Reviewed by Paul Johnson for Readers' Favorite

Mason has never known his father. All he has concerning him is a DVD of a man reading a children’s book. One day, at the nursing home where his mother works, he plays the DVD for a group of comatose teens. One of them, a beautiful girl, responds. Mason soon learns that she is part of an experiment to produce autotrophs, genetically engineered, self-sustaining life-forms. Mason wants to help and soon he is on the run with the girl, chased by those who control the program for the mysterious mastermind, the Gardener.

I found "The Gardener" to be outstanding. This first-person narrative has it all, great adventure, danger, superb dialog and strong interesting characters. As with most well written stories of the genre, it has just the right amount of science fiction to seem plausible. The action and suspense keep the reader involved to the end. SciFi fans will find it truly enjoyable. Well done.