The latest Catholic novel by Kevin Rush delivers sci-fi thrills and spiritual insights.

“Everything’s impossible, until somebody does it.”

In Harvesting Eden, Kevin Rush, author of Earthquake Weather and The Lance and the Veil, returns to the coming-of-age genre with a fantastic tale of grief, abandonment, struggle, and redemption. Sixteen-year-old Tara Hartzwell, mourning the loss of her identical twin sister Teri, stands on the brink of a spiritual abyss, until a mystery girl appears, drawing Tara into an intragalactic struggle that might be the key to recovering the life she was ready to throw away.

“So, don’t tell me what a friend I have in Jesus, Father, ’cause as friends go, He’s not all that. And I really think I might be better off without Him.”

Tara jerked her head hard to the side and stared into the distance. She barely heard Father’s voice, sort of a verbal shrug, say, “That’s the predominant way of the world.”

“Then give me that world,” she muttered.

Harvesting Eden is at once a fast-paced sci-fi rollercoaster, a spiritual odyssey, and a challenge to the insidious seductions of today’s Woke agenda. Tara’s journey to the far reaches of space and the deepest recesses of her soul, forces her to ask whether peace is possible for a creature at odds with its Creator.

Why this book? Why now?

I often say that I write to get the stories out of my head so they stop bothering me. This one has been hammering at me, demanding to be written, for about 20 years. I had the idea for it shortly after finishing Earthquake Weather, when I first went to work, teaching Religious Studies at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield, CA. But other writing projects took precedence, such as, The Lance and the Veil. So, I kept churning Harvesting Eden over in my mind. I’ll say one thing for Tara Hartzwell: she’s tenacious. The girl wouldn’t let go of me until I put her story to rest.

There were challenges to constructing this narrative, which I very much enjoyed:

  • Weaving Biblical references like dropped Easter eggs throughout a contemporary and futuristic narrative
  • Constructing a parallel world peppered with parallel characters
  • Creating a godless society where the twisted logic that justifies abortion is pushed to its extreme
  • Presenting the power of prayer as an active force without a deus ex machina event disrupting the narrative.

There’s a lot going on beneath the surface of Eden, which I hope makes for enjoyable reading.

As an avid gardener, I had fun exploiting the many ways I could present Eden imagery, story elements, and theological teachings. As Christians, we know the story comes full circle from the first Eden, where God breathes life into Adam and Eve, (who throw it all away by denying His will), to Gethsemane, where Jesus undergoes His agony as He says “Yes,” to the Father, to that new Eden, the graveyard of Our Lord’s resurrection, where He’s mistaken for the gardener, a sly admission that He is the new Adam. Savvy readers will recognize these moments represented in Harvesting Eden. They might also pick up references to other Biblical figures and The Seven Deadly Sins. To me, infusing the story with elements of the faith I cherish was a large part of the fun to writing this book, So, I hope readers find it edifying and entertaining.

I’m not sure this is the right time to be releasing a novel about a dystopian society, given how bizarre our world has become in the last decade. But perhaps, like 1984 before it, this tale can serve as a warning about utopian goals pursued with arrogant zeal and a disdain for classical wisdom and natural law. I also hope it succeeds on the personal level, to touch readers who’ve experienced grief to a point where they’ve yearned for the void. To anyone who ever thought to douse their brief candle, I hope this casts a ray of eternal light.

I don’t claim that Harvesting Eden is an easy read, like, say The Wedding Routine. But I hope thoughtful readers enjoy their time with Tara on her journey.

Order your print copy of Harvesting Eden today!

For Harvesting Eden and The Wedding Routine 2: Destination Lyon, I thought I would try IngramSparks, which is reputed to have better distribution options than Amazon. We’ll see. You can order a print copy of Harvesting Eden directly from IngramSparks here. If you prefer to shop at Amazon, use this link.

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