Review: The Murder of Adam and Eve by William Dietrich

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.

Clare's review 5 of 5 stars

I picked this book up to review after reading the blurb, science fiction isn't always my preference but this one sounded intriguing. The story starts off with Nick, a young man trying his hardest to win a scholarship and will stop at nothing to achieve it. On his mission for information he stumbles across aliens who ate trying to help Earth and prevent it from destroying itself. After a chance meeting with a girl called Ellie, Nick along with Ellie must pass three tests in order to travel back in time to save Adam and Eve from an alien who wants to reset the Earth and change the future.

I chose this book purely because it sounded interesting and I have to say I am glad I did. Nick and Ellie's characters are interesting and well written and complement each other throughout the story. The descriptions within the book were also very well written and I found myself completely immersed throughout the whole book, I actually managed to finish it in one go, it is a full length novel but it was so interesting I didn't want to put it down.

There is a religious element to this story although the story doesn't depict the story of Adam and Eve as the Bible does, it is more of a scientist's perception.

I would recommend this story to anyone looking for a change in genre or anyone looking for something to make the brain work a little harder. A wonderfully written story that would keep anybody engrossed for hours.