Customer Reviews

The Covenant of Genesis: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For those who are wondering whether or not to get this book from the UK (since as of this review it's not available in the US), it is worth the time & money to get it from eBay or from a source of your choosing. While I will admit that I didn't enjoy this as much as I did the previous ones, it's still well worth buying. And again, it'd make for one heck of a movie or tv show.

This volume finds Nina in some hot water. Not only was she attacked at the scene of another huge discovery, but all of the evidence from the scene was seemingly destroyed. She was also hoping to become the director of her group but has discovered that one of her biggest rivals has been given the position instead. Now she's been suspended without pay as she faces an inquiry into her past actions. Meanwhile Eddie has to go to Guantanamo Bay (where his ex-Sophia was jailed shortly after the events in `The Tomb of Hercules') & collect his now deceased wife's belongings. After the discovery of a memory card containing the only remaining clues to another undiscovered treasure, Nina & Eddie figure that they've got nothing to lose.

All things considered, a lot goes on in this book. Not only do you have the reemergence of a threat, but you also have President Dalton beginning his attempts to get the revenge that he'd promised previously in the series. On top of all of that, the historical treasure du jour promises to be something of biblical proportions. All in all, it should make for a spectacular read. I just didn't get into this one as much as I did the previous ones for some reason. I'm starting to think that it might be partially because this is pretty much the same formula as the previous novels.

Luckily a bit of the dynamic is changing. I liked that Nina is actually starting to be called out on some of her actions in the previous books via her rival & throughout the book. Yes, Nina is the good guy, but she also causes quite a bit of collateral damage in the form of coworker deaths. At some point over four books it kind of needs to be addressed in some form since it is such a change from her initial state. This book had a very transitional feel to it- I have a feeling that I'll find some things being different in the next book because of the events in this one- and those changes will make for an interesting new direction!

Bottom line- I really liked this book. It's not the strongest of McDermott's books so far, but it's still highly enjoyable. If you've liked his previous books, you'll like this one. I just recommend that any new readers start from the beginning as this book finds many previous plot lines coming to fruition.

Let me summarise the plot for you:

Action - banter/witty quip - betrayal/twist - change location. repeat.

It's really that simple and if you scratch away at any aspect of the plot then it is more full of holes then a tramp's socks.

Archaeologist Nina and her ex-SAS (of course!!) boyfriend Eddie have the habit of digging up all sorts of old lost relics and treasures. Not little ones, I mean things like Atlantis and Hercules' Sword. In this, their fourth adventure, they discover evidence of a civilisation that pre-dates known history. These types of plot obviously require a mega rich bad guy or an evil secret society, and in this case we get the secret society option.

Of course the secret society (yes, of course it is called The Covenant of Genesis) is incredibly powerful and wants to erase all evidence of the civilisation. So...

Action - banter/witty quip - betrayal/twist - change location. repeat. For about 600 pages.

I saw it very much like an Indianna Jones film, very fast moving with loads of action and banter, but all gloss and no substence. The action is quite violent and tongue in cheek, and some of the one liners and comments delivered by Eddie can be quite amusing. Think of the Roger Moore James Bond, nobody can be despatched without a quip!

But it doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. It tries to add a bit of fun to the more traditional search for ancient relics/treasure stories that Dan Brown sadly generated, but manages to maintain it's standards and expectations unlike recent efforts from the likes of Matthew Reilly.

Harmless fun, but you will forget the entire thing a day after you finish it. Ideal for aeroplanes and the beach.

I want my money back! This book reads like it was written by a teenager who has only recently learned how to use a thesaurus. The plot was unoriginal and the characters unbeleivable. My Uncle Paul read the book after me, and the only thing he liked about it were the younger characters, and that could not even keep his interest in this terrible book.

I really liked this book. It is #4 in the series and i must admit that i loved the other three better than this one, but i think i expected too much as Excalabar (book #3) was amazing!!!
You don't need to read the others to understand this one, but i recomend that you do. Alantas and Excalabar are my fav's!

Fiction is in the eye of the beholder, but with this book, I just couldn't set aside my disbelief to enjoy it. It looks like the author was trying to write an Indiana Jones sort of series, but he doesn't know anything about archaeology or anthropology enough to make it even probable. From page one, I was wondering if the author had any access to the internet to find out some of the information that he wrote about and I guess not, for example, finding a 30K year old object on the bottom of the ocean that's sitting right there, plain to be seen, doesn't need any labwork to take all the sealife encrustations off, right there his main character knew she was looking at a 30K year old object..... and the fantasy continues on in that vein, rushing to Antartica where our 30 year old mystery Neandertals?? peoples made a cave with a library in it, ending with a cave in the desert, also 30K old, with higher tech than we even have and of course, hidden from the natives but easily found by our heroes.
I can enjoy an Indiana Jones type story, it just has to have some sort of plausibility to it so that I can set aside my disbelief and just enjoy the book.

