The Genesis Secret Review

The Genesis Secret
- Tom Knox

Publisher: UK - Harper

Why I picked it up: Another random purchase while waiting for the train at Victoria. I liked the back and I always read the first couple o f pages before purchase in a bookshop.

Back Blurb: In the sunburnt deserts of eastern Turkey, archaeologists are unearthing a stone temple, the world's most ancient building. When Journalist Rob Luttrell is sent to report on the dig, he is intrigued to learn that someone deliberately buried the site 10,000 years ago. Why? Meanwhile, in London, a bizarre attack is baffling the police. When a weird killing takes place on the Isle of Man, followed by another in rural Dorset, DC Mark Forrester begins to discern a curious pattern in these apparently random murders. What weaves together these two stories is the Genesis Secret: a revelation so shocking it may threaten the social structure of the world. Only one man knows the secret, and he is intent on destroying the evidence before it can be uncovered. Spanning the globe from the ruined castles of Ireland to the desolate wastes of Kurdistan, Tom Knox's intense and compelling thriller weaves together genuine historical evidence, scientific insights and Biblical mysteries into an electrifying tale that grips the reader mercilessly from beginning to end.

What I thought: I’ve long been a fan of the ancient mystery genre (pre-Da Vinci code when everyone else jumped on the bandwagon) and the idea of a hidden temple revealing lost mysteries was intriguing but to me the ancient mystery was a little lacking. What kept me hooked was the modern mystery in England with a gang recreating sacrificial offering around the country and the police detective tracking them down. Told in short chapters in parallel to the dig in Kurdistan, it was this story that was far more gripping. At the end when the two merged I felt that Knox was writing to his strengths. The writing was top notch throughout but in the end the actual Genesis Secret to me just wasn’t worth all the trouble the characters went to, to either reveal or hide and that’s what let it down. I will definitely be looking out for more of Knox’s writing though and fingers crossed that he’ll move into crime and straight thrillers as I think he’ll stand out better than among the numerous Dan Brown style books.

Recommended for: James Rollins fans who want a touch of Jeffery Deaver thrown in.

Rating: 7 out of 10