Review of Zona: The Forbidden Land
Posted: 19 Sep 2021, 11:15
[Following is a volunteer review of "Zona: The Forbidden Land" by Fred G. Baker.]
What starts as a mystery adventure story, Zona: The Forbidden Land, by Fred G. Baker takes a hard right turn to the unimaginable and peculiar. Set in today’s St. Petersburg, Russia, it also ventures into the unknown and undiscovered areas of the arctic circle. The story moves from the known to the unknown at the turn of the page and has a little taste of everything from mystery and adventure to romance and fantasy. Fred G. Baker certainly nourishes a continued curiosity in this prose.
After the mysterious loss of his uncle, Dr. Grant Taylor has been whipped away from his cozy professor life in Chicago to the cold and mysterious streets of St. Petersburg, Russia. As he settles into life in St. Petersburg, Grant meets Irina Ustinov, the niece of Randall’s best friend and lawyer, Boris. Together they work to sort through Randall’s many expeditions. While his friendship with Irina grows, Grant is contacted by a Russian Government official who alerts Grant that Irina and Boris may know more than they have led him to believe. The agent gives Grant the journal of his Uncle Randall’s expedition to Zona, which leads to more mystery and unanswered questions.
Grant is curious about the disappearance of his uncle and is determined to find out what happened on his Uncle’s last expedition to Zona. The deeper Grant looks into the mystery, the more bizarre the adventure continues to be. With a colorful cast to aid him, Grant joins a large team to continue the expedition his uncle started and to discover the truth of the arctic circle and Zona. Grant’s ultimate desire is to discover what happened to his uncle and if there might be a chance he could still be alive. From enormous dire wolves to sabretooth cats, Zona is nothing like what I was expecting.
This book was an adventure and always kept me guessing. I like a book that is unpredictable and keeps the mystery going until the very end. I also enjoyed all the different characters that Grant met. Each one was unique, but also relatable. I enjoyed that not all characters got along, it made the whole story and dynamic of the characters feel more realistic.
Although the mystery was thick throughout the story, Fred G. Baker left several loose ends that still have me wondering what the purpose was of including them in the story. I hope this means a sequel is coming to explain the disappearance of the journal and also the mystery of the maid at the hotel Grant was staying at. Additionally, the romance with the assorted and various characters intensifies and becomes unorthodox. The growth of relationships is enjoyable, but how it is depicted in the story feels unnatural and in some ways forced.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. This book was edited professionally as I did not find a single error. The story is well written and includes a large amount of mystery and adventure. I also think people will enjoy this book because it is unpredictable and has great character development. There is a lot of foul language used throughout the book, some violence, and a lot of intimacy between the characters that grow to be unorthodox. Overall, the book is a unique story that keeps the reader engaged throughout the story.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind about mystery and the unexpected. This story would be more suitable for mature readers as there are a lot of references to characters getting intimate, but it is not explicit descriptions. Additionally, there are some violent scenes with specific descriptions that some readers may find uncomfortable.
******
Zona: The Forbidden Land
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
What starts as a mystery adventure story, Zona: The Forbidden Land, by Fred G. Baker takes a hard right turn to the unimaginable and peculiar. Set in today’s St. Petersburg, Russia, it also ventures into the unknown and undiscovered areas of the arctic circle. The story moves from the known to the unknown at the turn of the page and has a little taste of everything from mystery and adventure to romance and fantasy. Fred G. Baker certainly nourishes a continued curiosity in this prose.
After the mysterious loss of his uncle, Dr. Grant Taylor has been whipped away from his cozy professor life in Chicago to the cold and mysterious streets of St. Petersburg, Russia. As he settles into life in St. Petersburg, Grant meets Irina Ustinov, the niece of Randall’s best friend and lawyer, Boris. Together they work to sort through Randall’s many expeditions. While his friendship with Irina grows, Grant is contacted by a Russian Government official who alerts Grant that Irina and Boris may know more than they have led him to believe. The agent gives Grant the journal of his Uncle Randall’s expedition to Zona, which leads to more mystery and unanswered questions.
Grant is curious about the disappearance of his uncle and is determined to find out what happened on his Uncle’s last expedition to Zona. The deeper Grant looks into the mystery, the more bizarre the adventure continues to be. With a colorful cast to aid him, Grant joins a large team to continue the expedition his uncle started and to discover the truth of the arctic circle and Zona. Grant’s ultimate desire is to discover what happened to his uncle and if there might be a chance he could still be alive. From enormous dire wolves to sabretooth cats, Zona is nothing like what I was expecting.
This book was an adventure and always kept me guessing. I like a book that is unpredictable and keeps the mystery going until the very end. I also enjoyed all the different characters that Grant met. Each one was unique, but also relatable. I enjoyed that not all characters got along, it made the whole story and dynamic of the characters feel more realistic.
Although the mystery was thick throughout the story, Fred G. Baker left several loose ends that still have me wondering what the purpose was of including them in the story. I hope this means a sequel is coming to explain the disappearance of the journal and also the mystery of the maid at the hotel Grant was staying at. Additionally, the romance with the assorted and various characters intensifies and becomes unorthodox. The growth of relationships is enjoyable, but how it is depicted in the story feels unnatural and in some ways forced.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. This book was edited professionally as I did not find a single error. The story is well written and includes a large amount of mystery and adventure. I also think people will enjoy this book because it is unpredictable and has great character development. There is a lot of foul language used throughout the book, some violence, and a lot of intimacy between the characters that grow to be unorthodox. Overall, the book is a unique story that keeps the reader engaged throughout the story.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind about mystery and the unexpected. This story would be more suitable for mature readers as there are a lot of references to characters getting intimate, but it is not explicit descriptions. Additionally, there are some violent scenes with specific descriptions that some readers may find uncomfortable.
******
Zona: The Forbidden Land
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon