What do sharks, Vatic
an robots, mannequins, cults, monoliths, dracula fish, time travel and a battle hungry vegan have in common? The Garden of Eden, that’s what. Leave logic behind you when you pick yourself up a copy of Shark Hunting in Paradise Garden by Cameron Pierce, and prepare to have your mind blown.
Shark Hunters tells the story of a group of religious pilgrims seeking out the Garden of Paradise after an invite from Adam and Eve. When they arrive, they find the garden full of sharks. Are you still with me?
Delving into the genre of Bizarro Fiction is a task not be taken lightly. Understand before even opening a page you are about to read what is the equivalent of a B-Grade Horror movie. If you lack the ability to look outside of the box and take a book for what it is, you may find this is not your style of read. The pure randomness and vulgarity of the first paragraph left my mouth gaping, and my mind screaming at me to turn back now and start reading something that made a bit more sense. For those that make it past the first few chapters that read like ideas drawn out of a hat at random, you are bound to find the deeper criticism of religion that lurks beneath the surface. At face value, you have an incredibly gory tale of people getting dismembered, rebuilt, occasionally turned into mannequins, and most excellently devoured by floating land sharks. What you find between the lines is a commentary about following your religion out to very end of the world, and how far you are willing to go or what you will give up in your quest for your salvation. Perceptions of God run a muck in a projectile vomiting good time, and the ending leaves you with a feeling of “Oh, it did make sense, I think…”
Besides, even if it doesn’t, you still just read a book about floating land sharks. I’ll high five to that. All in all, I give the book 3 out of 5 stars.
Cannonball Read V 