At first glance The Cloud Garden seems a little unlikely: a pair of twentysomething former public school boys have a great time trekking through Central America and get caught up in a bit of bother. Tom is passionate about flowers and his family lives in a castle in Kent--"Isn't it just super?!". Paul, when he isn't "hacking his way through the jungle", works in the City. If you can get through the kissy kissy PR and the hooray Henry enthusiasm, The Cloud Garden is … mehractually an exciting yarn. Adventurer Paul Winder and orchid enthusiast Tom Hart Dyke met up in Mexico and decided to trek through the Darién Gap--a narrow bit of jungle on the border of Panama and Colombia. Tom wanted to find some new flowers and Paul wanted a challenge. They had almost made it when they were taken captive by a band of FARC guerilla fighters with a grudge against just about everybody, a serious grunge problem and an eye for a juicy ransom for some rich boys. Our heroes survived for nine months and emerged after a harrowing ordeal with a combination of hard work, endurance and a pinch of good luck. This captivating book is well written with youthful zest, a sparky sense of humour and the scary sense that these two just might set off for another adventure next summer. --Dwight Longenecker weniger