Blog Tour Review: EDEN by Tim Lebbon

I’m thrilled to be joining the Titan Books blog tour for Eden today! This was quite the thrilling story, and you can read my review below. First, here’s a little more about the book:

Eden by Tim Lebbon
Publisher: Titan Books
Release date: April 7 2020
Pages: 384
Genre: Adult, Eco-horror

From the bestselling author of The Silence comes a brand-new supernatural eco thriller. In large areas of the planet, nature is no longer humanity’s friend…

In a time of global warming and spiraling 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.

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My Review:

The nitty-gritty: Mother Earth wants to kill us in Tim Lebbon’s latest, a bloody, fun eco-thriller with engaging characters and plenty of suspense.

I’m always up for a good eco-horror story, and that’s exactly what I got from Eden. In the midst of our very own pandemic, it’s nice to know there are worse things that could be happening to humans. Eden isn’t about a pandemic, but instead it focuses on the way humans have been treating the Earth and takes place in a future where radical steps have been taken to protect it. But if you’re looking for a thoughtful story about saving our planet, you won’t find it here. Eden is a bloody thrill ride from start to finish with lots of surprises. Lebbon has a fantastic premise on his hands and I love the way he pulled it off.

In order to preserve the last places on earth where nature is truly wild, thirteen Virgin Zones have been established all over the world. These Zones are completely off limits to people, and their borders are strictly enforced by a group called the Zone Protection Force, or “Zeds.” Despite these restrictions, extreme adventurists have grouped together to form teams who secretly infiltrate the Zones and compete against each other to see who can cross a Zone the fastest. Our story centers around one such team who are planning to be the first team ever to cross Eden, the most mysterious and dangerous of all the Zones.

Leading the group is Dylan, an experienced hiker and climber. His daughter Jenn and her boyfriend Aaron are part of the team, as well as Lucy, Gee, Selina and Cove. Per their own code of conduct, they won’t be taking any technology in with them, only the minimum food and survival necessities. They’ve hired a guide named Poke to get them as far as the border of Eden without being detected by the Zeds, but once they cross over, they’re on their own.

Despite their collective experience, it isn’t long before the group encounters trouble. Jenn immediately senses something wrong, but it isn’t until they come across a dead body that things start to turn terrifying. Before they know it, the team is fighting for their lives while trying to complete the crossing as fast as they can.

This was a lot of fun! I was in the mood for something fast paced with heart-pounding excitement, and that’s exactly what I got. Lebbon is an excellent writer, and I’ll definitely be checking out some of his backlist. I loved the idea of the Virgin Zones and the people who dare to cross them. All the characters in this story have been doing this for years, so they’re very experienced and used to roughing it, getting injured, going without food, etc. Lebbon was smart and added some nicely fleshed out characters to his story, with interesting back-stories and complex relationships. For example, Dylan’s wife Kat left him nine years ago, but Jenn has been in contact with her mother all that time. And unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Jenn has a secret that involves Kat that she hasn’t shared yet. Dylan is still pining after his lost love, and when he hears Jenn’s secret, the trip takes on new meaning for him. I also came to like the other team members, and when the bad shit starts to happen, I was surprised how worried I was for each one.

And if you’re looking for some down and dirty, bloody horror, this might scratch that itch for you. I’m not going to spoil the details, but let’s just say that Eden does NOT want anyone bothering her, and she’s going to do whatever it takes to get rid of the trespassers. There’s a little bit of The Ruins in this story (if you’re familiar with that), but Lebbon puts his own spin on it, so get ready for lots of graphic violence and detailed descriptions of dead bodies. There’s also a very creepy vibe to Eden that I really loved. The author gives us lots of disturbing moments that aren’t always explained, so there is a sense of mystery that keeps you off balance.

I did want to know more about the other Zones, though. I loved the short Tweets and email transmissions at the beginning of each chapter, which give the reader a wider view of the world. We get glimpses into the other twelve Zones, but those glimpses only made me more curious. If Tim Lebbon wants to write more stories set in this world, I would be very happy about that! 

Endings are hard to nail, but in this case, Tim Lebbon gets it right. I absolutely loved the ending, eerie and sad, but very satisfying. He doesn’t spell everything out for the reader, so there is a sense that not everything has been resolved, but trust me, that’s a good thing.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

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About the Author:

TIM LEBBON is the New York Times Bestselling Author of Coldbrook, The Silence, and the Relics Trilogy.  He has also written many successful movie novelizations and tie-ins for Alien and Firefly. Tim has won three British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, a Shocker, a Tombstone and been a finalist for the International Horror Guild and World Fantasy Awards. The Silence is now a Netflix original movie, starring Stanley Tucci. He tweets @timlebbon.

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Find the book:

Goodreads | Amazon | IndieBound