The Gardener

Mason has never known his father. All he has concerning him is a DVD of a man reading a children's book. One day, at the nursing home where his mother works, he plays the DVD for a group of comatose teens. One of them, a beautiful girl, responds. Mason soon learns that she is part of an experiment to produce autotrophs, genetically engineered, self-sustaining life-forms. Mason wants to help and soon he is on the run with the girl, chased by those who control the program for the mysterious mastermind, the Gardener. I found "The Gardener" to be outstanding. This first-person narrative has it all, great adventure, danger, superb dialog and strong interesting characters. As with most well written stories of the genre, it has just the right amount of science fiction to seem plausible. The action and suspense keep the reader involved to the end. SciFi fans will find it truly enjoyable. Well done.

While intended for the Young Adult market, if you love Sci-fi you will love this book whatever your age! A stupendous read that will keep you enthralled from the first page to the last, The Gardener is some of the best Sci-fi to cross my desk since The Hunger Games. Move this one straight to the top of your summer reading list!

Although S.A. Bodeen's new sci-fi thriller The Gardener is somewhat predictable in its plot layout due to the cover subtitle blurb telling you outright what the story entails, and is formulaic in its execution, this new novel is still an outstanding science fiction read for teens and adults alike. This thought provoking book allows the reader to think ahead to the future of the human race and to the many problems our descendants will face regarding declining food supplies caused by the increasing warnings of global warming and over population that are rapidly depleting the world's resources. Mason, a 15 year old biology enthusiast is raised in Oregon by a single mom who works at a mysterious facility called The Haven of Peace in which Mason has always been led to believe was a rest home for the elderly. He never knew his dad, the only experience of his father he ever had was a short home movie on a DVD that his mother gave him, that shows his faceless father reading to him from a children's book, The Runaway Bunny. One night while visiting his mom for the first time at the Haven, he finds a group of comatose like teenagers being cared for by his mother. As she steps away for a minute leaving Mason alone, one of the young girls wakes up while Mason is passing the time watching his dad's DVD. The girl seems to have reacted and awoken by listening to the words from Runaway Bunny. Laila, an angelic-like teenage girl, fascinates Mason, and as she comes to life she pleads with him to take her away from there, to help her escape, that the "Gardener is coming!" From this point on this creative young adult novel becomes a fast-paced sci-tech thrill ride as Mason and his best friend Jack, hijack Laila to a mountain cabin and soon realize they have gotten in over their heads and have embarked on a terrifying journey into the world of genetic engineering, and a lab experiment gone haywire created by scientists hell-bent on solving the problem of future starvation on planet Earth. As both Mason and Laila uncover horrifying mysteries surrounding both their pasts that reveal clues of their parents startling involvement with a company called TroDyn, the reader is caught up in issues of right and wrong, morals and values amidst the world of biology and genetics, and will wonder just what is ethical when planning the future survival of our children and the generations to come. The Gardener is enjoyable, fun, well written and creative. I give it high points for innovation alone. And, it appears, for once, a stand-alone book and not an installment of a multi-book series which in itself is a breath of fresh air!

What if humans didn't need food to survive? Mason is a quiet teenager, fascinated by science. A biology teacher encourages him to apply for a summer program through TroDyn Industries. There's just one problem... Mason's mom despises TroDyn. Mason sneaks in to see his mom at the nursing home where she works... and his whole world is changed. Now, Mason is on the run with a girl in tow and TroDyn hot on his heels. Has TroDyn done the unthinkable and created an autotroph? And just who is this mysterious Gardener that the girl fears? THE GARDENER is a tale that horrifies even as it educates. S.A. Bodeen weaves together scientific facts and population theories to create a fascinating science fiction tale that is all too realistic. There is one scene in particular that still haunts me at the sheer audacity and scope of TroDyn's plans. S.A. Bodeen's ingenuity at crafting questions about how far a species will go to survive is part of what makes THE GARDENER so intriguing. One can't help but wonder "what if", especially with the scientific background making the concept seem credible. Mason is the perfect hero figure to make THE GARDENER work. S.A. Bodeen provides a background history on him that highlights his need to help others in distress, providing a basis for why he'd be willing to abandon everything to help Laila (the girl escaping the nursing home). Part of what makes THE GARDENER so enthralling is that the reader begins to care about the characters and what happens to them. S.A. Bodeen does a marvelous job at making even her secondary characters multidimensional, therefore heightening the suspense as circumstances endanger each and every one of them. THE GARDENER is an excellent tale for young adults and one that will prompt many thought provoking discussions. However, it is also a book that can be enjoyed by adults since the storyline and character development take center development, with minimal to no teenage angst. I look forward to reading other tales by S.A. Bodeen if THE GARDENER is any indication of her talent. Bravo!

This book came in the mail two days ago. As the kids were out riding bikes, I sat down for a moment, meaning only to read the back-cover; but the next thing I knew we were ordering out for dinner... and I had finished the book before falling asleep. Which is to say that I liked this book quite a bit. THE GARDENER is a mystery/adventure story with a sci-fi backdrop. Mason's the boy at the center of everything. He's a smart kid who lives with his mother in a factory-town. Or what would be a factory town, except that everything is either owned or supported by a high tech firm, TroDyn, instead of some iron mill company. Mason's life is proceeding more or less normally until his Biology teacher suggests that he fill out a summer apprenticeship application to work at Trodyn. It this one suggestion and his efforts to get his mom to agree to it that sets off the adventure, and which leads Mason to find out that nearly nothing in his life is what it appears to be. TALKING POINTS::: THE GARDENER is a book for Middle Graders on up. There's no bad language although there is some innuendo which older kids might get, but which would fly by younger readers such as my 10 year-old. One of the intriguing assets of this book are the questions that the author raises regarding society and survival; and where, if anywhere, the rights of children begin in regards to having a 'normal childhood'. [I could see this engendering some interesting discussions.] It's a fast read with lots of adventure and with no slow moments to speak of. It should appeal to guys-- ie, it's not chicklit. AR is generic "5", which is to say that it's was written with a 5th Grade vocabulary.