Cruel Eden

by Tim Haines

It is 1916 and two British soldiers slump into the bottom of a German trench exhausted by their charge across no man’s land. Far from being allowed to rest they are joined by a manic Captain Edward Malone determined to drag them further into the German lines on what he calls a ‘monster hunt’. Malone is about to discover the terrible legacy his past has unleashed.

Best selling author, and creator of Walking with Dinosaurs, Tim Haines conjures up an epic tale of man versus Nature picking up from where Conan Doyle left his story ‘The Lost World’ in 1912. Ranging from the brutal wastelands of the Western Front to the dark mysteries of the Amazonian rainforest, ‘Cruel Eden’ tells the story of two characters, Thomas Challenger and Milly Summerlee, as they follow in their parents’ footsteps and discover the unforeseen legacy of the first expedition to the lost plateau. In doing so they discover there is something more lethal than guns and bombs, more terrifying than carnivorous dinosaurs and that is a dangerous idea.

351 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 12, 2018

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cruel Eden has a great premise, but this is a book that cries out for a good editor, and I really do hate making that comment. At times, the writing shows great promise, but it's very difficult to become engaged in the protagonists' stories because their point of view is quite distant, and we bounce from one situation to another, from one character to another, with no strong uniting thread. Speaking as an editor, I think this book would be excellent if the author slowed down, focused on the protagonists, chopped out a lot of side characters, and tidied up the plot progression. Great cover, by the way -- that is what initially attracted me to the book.