Review of Zona: The Forbidden Land

[June Blue]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Zona: The Forbidden Land" by Fred G. Baker.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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As Dr. Grant Taylor, a palaeogeographer enters his missing uncle, Randall Taylor's apartment in Saint Petersburg, Russia, he is pulled into the mysteries surrounding the failed expedition led by his Uncle into the land of Zona. Fred G. Baker's Zona: The Forbidden Land is woven around the abnormalities and mysteries of this forbidden zone in northern Siberia, off-limits and categorized as restricted by the government.

Grant, who is now the heir to his uncle's property and belongings gradually realizes the dangerously precarious situation he has landed in, as during his stay in Russia, inexplicable accidents kept happening around him. These accidents usually strove to keep the shady circumstances of the expedition and his uncle's parting inheritance undercover, resulting in him losing his only ally. Finding unexplained hidden cubicles, keys, and journals in his uncle's apartment and a letter from his uncle warning him against trusting anyone involved in this expedition, including the green-eyed, lovely, and charming niece of his uncle's attorney who has been warming up to him recently, Grant must keep his guard up.

Without anyone to confide in and surrounded by people with ulterior motives, He has to find out what really happened at the expedition and his uncle, maybe at the cost of his life. As the book delves deeper into Zona and the second expedition, it slowly strips away the secrets and horrors of the Forbidden Zone, the truth of the feared Sheba pass, and the reason for the irrationally high body count that mounts with every attempt to tame this wilderness.

The positive aspects of the book would be the quality along with the quantity of the plot twists that make it a real page-turner and the author's commendable job of keeping the veil of suspicion in place throughout the book. The author has also done a great job with the fantasy aspects of the book along with an underlying romantic current that is quite open-minded and would interest a wider readership.

The negative aspect of this book would be the long list of mysteries that remain unsolved even when the book has ended. If the book was a part of a series it would've made sense but since there isn't one, there are certain questions that the author has left completely unattended and can leave the mystery lovers like me unsatisfied. Other than that I have no complaints.

I would rate Zona:The Forbidden Land 3 out of 4 stars. The reason that I've taken away one star would be due to the above-mentioned problem of unsolved mysteries that have left me unsatisfied with the book at the end. There were certain things that I had hoped would be explained at the end but the explanation given was inadequate and mysteries unresolved. The reason why I gave it 3 stars would be that even though I wasn't satiated with the unsolved mysteries, the overall experience of the book was fantastic and enjoyable. Certain ideas in the book were very new and exciting. Also, I must mention that this book is exceptionally well-edited and I couldn't find a single error adding to a better reading experience.

I would recommend this book to fantasy lovers who also enjoy a generous topping of romance, sci-fi, and drama. The interested readership would probably make up of older teens and young adults. This book contains strong language and sexual content especially in the latter half of the book. Parts of the story condemn the Russian government which may not sit well with everyone.

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Zona: The Forbidden Land
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[José Cortez]

Would have been easier to follow it the long list of unresolved mysteries were resolved.

[Charlize Venter]

Would have been easier to follow it the long list of unresolved mysteries were resolved.

At the very least, the major one's were. Which helped.