Customer Reviews

The Genesis Secret: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I started reading this and just had to put it down. The torture stuff just was too much especially when they started (and I do not know if they did anything)threatening with harm to a child. I did however skip to the back and read the last 2 chapters that is why it got 3 stars. Good story and fast moving but very gross.

This book gets off to an excellent start but is marred by endless disgusting descriptions of psychotic tortures. The historical, cultural and archaeological bits of the book are fascinating and could have carried this book just fine. Why all the gore? Did Mr. Knox envision a broader sales market if he included these descriptions? I'm not all that squemish but this was really over the top. I suspect that even readers who are not bothered by this sort of thing would still have liked the book without it. A writer with Knox's storytelling skills should be able to convey the creepiness of a psychotic killer without sounding like he actually relishes describing every moment of a murder. That's a little creepy in itself. Perhaps it's a result of having a journalistic background.

I've been listening to this on audio while commuting and will finish it by skipping the grimmest tracks to get on with the actual story. But I am seriously disappointed that such a promising mystery/adventure turned out to be chapter after chapter awash in entrails. Characters in this book either get their guts ripped out while still alive or they puke their guts out as an observer of one of these scenes. Way too much focus on guts and not enough on the elements that could have made this a really good thriller.

The Genesis Secret begins on a strong premise, the discovery of the possible site of Eden, then deteriorates into another in a long line of thrillers which blend pseudo-philosophical musings, scientific framing for credibility, and gratuitous violence.

An archeological dig at Gobekli Tepe in Turkish Kurdistan reveals evidence of a building which may be 5,000 years older than any previous known structure. The dig also reveals evidence suggesting that the site may also be the location of Eden. Yet, underlying these finds is a seeming antagonism or hatred against the scientists by the locals working on the dig and living in the area. All of this makes for a strong hook into an intriguing storyline. To cap the efforts of the scientists, the lead archeologist is found impaled at the site.

Unfortunately, Tom Knox, the pseudonym for Sean Thomas, a London-based journalist (like his central character, Rob Luttrell) goes off on a tangent by introducing a series of brutal murders in the British Isles. The murders appear to be the work of psychopathic killers. Ultimately, they are connected to a group of privileged Upper-Class college students, linked to a society of the social elite known as the Hellfire Club. This club has a centuries-old history of decadence, depravity and debauchery. Its membership included leaders of society in England and America.

In his efforts to blend these two storylines, Knox strains credulity. Its seems that, despite their history of brutish and brutal behavior, the members of the Hellfire Club may only be acting that way because the leaders may possess a certain genetic strain which results in their behavior.

Evidently, a group of savage and brutal hominoids, the Northmen (evolved possibly from Giganthropithecus), had mated with homo sapiens, thus introducing brutality into the modern human species. This occurred when Gobekli Tepe, a once-peaceful village 11,000 years ago, was invaded by the Northmen who interbred with the natives and introduced the savage gene. This cross-breeding led to the metaphorical expulsion of humanity from the Garden of Eden, and resulted in the rise of the warring nature of humanity. This type of pseudo-science must be grating to anthropologists, other social scientists, and intelligent readers.

The end of the book involves excessive and gratuitous brutality against those Luttrell loves; that end also deals with Luttrell's super-heroic actions to save those he loves. There is also a long-winded pseudo-scientific treatise in which Knox attempts to explain why leaders in the world are often strong, yet ruthless, in their treatment of others; he blames it on the gene introduced in Gobekli Tepe by the Northmen. This philosophical debate occurs just after vicious attacks, a flood, and a deus-ex-machina intervention by a police officer.

Aside from the problem of credibility of the storyline is the character of Rob Luttrell. He is a self-taught reporter who, in the beginning comes off as being illiterate in archeology and anthropology. At the end, though, he has somehow acquired a profound sense of religious history, anthropology, and ethical/moral behavior. At least, Knox had Luttrell stop his incessant drinking; how the man managed to function since he was always drinking to excess in the early parts of the novel is difficult to explain. But, that is poetic licence.

