If Michael Crichton and Clive Cussler were to combine their talents to create the ultimate summer read, MEG would be the result—a jaw-dropping and terrifying page-turner of the deep.

On a top-secret dive into the Pacific Ocean's deepest canyon, Jonas Taylor found himself

face-to-face with the largest and most ferocious predator in the history of the animal kingdom. The sole survivor of the mission, Taylor is haunted by what he's sure he saw but still can't prove exists-Carcharodon megalodon, the massive mother of the great white shark. The average prehistoric Meg weighs in at twenty tons and could tear apart a Tyrannosaurus rex in seconds.

Written off as a crackpot suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Taylor refuses to forget the depths that nearly cost him his life. With a Ph.D. in paleontology under his belt, Taylor spends years theorizing, lecturing, and writing about the possibility that Meg still feeds at the deepest levels of the sea. But it takes an old friend in need to get him to return to the water, and a hotshot female submarine pilot to dare him back into a high-tech miniature sub.

Diving deeper than he ever has before, Taylor will face terror like he's never imagined, and what he finds could turn the tides bloody red until the end of time.

STEVE ALTEN holds a master's degree in sports medicine and has a Ph.D. from Temple University. An avid amateur oceanographer, Alten has been studying Megalodons for over ten years. He lives with his wife and three children in South Florida. MEG is his first novel.

Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror is a 1997 science fiction horror novel by American author Steve Alten, and the first novel in the MEG series. The novel follows the underwater adventures of a Navy deep-sea diver named Jonas Taylor.

In 2018, a film adaptation titled The Meg was released. A revised and expanded version of the novel (also containing the prequel Meg: Origins) was also released to coincide with the film's debut. A graphic novel adaptation was also released in 2019 by Steve Alten, J. S. Earls, and Mike Miller.

A film based on the novel had been mired in development hell since 1997. At one point, reports surfaced that the film was slated for a 2008 release date and was to be made by New Line Cinema, which had recently bought the rights from Alten. Names that were attached to the project included Jan de Bont and Guillermo del Toro. However, in July 2007, New Line canceled the production. Steve Alten had said that once his relationship with New Line was finally over, he would be taking the property elsewhere. The rights eventually reverted to Alten, but the film remained in development hell.[2][3]

In 2011, Alten commented on his sparsely updated website. Along with the announcement that he would be releasing a prequel novella titled Meg: Origins, Alten indicated that he was holding back the release of his next entry in the series Meg: Night Stalkers to time with the release of the film.[citation needed] On January 2, 2015, Alten appeared on Coast to Coast AM radio with George Noory and said that a film based on Meg was back on track.[citation needed]

On June 16, 2015, Eli Roth was announced to direct the film adaptation. He left the project due to creative differences.[4] On March 3, 2016, ComingSoon.net reported that director Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure) has since been in talks to helm the movie adaptation of Steve Alten's Meg.[5]

On April 14, 2016, various media outlets reported that action star Jason Statham would be taking the lead role of Jonas Taylor in the upcoming film.[6] In July 2016, Jessica McNamee and Ruby Rose also joined the cast of the film.[7][8]

The film was initially due to be released on March 2, 2018, but was ultimately released on August 10, 2018.[9] The novel's opening scene, in which a T. rex is eaten by a meg during the Cretaceous period, was ultimately adapted to the science fiction action film Meg 2: The Trench, released on August 4, 2023.