The Harvester by Katy Glemser

The Harvester by Katy Glemser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Summary: 

THE HARVESTER is the first book in a new trilogy simmering with conspiracy, insanity, and illicit romance - and a broken girl's struggle to break free.


Unbeknownst to modern America, a wealthy family is recycling their Southern plantation for the growth and harvesting of drugs. Eighteen-year-old Eden is one of their harvesters. From the moment she awakes to blazing sun and a Nixed mind in the middle of Master Uriah's poppy field, she begins her new life of harvesting opium. Uriah calls this - his growing, refining, and delivery of medicines to aid an elusive underground fight - his "holy work."

Eden calls it her hell.

But when Uriah's son, Todd, returns home to conduct the tests of an exclusive new drug with unparalleled abilities, Eden is chosen to be the testing subject. By meeting with Todd again and again inside the estate's mansion, she becomes entangled in his family's world of bloodlines and agendas. It is then that her own fight begins - a fight against the effects of the drug, her growing attraction to Todd, and the screams in her head that beg for the truth.

Welcome to McAvoy Manor.

I just finished reading this book a few hours ago and I am still hanging on... wanting to read more! Wow! Just WOW! My head is still spinning wondering what just happened! From the beginning, this book was like being dropped from the air...IN THE DARK. Not knowing when or where it was going to land had me so hooked, it was all I could think about when I HAD to put it down!

Starting the book, I felt as lost as Eden when she woke to a world that was strange and horrible. Her memories were gone, didn't know who she was, where she came from, or even her name. I felt like I was living Eden's life, trying to fit things together right along with her. Eden's character was one I could identify with in some ways. I do NOT like to be told what to do, especially without good reason! I felt myself cheering Eden on, even when she was being punished for being so disobedient.

Todd, the attractive(well.. hot,actually)son of the "evil drug-lord" comes along and my own judgement of character goes out the window! I struggled trusting him, even though I wanted to so badly. Being thrown into such a crazy place, trusting anyone would be difficult, but Todd was the "normal" one. He wasn't exposed to his fathers kind of crazy. There was promise of hope and love.

I had some reserves about reading this at first, because of the drug world. Thoughts of the Godfather, and mobsters was what I was expecting. BUT... that was far from the truth. Drug use was never praised or brought into a light that would be tempting to anyone. The plot is pretty heavy and for that reason I wouldn't recommend this book to my teens until they were 17. But I would recommend this book to any adult! If you are one who loves a fast-paced thriller, this one is for you.

Glemser's writing is such a pleasure to read, it's flow had me not noticing when chapters ended or began. I would come up from it, realizing I had been reading for hours!

My only complaint... THE CLIFFHANGER! I have a love-hate relationship with those because without it, I wouldn't want to read the next one so bad!

A few people recommended this book to me, including a friend of mine who happens to be a sister-in-law to the author. So I dove in head-first and I am so happy I did!