The Murder of Adam and Eve
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
In this fast-paced and though-provoking thriller, two teens time-travel to prehistoric Africa to judge whether to save our ancestors: the genetic "Adam" and "Eve" whose descendants will go on to populate the world. When 16-year-old Nick Brynner explores an old fort on a forbidden island for a school history project, he stumbles onto a time wormhole. What follows is a mysteriously deserted village with a prowling sentry that looks like a gargoyle, and narrow escape with the help of fellow teen Eleanor Terrell. The two are hurtled into a grim series of challenges by an alien race called the Xu, which are considering a Reset of human history because of our poor planetary stewardship. If Adam and Eve are murdered, will another couple, or another species, do better? Nick and Ellie are ruthlessly deposited onto the African savanna of fifty thousand years ago, and the hunt is on. The Murder of Adam and Eve is a coming of age story, a love story, a war story, and an environmental fable with a deliberately provocative ending, inspired by such books as "Walkabout," "Ishmael," "Lord of the Flies," and the author's own "Getting Back." William Dietrich brings the same storytelling skills to this tale that he used in his bestselling Ethan Gage historical thrillers and other adventure reads. He is the bestselling author of twenty books that have sold into nearly thirty languages.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this uneven tale, two modern teens are selected by aliens to travel back in time to prehistoric Africa, in order to protect the ancestors of the human race the genetic Adam and Eve from premature extinction. Picked seemingly at random, 16-year-old Nick Brynner and Eleanor Terrell must decide whether mankind is worthy of its existence, or if the powerful Xu should alter history to give a different species the chance to take its place. As they journey across the Africa of 50,000 BCE in what's essentially a needle-in-a-haystack mission, they struggle to survive while engaging in lengthy debates about humanity's good and bad moments, and its ultimate impact on the Earth. Dietrich (the Ethan Gage series) eschews subtlety in this environmentally minded tale, which contains poetic passages about the pristine beauty of the untouched, savage savannah, while condemning humans for our modern excesses and behavior. The plot's potential is lost in a sea of logistical oversights, mild racism (the teens decide to call the first African caveman they meet "Boy"), and a gotcha ending. Ages 12 up. (BookLife)