River of Eden

by Glenna McReynolds

Book Overview

Bad-boy scientist Will Travers may have an Ivy League mind but he's got the spirit of the jungle in his heart and the kiss of the Amazon on his body. River of Eden With his sun-bronzed skin, a week's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 055358393X
• ISBN13: 9780553583939
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.9" x 0.9" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

What a great surprise!

I've read Ms. McReynolds' past work, which was a really good fantasy/romance trilogy, so I was surprised to see that River of Eden is a contemporary. I almost didn't pick it up, but I'm so glad I did! This is a "go up the river into the jungle and accomplish a great feat against all odds" story. There are riverboat chases, and multiple levels of bad-buys double-crossing our intrepid hero/heroine (and each other). It's FUN, but it has a serious underlying theme of mysticism and redemption that is fascinating and different. Most of all, River of Eden is a love story on many different levels. It's about self-love, consuming love of a place, and oh yeah, a believable love between two really interesting people, Will and Annie.Will and Annie are great characters. Each of them is running from something, and running toward something else in the desperate hope that their destination will be enough to absolve them of past crimes, real and imagined. This is no light wise-cracking duo - these two are carrying some major baggage, some of it metaphysical/mystical in nature. Sometimes backstory like that can drag a romance down fast, but in River of Eden the hero and heroine are well-matched in their derring-do and their emotional wariness, so it's rewarding to watch them deal with each other and eventually, slowly, give in to their attraction for each other. I really enjoyed both of them individually and as a pair.The setting of this book takes on a life of its own, and the lush, lyrical quality of the narrative makes you feel like you can feel the rain and see the vegetation. It's almost a visual novel in its depth and feel. This is something River of Eden has in common with McReynolds' previous books, though the setting was very different in the fantasy trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed River of Eden and think you will too if you liked Romancing the Stone (the movie) or Heart of Fire by Linda Howard (the novel). Check it out. I don't think you'll be sorry.