The Devil's Garden [Paperback]

'Wilbur Smith once told me that adventure novels set in South America don't really work. Well, it always takes a young pup to prove an old dog wrong. Here comes Edward Docx, author of the acclaimed Self Help, to do just that, and fabulously well. Along the way, there are many incidental satisfactions. Some lie in Docx's expert laying out of scene after scene, but the greater art is in his refusal to dramatise or even disclose everything. Even readers not in love with that genre [the thriller] will enjoy the pleasures of Docx's writing . . . a novel which is as full of intellectual provocations as it is of suspenseful turns.' --Giles Foden, Guardian

'Docx dexterously conjures up the drought-stricken jungle: the suffocating, soupy atmosphere, fascinating wildlife, and startling beauty. The palette of sky hues alone is spine-tinglingly beautiful . . . The escalating threat and the way in which a history of exploitation, hypocrisy and corruption breeds further immortality and violence, are reminiscent of novels by JM Coetzee or Damon Galgut. This poisoned Eden throbs with intensity, and delivers a gut punch that leaves you reeling.' --Independent on Sunday

'A confident and compelling novel, which also takes in intrigue and adventure, terror and torture, drugs and booze . . . It's a riveting Conradian page-turner that's packed with devilish food for thought. What's not to like?' --Dazed and Confused

'So powerfully evoked in the opening chapters is this Conradian world of philosophical dwelling on western progress v primeval nature, that it is disconcerting to be reminded, via references to satellite dishes and computers, that we are in 2011 . . . The Devil's Garden represents the curious reverse case of looking at the present through the lens of the past. The action sentences are convincingly adrenaline-soaked.' --Sunday Times

'A tumultuous journey of danger and suspense . . . Docx allows his writing to feed off of our natural fears and for much of the novel you get the feeling that the world is closing in around you. There's plenty here to keep you on the edge of your seat' --Libri Populous

'There is a palpable sense of foreboding right from the first page of The Devil's Garden . . . Docx, with his spare, strong prose, spins an eerie tale of love, violence and obsession. With its unusual setting, amidst the Indian tribes of an unnamed jungle, this is one of the most original books we've read in some time.' --What's On

'The Devil's Garden reads like a thriller but has fascinating moral and political dimensions. The description of the jungle is horrific, making this a great contender as a Heart of Darkness for the 21st century.' --Patrick Neale, The Bookseller

'Starting with the ominous sentence, "There is only one way out: the river", The Devil's Garden anatomizes a deadly clash between the ruthless agents of big business and politics and a hapless group of scientists and native Indians in a contemporary Amazonian-style setting. Narrated by Dr Forle, who is researching jungle ants, the novel makes valuable points about the dark side of mankind, as well as the desperation needed to stay alive.' --Rodney Troubridge, The Bookseller

`Written with the economy of a political thriller, Docx relates how Forle - a man with a difficult past - is gradually drawn into a small scale conflict...Reminiscent of Damon Glagut and Brian Moore, Docx conjures up an amoral universe inhabited by chancers and damaged loners. For those not so enamoured of the novel's human cast, the spell of the rainforest is hard to resist: from the constant insect trill `like some great tinnitus', to skies that change from `wan and smoky blue' to `peach and pale vermillion'.
--The Lady

`Corruption is a theme that leaches into the story from the bottom up: the ants, the immediate jungle conflict, the invasiveness of Western society... Written in punch action-packed paragraphs...`
--The Economist

Dr Forle is a scientist on a river station deep in the heart of the South American jungle: the last inhabited point before the impassable interior. He is studying the eerie forest glades that the local tribes call ‘devil’s gardens’. Who or what has created these cursed and poisoned places? The answer, he hopes, will change the way we think about life itself. But as The Devil’s Garden opens, work on the station is thrown into chaos by the arrival of a ruthless Colonel and a sinister Judge. They claim to be registering the indigenous peoples to vote and yet that night Forle witnesses an act of torture that he cannot ignore. From that moment on, he is drawn deeper and deeper into a world of brutality and corruption until he finds himself in the midst of a small war involving remote tribes, renegade soldiers, cocaine growers and the woman he has come to love. When one of his assistants is murdered, Forle is forced to abandon his life’s work and take sides. What kind of a man is he?