Marriage's complexities naturally supply an abundance of intrigue, suspense, and even betrayal, as Adam Sternbergh (The Blinds; Shovel Ready) depicts with impressive detail in The Eden Test. Although Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl set a high standard for disintegrating marriages, Sternbergh's fourth novel surpasses even that. This psychological thriller explores the relationship of a couple: their initial passion, their lies and infidelities, and their last-chance attempt to salvage their marriage.
Without telling her husband, Craig, Daisy enrolls the couple for their second wedding anniversary in the expensive Eden Test program; she hopes its motto--"Seven Days, Seven Questions, Forever Changed"--can save their troubled marriage. Craig arrives at the remote cabin in upstate New York, already in a bad mood after the three-hour drive from New York City and upset it'll be a full week without devices, including television. He is especially concerned he will miss his trip to Mexico with his married lover: he has already packed his bags and plans to leave the marriage. Daisy's motives are unclear as Sternbergh carefully metes out the lies and secrets that propel her.
Highly charged deceptions flow through The Eden Test. Daisy and Craig, who hide much from each other, are unsatisfied with their careers and their life together. Sternbergh excels at showing how little each knows the other. Tension bubbles from their relationship; from the isolated, bucolic setting that, as Craig notes, feels a bit "off"; and from local residents who resent the foundation's "citiots" ("city idiots"). The violence that erupts surprises--but isn't unexpected. Each plot point keeps readers deliciously off-kilter. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer