This was such a crazy, propulsive read, I was never quite sure who was zooming who but there was no stopping to go back and try and clarify things. A real "runaway train" of a read. The characters are fully formed but so enigmatic it keeps you guessing as to whose side they are on, and the ending is so emotionally satisfying.

What I liked best about Ed O’Loughlin’s last novel (Minds of Winter) was its history-spanning, globe-trotting audaciousness; its fascinating, disparate threads knotting themselves into a thoroughly satisfying tapestry. While his latest, This Eden, is set firmly in the present — the action plays out right up to the moment people around the world start wearing medical masks when they venture outside — it is no less audacious, trotting itself over even more of the globe in a thrilling game of Spy vs Spy while a Doomsday Clock ticks its steady way towards midnight. Fintech, AI, Black Ops, War Games; every Deep State nightmare scenario is playing out at once and even the characters don’t know who the good guys are; please tell me none of this can happen irl. O’Loughlin had me on the edge of my seat through most of this and I will happily read whatever he comes out with next.