THE EDEN DECEPTION

A debut novel focuses on a soldier in Iraq who discovers a mysterious relic.

Will Eastgate is a special ops soldier helping to recover lost treasures in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom. When he unearths a strange tablet, he finds himself in the middle of an ancient religious struggle, running for his life and trying to figure out the motives of those chasing him. That leads him to Olivia Nazarian, an Assyriologist at Cambridge University, famous for writing a book that may have uncovered the location of the Garden of Eden. Eastgate enlists her help in unlocking the tablet’s secrets only to find that Samir Zana, one of her students, is part of the Flaming Sword, an organization whose centuries-old mission is to protect the site of Eden to prevent humans from defying God by reentering the Garden. Swain has populated this thriller with a host of intriguing supporting characters, including Olivia’s father, Dashni, the British foreign secretary; Pearl, a high-level freelance hacker and an old college fraternity mate of Eastgate’s; and Reso Zana, Samir’s controlling father and another member of the Flaming Sword. The author keeps the action exciting and the story moving swiftly as Eastgate and Olivia traverse England and the Middle East. Swain describes each location in vivid detail, as when he writes about the snowmelt from the mountains running through the streets of Tehran. Similarly, the author’s research into religion and politics helps bring the tale to life. It’s not until the very end that the enjoyable story starts to fall apart. After maintaining an impressive pace throughout, with the exception of an occasional unnecessary infodump meant to mark the year something is happening, the novel delivers a multitude of plot twists at the end that feel forced. They too conveniently contradict the elements that made the tale captivating in the first place.

An adventure-filled thriller, brimming with vibrant historical and geographical details, with a disappointing resolution.