The Eden Test

by Adam Sternbergh

Overview

"A galloping and exhilarating thriller." —Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me

From Edgar Award-finalist Adam Sternbergh, an electrifying domestic suspense novel for fans of The Perfect Marriage and Rock Paper Scissors, about a couple who are forced to the ultimate extremes to save their marriage—and themselves.

Seven Days. Seven Questions. Forever Changed.

Daisy and Craig’s marriage is in serious trouble. That’s why Daisy has signed up for The Eden Test, a week-long getaway for couples in need of a fresh start. Yet even as she’s struggling to salvage her marriage, it seems Craig has plans to leave her for another woman. In fact, his bags are already packed—long before he arrives to meet Daisy in this remote cabin in the woods of upstate New York.

At first, their week away is marked by solitude, connection, and natural beauty—and only a few hostile locals. But what Craig doesn’t know is that Daisy, a slyly talented actress, has her own secrets, including a burner phone she’s been using for mysterious texts. Not to mention the Eden Test itself, which poses a searing new question to the couple every day, each more explosive than the last. Their marriage was never perfect, but now the lies and revelations are piling up, as the week becomes much more than they bargained for…How far are they willing to go?

Adam Sternbergh brings his wit, originality, and a Hitchcockian sense of dread to this chilling, surprising, and wholly entertaining portrait of a marriage on the brink.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250855664
Publisher:	Flatiron Books
Publication date:	04/25/2023
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	190,355
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 6.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Adam Sternbergh is an editor at The New York Times. He is the author of Shovel Ready, nominated for the Edgar Award; Near Enemy; and The Blinds. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/06/2023

At the start of this outstanding psychological thriller from Edgar finalist Sternbergh (The Blinds), seemingly picture-perfect Gotham pair Daisy, an actor, and Craig, a frustrated writer moldering as a “brand advocate,” are observing their second anniversary by heading to a remote cabin in Upstate New York to participate in a weeklong device-free program designed to help troubled couples repair their relationships. The premise of the so-called Eden Test program—“Seven Days, Seven Questions, Forever Changed”—couldn’t be simpler, though Craig and Daisy’s experience veers off-script almost immediately. Which may hardly be surprising since one of them has essentially been hoodwinked into participating, both are surreptitiously texting on forbidden phones—and neither has been anything approaching honest with the other concerning some explosive secrets, which the author skillfully teases to fan suspense. Toss in menacing locals none too fond of “citiots” (short for “city idiots”), firearms, a game-changer third-act curveball, and Gone Girl–level deception, and the result is one masterfully manipulative chiller just waiting for its close-up. Sternbergh has outdone himself. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 2023-02-23
A troubled marriage undergoes a stringent series of tests in the boondocks, dislodging secrets and upending expectations, including those of the reader, in this wry, sly chiller.

Craig and Daisy have been married for two years and, on the surface anyway, are living the dream: a Brooklyn home, steady work in the creative sector, and enough income to leave the city for a weeklong anniversary getaway in upstate New York, organized by Daisy as a surprise for Craig. But the title of this wickedly inventive, briskly paced psychological thriller is enough to suggest trouble in paradise. Sure enough, Craig has been planning to slink away the day after their anniversary for a separate getaway to Cabo San Lucas with his mistress, Lilith. The “Eden Test” is also the name of a series of questions waiting in the cabin, to be posed from one partner to another over the course of seven days, to test the strength of their marriage. The first question is “Would you change for me?” (As you can probably guess, they get harder each day.) Craig is, to say the least, not amused that Daisy has dropped this game on him, and at first, he’s even more determined to leave for Mexico. Eventually, Craig decides to stay after all just as things around the couple, notably the people living in the town nearest the cabin, get weirder. Some of the locals use the portmanteau citiots to characterize “city idiots” from Gotham like Craig and Daisy. Some pop into their space unexpectedly, including a hunter wearing a blaze orange cap whose “arms and shirt are smeared with slick and shiny blood.” Even the therapist couple who came up with the test questions show up, as does a mysterious “protector” named Shep who turns out to be somehow connected to one of the secrets Daisy’s been keeping. In darkly funny domestic gothics like this, false leads, red herrings, and jolting change-ups are part of the narrative decor. And Sternbergh—author of The Blinds (2017), etc.—shows he’s gotten even better at evoking bizarre behavior in seemingly normal environs and keeping his readers in the dark just long enough to make them jump when the lights, so to speak, come up.

This crafty storyline hooks you from the start. All you need to do is hang on for a wild ride.

Kirkus Reviews

"A galloping and exhilarating thriller, The Eden Test is about marriage and deception and it will have you rooting (against all odds) for the couple at its center." —Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me

"What makes a successful marriage? That's the question at the heart of this twisty, twisted, and compulsively readable thriller. It's Adam Sternbergh's best novel yet—full of smart and thoughtful questions about husbands, wives, and the secrets of domestic bliss." —Jason Rekulak, author of Hidden Pictures

"An utterly gripping thriller that pulls off a tidy trick—The Eden Test is about deceit, infidelity, and violence, yet somehow is also a thoughtful story about how to make a happy marriage." —Rumaan Alam, National Book Award nominated author of Leave the World Behind

"Adam Sternbergh has quickly become one of my favorite novelists. His books are the perfect combination of high concept/flawless execution. The Eden Test continues his winning streak—twisty, timely, and darkly comic. I loved it." —Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author of Lady in the Lake

"The Eden Test is addictive, fleet and thrillingly (and pointedly) of our moment, leaving you spent and exhilarated, with a lingering and potent frisson at just how close to home it’s struck. And with it, Adam Sternbergh proves himself the Ira Levin of our times, dancing from genre to genre while also skillfully intermingling and overturning them. His latest may be his most bravura feat yet." —Megan Abbott, bestselling author of The Turnout

"A perfect recipe for some emotionally heavy suspense." —CrimeReads

“[A] wry, sly chiller. . . Wickedly inventive, briskly paced. . . . Darkly funny. . . . Crafty. . . . Hang on for a wild ride.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“Outstanding. . . . One masterfully manipulative chiller just waiting for its close-up. Sternbergh has outdone himself.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Publisher

In this psychological thriller, Daisy and Craig are a couple who have had trouble staying faithful to each other. They go to a cabin in the woods to take the Eden Test, which asks seven questions of each of them. The answers will tell whether or not they should stay together. Narrator Carlotta Brentan performs fascinating monologues of Daisy and Craig. She captures the rhythm and the cadence of each of their voices and does a fine job of revealing their distinct personalities. As the story unfolds and Daisy and Craig find themselves in physical danger, Brentan's ability to ramp up the tension to an excruciating level will have listeners squirming in their earbuds. The ending will be a surprise. E.E.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

MAY 2023 - AudioFile

In this psychological thriller, Daisy and Craig are a couple who have had trouble staying faithful to each other. They go to a cabin in the woods to take the Eden Test, which asks seven questions of each of them. The answers will tell whether or not they should stay together. Narrator Carlotta Brentan performs fascinating monologues of Daisy and Craig. She captures the rhythm and the cadence of each of their voices and does a fine job of revealing their distinct personalities. As the story unfolds and Daisy and Craig find themselves in physical danger, Brentan's ability to ramp up the tension to an excruciating level will have listeners squirming in their earbuds. The ending will be a surprise. E.E.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

MAY 2023 - AudioFile