Finally, there is Knox's constant use of short, non-sentences, a writing characteristic that appears in many thrillers. This illiteracy--or perhaps an affectation--is probably intended to move the action of the story along to its end. Sean Thomas is a journalist; his editors must be concerned about Thomas' writing style in his articles. Tom Knox is the fictional incarnation; his editors should also be concerned about the quality of his writing.

The book is well written, and although there were murders, the first couple of them were violent but bearable. After that, they became increasing violent. Though the murder "sacrifices" may have been based on actual historical accounts of early human cultures, they were unnecessarily violent and ruined the book for me. If you have read "Still Life with Crows", the violence in that book is mild compared to this one. For that reason, I cannot rank this book highly.

British reporter Rob Luttrell was up front and too close as he eye witnessed a suicide bomber in Iraq executing a grisly mass murder. Rob survived and his London based editor sends him to Tel Aviv for a mental health breather.

Ready to get back to work, he is sent to report on a safe assignment, an excavation in the Kurdish sector of Turkey led by German archeologist Franz Breitner. The dig at Gobekli Tepe has uncovered incredible evidence of edifices somewhere between ten and eleven millennium old; at least twice the age of the previous known oldest structure. However, the excavation is not without controversy as the local population is outraged by the outsiders' blasphemy; they curse those working there. Soon afterward, Breitner is killed when an accident left him pierced by a pole. Rob and biological anthropologist Christine Meyer investigate what each assumes is a mortal murder even as rumors spread that this locale is the Garden of Eden before they are deported back to England where trouble awaits them and his daughter for what they know about Gobekli Tepe.

The premise of ancient secrets uncovered is as old as say ancient times, but Tom Knox refreshes the concept with an interesting amateur sleuth inquiry. The story line is fast-paced with the opening sequences when the reporter first arrives at the Turkish dig are excellent and brisk. The plot spins more to the usual thugs chasing the heroes about half way in although in fairness that is exciting and well written. Fans will enjoy THE GENESIS SECRET, but will also consider what if Mr. Knox stayed the initial course.

Harriet Klausner

I picked this up in the store on a whim. If I'd checked here first I wouldn't have purchased. Thought it would be a fun archaeological thriller - IT IS NOT. It is ruined by gratuitous violence described in nauseating detail. Truly sickening. I wonder about the writer who would be compelled to create and detail the acts and dialogue of the madman in this novel. I began only skimming whole portions to avoid the worst because I simply wanted to find out what the "secret" was -- which in and of itself was only mildly interesting. DON'T BOTHER. I hated this book and hope my mind promptly forgets it. It's going in the trash as a symbolic gesture.

This book starts out in a predictable way, but is entertaining.

However, I finally stopped reading the book before I finished it.

I became convinced that the author was not writing to entertain
the reader. He was instead indulging his own sick obsession with
torture.

I warn all potential readers to avoid this book.

I usually donate my used books to the library. I will destroy
this one, however. No other person should have to endure this.

This book had some elements that interest me: foreign travel, archaeology, mystery, etc. There are Bible stories that do not match with archaeological evidence. This creates a fertile ground for mystery stories and strange discoveries. Books such as Moses Quest by Will Adams touch on this (but that book is much better.) So did this book. However, I did not enjoy the gratuitous violence, describing sick tortures in detail for many pages on end. The book also had an absurd and disappointing ending.

Like many other reviewers, I found this book on deep discount - and the fact that I paid very little for it is the only saving grace.

The writing is terrible - sentences go nowhere, descriptions are forced, and the words seem to only move the plot along vs. trying to actually set a scene for the reader. The characters are flat - I never felt a good sense of who they were supposed to be. The "secret" was mildly intriguing, but certainly not the cataclysmic reveal that I had expected.

But the violence - wow, the violence made my stomach turn. Like many others, I had to skip entire sections of the book because the brutality was just too much. I understand that the character is supposed to be a sociopath, but the torture scenes were way over the top - and did nothing to further along the story or create a more interesting character.

I don't recommend this book - and I will run away from any other books by this author.

Good mystery based on esoteric material, but the excessive goriness is definitely a turnoff for me. Why do writers seem so fond of extreme violence these days?