to try a full-length novel. And thus a new reader is created. This is why
Hell Island
has been so rewarding for me.

Hell Island
was an absolute blast to write and the response to it has exceeded my wildest expectations—so much so, in fact, that I’ve actually written another short novel recently.

But that’s enough from me. Now, on with the show . . .

MR

Sydney, Australia

Hell
Island

THE LAST MAN STANDING

T
ERRIFIED, WOUNDED
and now out of ammo, Lieutenant Rick “Razor” Haynes staggered down the tight passageway, blood pouring from a gunshot wound to his left thigh, scratch-marks crisscrossing his face.

He panted as he moved, gasping for breath. He was the last one left, the last member of his entire Marine force still alive.

He could hear them behind him.

Grunting, growling.

Stalking him, hunting him down.

They
knew
they had him—knew he was out of ammunition, out of contact with base, and out of comrades-in-arms.

The passageway through which he was fleeing was long and straight, barely wide enough for his shoulders. It had gray steel walls studded with rivets—the kind you find on a military vessel, a warship.

Wincing in agony, Haynes arrived at a bulkhead doorway and fell clumsily through it, landing in a stateroom. He reached up and pulled the heavy steel door shut behind him.

The door closed and he spun the flywheel.

A second later, the great steel door shuddered violently, pounded from the other side.

His face covered in sweat, Haynes breathed deeply, glad for the brief reprieve.

He’d seen what they had done to his teammates, and been horrified.

No soldier deserved to die that way, or to have his body desecrated in such a manner. It was beyond ruthless what they’d done to his men.

That said, the way they had systematically overcome his force of six hundred United States Marines had been tactically brilliant.