If J. J. Abrams, Margaret Atwood, and Alan Weisman collaborated on a novel \u2026 it might be this awesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the twelfth expedition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their group is made up of four women: an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist\u2014the de facto leader\u2014and a biologist, who is our narrator. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers\u2014they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life-forms that surpass understanding\u2014but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCarolyn McCormick narrates increasingly disturbing events with an unwavering calm that makes the listening experience all the more chilling\u2026McCormick gives a haughty, deep voice to the psychologist, the leader of the group whose intentions may not be what they seem. Her arrogant tone contrasts nicely with the gritty and increasingly anxious tones of the surveyor as the group uncovers deadly secrets better left alone.\u201d \u2014<\/em>AudioFile<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA little Kubrick, a lot Lovecraft, the novel builds with an unbearable tension and a claustrophobic dread that linger long afterward.\u201d \u2014<\/em>Lauren Beukes, Sunday Times <\/em>(London) bestselling author<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA captivating meander\u2026that veers between the beautiful and the terrifying.\u201d \u2014<\/em>Entertainment Weekly<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA deeply imaginative little shocker\u2026full of metaphysical-graffiti imagery and tightly executed reveals that stay with you long afterward.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Wired<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA wonderfully creepy blend of horror and science fiction\u2026Speculative fiction at its most transfixing.\u201d\u00a0-Revista Kirkus<\/em>\u00a0(starred review)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBrilliant\u2026Evocative descriptions\u2026masterful psychological insight, and intellectual observations both profound and disturbing.\u201d \u2014<\/em>Publishers Weekly<\/em> (starred review)<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":22378,"template":"","format":[181],"meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"book-author":[940],"blockchain":[4],"book-genre":[],"narrator":[941],"book-publisher":[165],"series":[662],"class_list":["post-22377","book-dea","type-book-dea","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book-author-jeff-vandermeer","blockchain-cardano","format-audiobook","narrator-carolyn-mccormick","book-publisher-blackstone-pub","series-blackstone-banned-audiobooks"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n