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Pub date March 11, 2025

Enterprising Books

ISBN ‎ 979-8992731507

Price $13.99 (USD) Paperback, $9.99 Kindle edition

Author interview

A biochemist haunted by grief must reckon with faith, myth, and mortality after uncovering a mysterious artifact in Lew’s speculative thriller. Still mourning her boyfriend’s death, biochemist Jodie joins a mission to study a microbial dead zone in the Kalahari Desert, an ominous void that could foreshadow ecological collapse. The discovery of a smooth, black stone—long whispered to be Cain’s weapon—throws Jodie into a growing storm of science, superstition, and fate.

Lew turns a high-concept premise into a deeply personal story. The scientific mystery behind the dead zone serves as a springboard into larger questions of belief, grief, and redemption. Jodie is a compelling heroine: sharp, wounded, and deeply human. Lew populates the story with well-drawn secondary characters. His prose, while often lyrical, is grounded in physical experience. The scenes where the stone bleeds, or when Jodie is transported back in time, are drawn with startling clarity. The ending is both intimate and epic in its implications. While metaphysical thrillers can veer into abstraction, this one stays rooted in emotional authenticity. Jodie’s grief is not a plot device; it is the story’s emotional core. Her desire to return to Eden is less about salvation than about reunion, closure, and the longing to undo the past.

An inventive debut that blends ancient myth and cutting-edge science into a story that feels both timely and timeless.

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