“Searching for Eden”
Author: Keith Madsen
Evan Jordan’s life is turned upside down by the unfortunate death of his fourteen-year-old daughter. How does one even begin to handle that? He is lost and hurting and trying to find peace within himself. Before his daughter passed away she had expressed an interest in the Garden of Eden. In an attempt to find something he needs, although he is unsure what it is he is seeking, he sets out to find the Garden.
Evan is not sure if the Garden is fact or fiction but he realizes a quest of this magnitude requires more knowledge on the subject than he possesses. He sets out to recruit help. Somehow he manages to convince a beautiful archaeologist to accompany him while at the same time he manages to rescue a young girl from a life of prostitution. Coincidentally the girl he saves is the same age as his deceased daughter.
Evan’s journey takes him through Iran and Iraq where he meets wonderful people from differing religions who all pull together to help him find what he’s looking for. They scour the lands searching for clues to the Garden of Eden’s location until they anger the Iranian government because they were too close to nuclear sites. At this point the journey becomes part quest and part rescue mission.
All in all I found “Searching For Eden” to be a touching story but at times it definitely bordered on the unbelievable side. This is a fictional book; however, the backdrop is centered in the Middle East which makes it challenging to remember the genre of “fiction” and the strong religious current throughout the book didn’t help either.
The author, Keith Madsen, does a great job of being descriptive and it’s easy to empathize with the book’s characters. Madsen comes across as knowledgeable about the countries traversed within this tale and at times he provides a very different perspective on the varying religions. His writing style is informative yet fun making it easy to follow. At times there was a little too much “drama” for my own personal taste but overall I found it to be a well written book. To sum up: a good read with a powerful message.