Absolution

What Absolution is about

Absolution returns to Area X, the strange stretch of land at the center of the Southern Reach books, and serves as both a prequel and a sequel to them. The first part follows Old Jim, a former spy for a secretive agency called Central. After his wife dies and his grown daughter leaves him, his handlers, Jack and Jack's daughter Jackie, pull him back in to look into an incident involving biologists studying Active Area X. An alligator nicknamed The Tyrant keeps appearing and vanishing, and Central pairs him with an agent who says she is his daughter, though he doesn't believe her.

The second part shifts to Lowry, an angry, foul-mouthed operative with a drug habit. He is sent with twenty-three others to find a way to shut Area X down, while carrying a private assignment of his own.

The mood is eerie and cerebral, with bureaucratic deceit, family distance and an unsettling natural world all pressing in together. Readers of the earlier books will feel at home.

Questions about Absolution

When was Absolution published?

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer was first published in 2024.

Was Absolution one of the best books of 2024?

Absolution is #14 on BookWard's Best Books of 2024, out of 33 2024 books that cleared our data bar. 300 readers have shelved it on Open Library; its Wikipedia page averaged 6,962 views a month recently.

Why is Absolution on the Best Books of 2024 list?

300 readers have shelved it on Open Library; its Wikipedia page averaged 6,962 views a month recently.

More of the best books of 2024

• The Let Them Theory Mel Robbins, #1
• The Tainted Cup Robert Jackson Bennett, #2
• Lights Out Navessa Allen, #3
• The Women Kristin Hannah, #4
• Funny Story Emily Henry, #5
• The Wedding People Alison Espach, #6

See the full Best Books of 2024, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.