Eden by Tim Lebbon is a brutal survival story about a group of adventurers that try to cross a zone that they shouldn’t be in in the first place. The deeper they get, the more dangerous they realize this area is…

When we first meet the crew, we learn that they pride themselves on going to remote areas to test their abilities to race and beat other teams to accomplish certain feats.

Eden is something special. It’s an area of land that has been protected to give it back to the world with no more humans interfering. The borders are heavily guarded. Of course, this crew just can’t help but plan a trip to go in…

When they finally cross the border enter the zone itself, they feel that the area is a bit off. They also notice that it is far too quiet… But that doesn’t stop them. They very quickly begin their trek to cross the zone.

A couple days in, they start finding bodies. Soon, they realize that there was a lot more to fear than they originally thought.

Will they make it out, or will Eden claim them just like it has claimed the roads and buildings?

Phew, I hated all of these characters so very much. The author did an amazing job setting up the groundwork here. I totally understood the draw that the characters felt, but I was also so mad at these people for totally disregarding the rules and putting the whole area at risk.

So of course, when the area begins to fight back, I was rooting for Eden.

I don’t want to give too much away, so the last couple of things I will touch on are the scenes where they began to find bodies and the terrifying action scenes… My god were these scenes all extremely haunting. If you’ve read this book, you’ll know exactly what I am talking about. If you are going to read it soon, you’ll know what I mean when you hit each one. Good luck to you!

Press together in Aaron’s bivvy bag, sharing warmth and comfort against the storm, the sense that they were the only place of calm in a world of thunder and chaos with strong. Wind howled along the canyon like a roar from something unseen. Trees shook in the darkness, groaning together, shedding leaves and limbs that merged with the gale. Rain sheeted through the air, caught in swirls and updraughts, impacting exposed skin like hail. Lightning strobed their surroundings, and thunder boomed in the distance. As the space between flash and crash grew closer, the wind and rain seemed to grow wilder in anticipation.

The four of them swept their head torches up from the ground and probed the night before them. Eyes glimmered back. Deep red, hellish. Two sets, then three, at different heights and different distances.

I really enjoyed this read and I thought it was interesting how much I sided with nature over the characters. I did find it a bit too repetitive for my taste in a few areas. However, this is a tale that I would very likely pick up again down the road to relive the terror!

This is a must read for fans of survival horror.