The Trench

The Trench (known digitally as The Trench: Meg 2) is a 1999 science fiction horror novel by American author Steve Alten. It is the sequel to Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror and the second book in the MEG series. The book continues the adventure of Jonas Taylor, a paleobiologist studying the megalodon, who now discovers another prehistoric monster, Kronosaurus, also thought to have been extinct. A sequel titled Meg: Primal Waters was released in 2004. Plot summary 4 years after the events of the previous novel, a deep sea submersible, Proteus, is attacked by unknown creatures and destroyed while on a geological survey of the Mariana Trench's sea floor. In Monterey, California, paleobiologist and former deep sea pilot Jonas Taylor is now working for his father-in-law Masao Tanaka at the Tanaka Oceanographic Institute studying the lone surviving Megalodon offspring alongside his friend Mac. The shark, named Angel, has grown into a , monster who draws crowds from all over the world to get a glimpse of its incredible size. In the 4 years since the opening of the institute, lawsuits filed by the survivors of the people Angel's mother killed has crippled the institute financially, forcing Masao to sell controlling interest to energy mogul Benedict Singer. Jonas and his wife, Terry Tanaka, are struggling with their marriage as Jonas is obsessed with trying to make sure Angel doesn't escape her tank as well as the strain of their first child being stillborn. After the Proteus implodes in the trench, Singer insists on Jonas joining him aboard the Goliath, Singer's research ship, and help with the investigation of the accident. Jonas, plagued by nightmares where he and Terry die in the Trench, refuses the request, insisting that he remain at the institute to determine what damage Angel is doing to the steel doors keeping her in the lagoon. Masao is forced to go in Jonas' place and Terry joins him, finally confronting Jonas about her unhappiness with their marriage. Aboard the Goliath, Masao and Terry meet Singer and his protege Celeste, agreeing to stay until Singer's deep water laboratory, The Benthos, is able to send the sonar records of the accident. Back at the institute, 3 teen boys break into the underwater viewing gallery and pound on the glass, enraging Angel and causing her to ram the glass, flooding the gallery and devouring the boys.