Neptune's Garden
Neptune's Garden is a 2010 debut short novel by Jeremy Gosnell. It tells the story of Eric Rayner, a former underwater explorer and journalist on an adventure of self discovery after the death of his wife Sara.
Plot summary
What really lies beneath the vast waters that cover most of our planet? Part sci-fi fantasy, part modern-day drama, Neptune’s Garden (published by iUniverse) by Jeremy Gosnell tells the engrossing story of an underwater explorer and journalist with reason to believe his dead wife might somehow still be found under the sea.
Almost a year after the plane crash that killed his wife, Sara, and 237 other passengers, Eric is drowning in alcohol, debt and self pity. When a mysterious marine research foundation, Proteus Marine Research, contacts him and claims to have a link to Sara, Eric sees it as his only way back up. After meeting the foundation’s director in Florida, he joins the Neptune project and travels with the team to Raja Ampat Indonesia to explore what may be the ruins of Atlantis.
Then, during a deep-water submersible dive, things get weird. Eric is transported through an underwater gate called a Millenium Gate to an undersea city on Jupiter’s sixth moon, Europa. After meeting the Atlantian people and their leader, Neptune, Eric discovers that his wife was not killed after all. She is actually Neptune’s daughter and has been living there with her people.
Eric’s joy turns to anger and disbelief when Sara informs him that she will not be returning to Earth with him. Rather, she has a mission for him: to be a voice for the ocean and help to promote oceanic conservation. Eric must choose to let go of his personal pain and fight for a cause larger than he. But he can’t keep himself from clinging to the hope that someday Sara will return to him.
Told as a series of present-tense moments and flashbacks, Neptune’s Garden deftly combines elements of a love story and a science-fiction adventure. The author’s obvious passion for and knowledge of the ocean is evident, making this an interesting and intelligent read.
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