This Eden

Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist Ed O'loughlin Returns With An Exhilarating Technothriller And Modern Spy Novel Reminiscent Of William Gibson And The Golden Age Of Panoramic International Espionage Fiction. Alice And Michael Meet At University: She Is A Young Computer Prodigy, He Is A Hapless Engineer. First Love Is Followed By A Rift, And Then Alice Disappears -- Suicide Is Suspected. Soon After, Michael Is Recruited By Campbell Fess, Founder Of The San Francisco Tech Firm Alice Had Been Doing Work For. But Upon Arrival, He Finds Himself At The Centre Of A Con Managed By A Spy Named Aoife, Who Leads Him To Her Handler, The Shape-shifting Government War-gamer Towse. Michael And Aoife Are Plunged Into An Urgent Struggle That Neither Of Them Understands -- One That Will Take Them By Air And Sea From California To New Jersey, The Ugandan Rainforest, Jordan, Jerusalem, Paris, And Finally Dublin, Where Fess's Crowning Achievement Will Be Unveiled. With This Eden, Ed O'loughlin Has Crafted The Spy Novel Into A Sharp And Engrossing Narrative Of A World Overrun By Cyber-warfare, Moral Bankruptcy, And The Assassination Of Identity. "This Eden is a delight, a rollicking ride that never lets up, with a surprising — and emotionally rich — ending." — Quill & Quire (Starred Review) Michael Atarian is out of his depth. The closest he ever came to working in tech was when he rode a delivery bike for a food app in Vancouver. Yet when his coder girlfriend dies, he is inexplicably headhunted by a sinister tech mogul and transplanted to Silicon Valley. There, a reluctant spy named Aoife lures him into the hands of an enigmatic war-gamer who tricks them both into joining his quest to save the world. Hunted by government agents and corporate goons, and manipulated at every turn, Aoife and Michael find themselves in an intercontinental chase that takes them from California to New York, from the forests of Uganda to Jerusalem, Gaza, Alexandria, and Paris, and to a final showdown with the truth in Dublin. Propulsive and richly entertaining, This Eden updates the classic spy novel for a world under mortal threat from cyber-warfare, feral money, runaway technology, and a cynical onslaught on truth itself. "Alice and Michael meet at university: she is a young computer prodigy, he is a hapless engineer. First love is followed by a rift, and then Alice disappears -- suicide is suspected. Soon after, Michael is recruited by Campbell Fess, founder of the San Francisco tech firm Alice had been doing work for. But upon arrival he finds himself at the centre of a con managed by a spy named Aoife, who leads him to her handler, the shape-shifting government war-gamer Towse. Michael and Aoife are plunged into an urgent struggle that neither of them understands -- one that will take them by air and sea from California to New Jersey, the Ugandan rainforest, Jordan, Jerusalem, Paris, and finally Dublin, where Fess's crowning achievement will be unveiled. With This Eden, Ed O'Loughlin has crafted the spy novel into a sharp and engrossing narrative of a world overrun by cyber-warfare, moral bankruptcy, and the assassination of identity."-- Provided by publisher