The Genesis Secret
Tom Knox, 2008
Penguin Group USA
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781616885809
Summary
A remarkable discovery has been made in the far reaches of Kurdistan. A Western archaeological team has unearthed the oldest human civilization-older than the Pyramids and Stonehenge. Sent to cover the story is war reporter Rob Luttrell. He's just survived a Baghdad suicide bombing and wants only to return home to his child. What began as a fascinating assignment quickly turns dangerous as the site is sabotaged and someone is murdered.
Meanwhile, a Scotland Yard detective is fast on the trail of a series of grisly killings in the British Isles. As he attempts to unravel these elaborate acts of violence, he discovers there may be a link to the site in Kurdistan. The secret to both is an origin and a bloodline that will challenge everything the modern world knows about the origins of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
A debut thriller of spectacular sweep and brilliant turns, The Genesis Secret is sure to keep fans of Douglas Preston, Kate Mosse, and Raymond Khoury reading through the night. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Aka—Sean Thomas
• Birth—1963
• Where—England, UK
• Education—N/A
• Awards—Bad Sex Award (UK-see below)
• Currently—lives in London, England
Tom Knox is the pseudonym of British journalist and writer Sean Thomas. When he writes under the name of Tom Knox, he specialises in archaeological thrillers.
His first thriller, The Genesis Secret (2008), focuses on the region known as Gobekli Tepe, and features Biblical mysteries and cutting edge science. Noteworthy for several exceptionally gruesome episodes, it was an international bestseller.
His second novel, The Marks of Cain was published in 2010. Centring on the little-known Cagot community who lived in the Basque Country, it too was an international bestseller.
A third book, titled Bible of the Dead was published in 2011 in the UK (as The Lost Goddess in the US in 2012). The novel focuses on the Khmer Rouge, while taking in the cave paintings of France, the dark history of human-animal hybridization and modern Chinese Communism.
Sean Thomas lives in London. Most famous for "Millions Of Women Are Waiting To Meet You," Sean Thomas also won the Bad Sex award in 2006 for his novel Kissing England. (From Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
Knox's well-paced debut offers some new wrinkles on the theme of the archeological discovery that will change the course of human history. British reporter Rob Luttrell, who barely survived a suicide bomber's attack in Iraq, is hoping to take things easy, but his new assignment, to cover a dig in Turkish Kurdistan, proves anything but routine. German archeologist Franz Breitner has found evidence of buildings at the site known as Gobekli Tepe that appear to be 10,000 to 11,000 years old, 5,000 years earlier than any similar structure. The excavation has aroused the ire of the locals, who place an ancient Aramaic curse on those working there. It may be no accident when Breitner is impaled on a pole. Luttrell teams with an attractive biological anthropologist, Christine Meyer, to solve the mystery of the site, which may be where the Garden of Eden was located. Readers will hope to see more such offbeat thrillers from Knox, the pseudonym of London journalist Sean Thomas.
Publishers Weekly
Readers who enjoy the suspense novels of Raymond Khoury and Julia Navarro may think this is one stamped from that die; they will probably be disappointed. Knox (the pseudonym of British author Sean Thomas) introduces us to war reporter Rob Luttrell, a bit shell-shocked from his eyewitness coverage of suicide bombings in Baghdad. To help him recover, his editor sends Rob to write a relaxing National Geographic-like spread on an archaeological dig in Kurdistan. How much trouble can Rob get into? Plenty! He stumbles upon practitioners of an ancient quasi-demonic religion protecting the site and a wealthy, insane British schoolboy whose family legacy charges him with the protection of certain buried "secrets." This lunatic and his cadre wreak havoc in England and abroad, perpetrating heinous, grisly, and rather literary murders that scream horror, not suspense/thriller. The body count is high, and characters to whom we warmed are brutalized. Religion, too, is debunked. The titular "secret" is overplayed all the way to the tidy, happy ending. Recommended for large popular fiction collections with generous budgets.
Laura A.B. Cifelli -Library Journal
Discussion Questions
1. For two thirds of the novel, the narrative moves back and forth between the point of view of Rob Luttrell and the perspective of Detective Chief Inspector Forrester. Discuss this way of telling a story and if you think it was effective. For instance, how did switching between the two points of view contribute to the suspense of the novel?
2. Not only are the events of the narrative conveyed through Rob and DCI Forrester’s points of view, but their characters parallel one another in several ways. Compare and contrast how these two men act as fathers and professionals, and discuss the ways in which the author deliberately contrasts them with the fathers of previous generations, from the men of the Irish Hellfire Club to the male hominids of Gobekli Tepe.
3. Similarly, consider DIC Forrester’s inner torment over his daughter’s murder, and how it shapes his actions and his perspective through the book. Discuss, too, the way his work on the case proves cathartic, and how, by the end of the novel, it appears that he might be beginning to heal.
4. The torture scenarios in the book become more extreme, and more graphic, as the novel progresses. Discuss this progression and how the tone of the novel changes once the reader becomes an audience to the sacrifices as they are happening. Compare the torture of Hugo De Savary with that of Isobel Previn—which is more terrifying? (Additionally, discuss whether you were surprised when Rob discovered Christine alive in Ireland—were you prepared for that plot twist?)
5. Discuss the progression of Rob’s relationship with Christine as it develops slowly over the course of the book. What makes their relationship interesting and keeps it from being overly sentimental? Compare their relationship with that of Rob’s relationship with his ex-wife, Sally, and discuss how even his relationship with Sally grows over the course of the novel.
6. Similarly, discuss Christine’s instant bond with Sally, and Sally’s approval of Christine as a partner for Rob. What kind of comment does their relationship make about women in general? Do you think men would be able to act in a similar way towards a romantic rival/ex?
7. Discuss the Turkish police officer Kiribali—did you, like Rob, suspect him of being more sinister than he appeared? How startled were you to see him at the book’s climax, when he shot off Cloncurry’s hand and arm? What other characters in the book surprised you in this way?
8. What did you think of Jamie Cloncurry? Was his character well-developed? What made him a particularly frightening antagonist? Discuss his email to Rob and his speeches over the web cam, and evaluate the way they demonstrated his evil and psychotic nature.
9. Also, compare the relationship of DCI Forrester and Boijer to that of other fictional detective partnerships—most notably that of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. What about their dynamic did you find engaging and likable? In what ways did they make a good team?
10. In the novel, the characters discuss the various symbols of different religions and how those symbols hold significance for the human race. Similarly, the author uses symbolism at various points in the novel to either foreshadow events or to emphasize meaning in the story: For instance, James Cloncurry has the same initials as Jesus Christ, and eventually he reveals to Rob that he considers himself a kind of perverse savior of mankind. Find similar instances in the book and discuss their significance.
11. Consider Rob’s explanation of the Genesis Secret to Kiribali at the end of the novel. Did the entire explanation sound feasible to you, and like a good conspiracy theory? What about the Genesis Secret and its implications did you find most interesting and intriguing? Also, discuss Rob’s revelation that he knew he was related to Jamie Cloncurry.
12. Was the end of the novel—Rob and Christine’s wedding—satisfactory and realistic? Did it tie things up too neatly, or were there any parts of the novel that you felt were still left to be explained?
13. Compare this novel with mysteries based on historical fact and/or conspiracy theories. What sets the book apart from the others?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
top of page (summary)