The Gift

by Eva Barber

Emery travels through the dark dimension guided by dark shadows. She drops into a black hole and plummets into a desolate land that she believes is thousands of years in the past. She has to rely on her instincts to survive and her unwavering spirit to endure the harsh conditions.
A tribal chief’s daughter, Visla, finds her after she ingests poisonous berries and saves her life. Their friendship blossoms as they discover they share similar traits and both mourn the loss of their mothers.
Emery learns of the existence of the “bad people” whose description matches that of her mother. She sets out on a mission to find them. Visla leaves the tribe after learning her father held secrets from her. She joins Emery in her quest, which also becomes hers. But the “bad people” find them first, imprison Emery, and threaten to change Visla into a “superior” being against her will.
Emery escapes her prison using her powers and finds herself in a bizarre underground city with advanced technology outpacing the Stone Age. In her quest to find Visla, she befriends two beings whose humanity she questions. A brother and sister help her for reasons they do not fully understand. Emery’s presence cast doubts on their lives. They begin to suspect it is imposed on them by powerful “superior” beings. Looming over their quest to find Visla is the fear of change inflicted on those who rebel.
Captured again by the enigmatic “bad people”, Emery finds unexpected help from an unfathomable being whose identity further deepens the mystery surrounding her.
In the strange gray city, she stumbles on an artifact that shatters her understanding of the world around her and deepens the mystery further, implicating her mother in humanity’s most atrocious acts performed in the name of progress and survival. To find the answers, she forgoes the safety of the world on the surface and dives back into the underground, discovering more secrets and meeting the Masters—the superior beings with unmatched cruelty and depravity.
She barely escapes with her life, with even more questions, but with a budding understanding of what she has to do to get the answers and continue with her mission. If she’s going to save humanity, she’ll have to make choices that weigh losing what is most precious to her against the world’s survival.

381 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 12, 2025

About the author

Eva currently lives in Washington State. She is an artist who recently discovered that painting with words is as rewarding as painting on canvas with oils. Eva’s firsthand experience growing up in the Soviet-era Eastern Bloc adds a unique perspective and a distinct dimension to her stories. With a scientific background, her stories are scientifically sound, yet her imagination carries the reader on a surprising and thought-provoking adventure. The Dark World series begins with the book Unborn. The second one, The Gift, is scheduled for release in late August 2025

When she is not painting or writing, she spoils her husband Mike and two mutts and with treats and attention (not necessarily in that order).
For more information about the author, visit:
evalidiabarber.com