Eddie and Nina return in their fourth over-the-top adventure. This is the best since the first installment with ample lost civilizations and global conspiracies and secret organizations. Sure, this and the ancient-ruins-in-Antarctica and the hidden-religious-secrets has been done before (i.e. The Charlemagne Pursuit or A Skeleton in God's Closet). McDermott manages to craft an interesting story, though the action scenes sometimes are drawn out. Obviously this is fiction (and if you didn't figure it out, the book says "a novel" on the cover). He gets some of his theology wrong when he claims science has often contradicted Genesis (see The Genesis Question: Scientific Advances and the Accuracy of Genesis) and implies the Big Bang was anti-religion (it was proposed by a priest and the atheists labeled it the Big Bang to make fun of it because it sounded so much like Genesis, see Show Me God and The Creator and the Cosmos). Nevertheless, entertaining. For another novel based on Genesis, try Noah Primeval: Chronicles of the Nephilim Book I.

One of the best series of books I've ever read! You'd have to be crazy not to read them!

It doesn't take long once you begin an Andy McDermott novel before the action starts--and once in motion, as we all remember from science--an object in motion tends to STAY in motion...and in the capable hands of Mr. McDermott, it RARELY lets up...EVER. The only author I can think of that stacks up favorably action-wise is Matthew Reilly--and believe me when I say a Reilly novel packs in more action in 100 pages than you'll find in ALL of Mr. McDermott's books COMBINED...but that's a debate for another review (but its TRUE). Long story short: you'll find a LOT of Indiana Jones-type adventure and action within the pages of anything by Andy McDermott.

Some criticise these books because they follow a 'pattern' or 'formula'...which it DOES, almost to a fault--almost. I am perfectly fine with formulaic novels, really I am. Clive Cussler has followed that plan for 40 years to absolutely amazing success, and he isn't the only author to do so--nor will he be the last. One may wonder why it is that the main characters, Nina and Eddie manage to pretty much ALWAYS be dead-center of some near international incident which in some way or another will (eventually) change events as we know it for almost all citizens of planet earth--but thats what happens, book after entertaining book. Again, if you are put off by novels that utilize formula's, you may wanna give this one a pass...otherwise, sit back and buckle-in for a thrillfest that is nothing if not FUN.

Right off the coast of Indonesia, an amazing discovery is made: evidence of a civilization that pre-dates ANY previous known culture by as much as 100,000 YEARS. Big news indeed. Funny thing about Nina and her discoveries, they seem to almost ALWAYS be known in advance by SOME shadow organization, group or individual--who as part of the 'formula' that continues here, wants to keep the discovery either for themselves or out of the hands of ANYONE else entirely. While I am not a globe-trotting individual, thanks to Andy McDermott, I certainly feel like I am as each of his books takes us to amazing locations. From the hottest desert to the coldest frozen areas of the earth, one thing you cannot say about these novels: they don't sit quietly, nor do they play well with others. I cite as an example the expenditure of ammunition, 'nuff said. While we can to some degree predict what will happen next, we don't necessarily know the full details about what that twist will take (read and you'll understand). Why is it this group wants to keep Nina's incredible discovery not just secret, but erased from existence? Finding out what each 'secret' happens to be is all part of the action-oriented journey we get to undertake alongside Nina & Eddie. The humor exhibited by Eddie--sometimes during extreme firefights--reminds me of Schwarzenegger's short quips during his acting days. Some may be put off by this show of inappropriate humor, but personally I LOVE it...it reminds me of, well, me. NOT that I find myself in even remotely similar situation, but I DO find that I spout out spontaneous comments (not necessarily as funny, though) when many feel they do not exactly fit during the moment. Oh well, my bad.

Sometimes I wonder what else IS there for Nina to discover next time around? I suppose it doesn't matter, because whatever it is, you can expect that I'll have it and read it the day it hits store shelves. While I wouldn't place Andy McDermott in the same echelon of writers as say some who write literature, but I kinda have the feeling that he isn't TRYING to be that kind of author--which I can appreciate and admire. Oprah can tell us forever what books stretch our imagination and enlighten our souls, but guess what? Almost all of that is pure drivel if you ask me. I prefer to be entertained by what I like to refer to as Fine Brain Candy, and were Andy McDermott's novels sold in a candy store, it'd be some of the more expensive available. You may disagree, and many probably will...but as I like to remind people: Opinions Vary. I LIKE these books, and while overall I wouldn't place The Covenant of Genesis as good as Excalibur (my favorite of his--so far) it is most definitely a worthy addition to his growing list of fun, adventure-filled action tales...and yes, I DO plan on reading the next installment...I can hardly wait.

Boring banter between the characters as well as a draging plot. Writer writes at a 8th grade level. I read half of this book and no more for me!

This was a hard book to put down! After reading it I went and got others by this author so I can read them all! I can hardly wait!