In a time of global warming and spiralling damage to the environment, the Virgin Zones were established to help combat the change. Abandoned by humanity and given back to nature, these vast areas in a dozen remote locations across the planet were intended to become the lungs of the world.
But there are always those drawn to such places. Extreme sports enthusiasts and adventure racing teams target the dangerous, sometimes deadly zones for illicit races. Only the hardiest and most experienced dare undertake these expeditions. When one such team enters the oldest Zone, Eden, they aren't prepared for what confronts them. Nature has returned to Eden in an elemental, primeval way. And here, nature is no longer humanity's friend.
***
[Eden seems like a good place to die]***
(@TitanBooks, 7 April 2020, 384 pages, ebook, #ARC from @TitanBooks and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 7 April)
***
***
Eden is a fantastic book. I sped through reading it because I couldn't put it down - literally. This reminds me a lot of the equally amazing Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. Both books deal with similar themes - nature finding a way to thrive without human interference. Eden is much, much darker. There are two stories running parallel to each other in the book - the main story revolving around Dylan and his daughter Jenn's infiltration of Eden, complicated when Dylan discovers his ex-wife Kat and some friends entered Eden a few days before them and Kat may have come to Eden to die. Intercepted with this are snippets which reveal titbits of the horrors that befell Kat and her group. I found the characters frustrating at times with their thoughtlessness, stupidity and stubbornness. They know something feels wrong the moment they enter Eden, it feels like it has never known people. That would be enough to make any normal sensible person turn back, yet Dylan, Jenn and their group move stubbornly on and refuse to back down, even when they start finding bodies, some old, some knew which seems to have been absorbed by Eden and they realise something is pursuing them. Eden is very dark at times and some horrific things happen when Eden's true nature is revealed. I loved every word.