"Author Hoefling (Journey to God, 2010) seamlessly combines her extraordinary mastery of early biblical tales with a spirit of inventive creativity, weaving a story that both embellishes but also preserves the original story... a gripping account that only deepens an inherited tale about the birth of mankind and about good and evil." -Kirkus Reviews Akliah, a daughter of Adam and Eve, has grown up at the foot of the holy mountain where the Garden of Eden lies. She and her siblings know well the story of their parents' fall from innocence and their banishment from Eden. And they know the prophecy, that their privileged brother, Cain, will soon crush the head of the ancient serpent who tempted their parents there. Fiercely in love with Cain, Akliah is determined to become his wife. But her schemes are shattered when Cain kills his brother, Abel, and abducts her to a barren land east of Eden where she grieves her mistakes and Cain spirals into ever-deepening tiers of delusion through his bondage to a beautiful fallen angel. When she finally meets a man who offers a chance for love and redemption, Akliah is torn between an honest confession of her past and her longing to be admired. Against the backdrop of life in a city dedicated to dark powers, Akliah must finally make the choice to restore her integrity, or die trying.