Somebody left this book in the
Mabuhay Lounge where I got in by some twist of fate. Holy Thursday had me
bumped off a 9:30 am flight from Manila to Cebu because PAL apparently
overbooked...but they kindly offered to put me in business class on a 3 pm
flight..so 7 ours of waiting time hardly seemed such a bad concept. I got
placed in the Mabuhay Lounge and got paid for my ticket...and while I was
munching on the free food and swallowing all the beverages there, I came across
this abandoned book on one of the cabinets...
Eden, Incorporated is a company who has a somewhat unbelievable state-of-the-art computer dating system. For $25,000 smackeroos, a single person can find a life partner using Eden's superlative matching system which is all hush-hush and involves a battallion of tests (IQ, psychological, physical etc.) Sometimes, as fate would have it, there are a few matches which end up with a "supercouple", meaning the match is 100 percent perfect match for man and woman. And the subsequent marriage is the envy of all the people surrounding the couple (but the employees of Eden of course are euphoric about it) since it seems that the pair are really soulmates (am green with envy myself at this point). But then one supercouple is found dead by double-suicide (apparently they put dry cleaning bags over their heads, embraced and suffocated in front of their infant daughter, how inconsiderate!), and Eden Inc. has the brilliant idea of hiring ex-FBI forensic psychologist Christopher Lash to investigate what led to such a tragic end. Dr. Lash reluctantly puts his own private practice on hold (its lucrative too), but then he discovers that his ongoing investigation of the supercouple has unfurled and awakened ghosts from his own past, poor man.
Then! A second supercouple double-suicide happens and this puts Lash and Eden management in a flurry of panic. This time, I'll spare you the gory details. Dr. Silver, the brilliant scientist who invented the system, along with the enigmatic but childlike Liza team up to bring some names into play as to who could be the culprit and its (surprise!) a little twist when it comes to the ending...but then thats not really a surprise aint it?
I confess I had some suspicions already as to who was behind the manipulation however the slight twist as to the motivation was unexpected for me...imagine...hmmm....and to think I work in IT...and used to love Isaac Asimov's books and his three laws. Oh well.
Anyway, I will not put any spoilers here because there might be some people who will not like it (unlike moi! I love, love spoilers and I always read the ending part of the book first..if I like it, I buy the book...hehehe). But feel free to email me to ask about it if you prefer.
I am writing this review to encourage all the other souls out there who might be looking for their life partner - don't put all your hope into the hands of other people! If you want something, don't just stand there and wait for a dating service..my goodness..go out and get her or him yourself!
While I liked the book, I didn't like the idea of a perfect partner...although its certainly incredible that you can find a person you jive along perfectly on all other aspects, I think its best to have a little friction now and then between couples.
One part of the story was in consonance with what I had been exposed to in one of our elective subjects in grad school. It was about how supposedly an experiment was conducted, wherein a woman sniffed the tshirt of other guys and got attracted to the tshirt smell of the guy who had the least common genes with her. Hmmmm....I forgot what it was called, but it does make sense...if all for the genes/offspring that might result from such an auspicious smell..I mean beginning.
Go ahead and read this book! I also like to think there's a guy out there who I can get along with famously (but then, there are only a few guys I really butt heads with nowadays so thats not such a good indicator) and its heartwarming to see how the ways people in search of love and their other half hold a beacon for us lesser-fortunate ones.
This is not a Pulitzer prize winning book IMHO but it certainly was entertaining and the circumstances for my waiting for my flight didn't seem so bad after all. I mean, I got fed, watered, placed in an air-conditioned room, upgraded to B-class, got paid for my fare, and got to read this thriller. Not bad for a Holy Thursday...life certainly throws you suprises when you least expect it..
Eden, Incorporated is a company who has a somewhat unbelievable state-of-the-art computer dating system. For $25,000 smackeroos, a single person can find a life partner using Eden's superlative matching system which is all hush-hush and involves a battallion of tests (IQ, psychological, physical etc.) Sometimes, as fate would have it, there are a few matches which end up with a "supercouple", meaning the match is 100 percent perfect match for man and woman. And the subsequent marriage is the envy of all the people surrounding the couple (but the employees of Eden of course are euphoric about it) since it seems that the pair are really soulmates (am green with envy myself at this point). But then one supercouple is found dead by double-suicide (apparently they put dry cleaning bags over their heads, embraced and suffocated in front of their infant daughter, how inconsiderate!), and Eden Inc. has the brilliant idea of hiring ex-FBI forensic psychologist Christopher Lash to investigate what led to such a tragic end. Dr. Lash reluctantly puts his own private practice on hold (its lucrative too), but then he discovers that his ongoing investigation of the supercouple has unfurled and awakened ghosts from his own past, poor man.
Then! A second supercouple double-suicide happens and this puts Lash and Eden management in a flurry of panic. This time, I'll spare you the gory details. Dr. Silver, the brilliant scientist who invented the system, along with the enigmatic but childlike Liza team up to bring some names into play as to who could be the culprit and its (surprise!) a little twist when it comes to the ending...but then thats not really a surprise aint it?
I confess I had some suspicions already as to who was behind the manipulation however the slight twist as to the motivation was unexpected for me...imagine...hmmm....and to think I work in IT...and used to love Isaac Asimov's books and his three laws. Oh well.
Anyway, I will not put any spoilers here because there might be some people who will not like it (unlike moi! I love, love spoilers and I always read the ending part of the book first..if I like it, I buy the book...hehehe). But feel free to email me to ask about it if you prefer.
I am writing this review to encourage all the other souls out there who might be looking for their life partner - don't put all your hope into the hands of other people! If you want something, don't just stand there and wait for a dating service..my goodness..go out and get her or him yourself!
While I liked the book, I didn't like the idea of a perfect partner...although its certainly incredible that you can find a person you jive along perfectly on all other aspects, I think its best to have a little friction now and then between couples.
One part of the story was in consonance with what I had been exposed to in one of our elective subjects in grad school. It was about how supposedly an experiment was conducted, wherein a woman sniffed the tshirt of other guys and got attracted to the tshirt smell of the guy who had the least common genes with her. Hmmmm....I forgot what it was called, but it does make sense...if all for the genes/offspring that might result from such an auspicious smell..I mean beginning.
Go ahead and read this book! I also like to think there's a guy out there who I can get along with famously (but then, there are only a few guys I really butt heads with nowadays so thats not such a good indicator) and its heartwarming to see how the ways people in search of love and their other half hold a beacon for us lesser-fortunate ones.
This is not a Pulitzer prize winning book IMHO but it certainly was entertaining and the circumstances for my waiting for my flight didn't seem so bad after all. I mean, I got fed, watered, placed in an air-conditioned room, upgraded to B-class, got paid for my fare, and got to read this thriller. Not bad for a Holy Thursday...life certainly throws you suprises when you least expect it..
- Apr 13, '07 12:38 AM
