Review: Crashing Eden

Michael Sussman
218 pages

summary:
For one boy and his friends, the path to Paradise comes at a cost—one they may not be prepared to pay.

When a biking accident leaves 17-year-old Joss Kazdan with the ability to hear things others can’t, reality as he knows it begins to unravel.

A world of legends exists beyond the ordinary life he’s always known, and he is transported to the same Paradise he’s studying in World Mythology. But the strange gets even stranger when his new friends build a device that delivers people through the gates of the Garden of Eden.

Now Samael, the Creator God, is furious. As Samael rains down his apocalyptic devastation on the ecstasy-seeking teens, Joss and his companions must find a way to appease Samael—or the world will be destroyed forever.

Crashing Eden by Michael Sussman follows Joss Kazdan, a boy already on probation with a "movie star face". Joss is miserable, living with the guilt of his brother's suicide and drowns in his self-hatred. One day, while on his bike ride home, he crashes into a car door feeling relieved and sure it's the end for him.

However he wakes up to find he is suffering from a head injury, especially at his right temple.
He realises something is different from before he crashed, he can hear a sort of sound that no-one else seems to be able to hear,  soon he starts to think that perhaps he is delusional and the sound is as his shrink says, part of a 'manic defense', however it he still has doubts. Until he meets a beautiful woman named Shakti, who has an explanation for all his confusion.

From the first page this book captured me, it was the style of writing that carries you across the page and doesn't let you put it down. Joss is realistic and an entirely believable character and despite his troubles and all his misery he keeps himself up for his little sister, Callie.

I love how the sound seems to change Joss as he comes out of his misery and lets go of the self-hatred, it changes his attitude towards everything, including hospital food. I loved the unique idea behind the book and Sussman presented the fictional world to us in a way that left you wanting more.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book a lot! Definitely worth a read!
FOUR STARS