De Genesis erfenis

Thomas Flaherty #1

by Michael Byrnes, Ellis Post Uiterweer (Translator)

De ochtendstond van de beschaving, Mesopotamië, 4004 voor Christus…
Een exotische vreemdelinge komt aan in een nederzetting. Zij is van een oogverblindende schoonheid maar wordt door een groep dorpelingen aangevallen. Haar wraak heeft gevolgen tot diep in de toekomst.

De zonsondergang van de beschaving, Noordoost Irak, het heden…
Een eenheid huurlingen onder leiding van sergeant Jason Yaeger heeft 's werelds meest gezochte terrorist met zijn legertje in een grot omsingeld. Als de groep mariniers de mysterieuze grot probeert te veroveren, ontdekt zij dat er een nog veel groter gevaar schuilgaat onder de bergen. Komt wat ooit is verborgen weer tot leven?

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Horror, Historical Fiction, Action, Suspense, Crime

350 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2010

About the author

Michael Byrnes is the internationally bestselling author of The Sacred Bones, The Sacred Blood, and the The Genesis Plague. Bounty is his latest novel. Mike earned his undergraduate degree from Montclair State University and his MBA from Rutgers University. He currently lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and three children.

Reviews

[Christopher Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not yet finished this book so my review may change. However, so far it comes across as the script of a big dumb Hollywood action movie. And as a movie I would think fine I'll switch off my brain and enjoy the ride. But this is not a movie, it's a book. And as such I expect a little more from the story telling.

I don't mind that minor characters are a bit sketchy, cliched or stereotypical but I do expect the main protagonist and antagonist to have something compelling about them. Unfortunately there is too little insight to all the characters and motivations for me to give a damn about what happens to them. And what insight we are given is just dull.

It also doesn't help the Genesis Plague's page turnability when the spark of immediacy and tension is dampened considerably by the stilted Third-person past-tense style. When an author uses third-person past-tense it's because they usually intend to suck in the reader deep under the skin of one or two characters. Which will give us heightened tension throughout the book for the inevitable climax. For example see Stephen King. But unfortunately we don't get that with this book.

But it is a good premise for a story. So if it ever gets made into that big dumb Hollywood action movie I'm sure we will all enjoy it. But wait for the movie.

[Troels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical fast paced adventure, thriller, action book, with a twist of history added in the mix. Well written and easy to read. Recommended for long flights and vacations on the beach were a easy page turned is more recommended.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is easy to read, and you will read it really fast. But afterwards it doesn't leave any mark of reflection.
The characters are clear, there are only good or bad guys. There is a woman and predictable "falling in love", at least author speared the soup-opera part with hero fighting to save his beloved woman.
Author keeps his book in the mood of "24 hours". Short period of time, jumping between the action places speeds up its action.

Generally book was ok. But I might not read his next book. It looks like I will get similar impression, the same clearly divided characters, simultaneous action only differed plot.

[Annefey · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an easy-reading page turner, it delivered. It's just a pity that the plot's gold potential got buried under a ton of macho bullshit. This could have been so much more interesting.

I mean, really, can't introduce a single female without describing how cute and curvy she is? Can't think of anything else to mention? Only if one happens to be an extremely evil demon? By the way, speaking of her, feel no need at all to provide a narrative for how she turned out that way?

I mean, really, a virus that miraculously doesn't affect women, and still you only send in alpha males to save the day? Don't do anything at all with such a fascinating plot device?

[Adrian Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Long, drawn out, and somewhat convoluted. For some reason the book failed to captivate me. I disliked his usage of expletives TOTALLY without need and some pretty crass too. Radical Islam, constant swearing, biblical references, militant, the gang rape mentioned at the beginning of the book...might probably stem from the mind of a redneck hick...

[The Cats’ Mother · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable thriller about a team of elite US mercenaries in Iraq who discover an ancient cave and a sinister plot to use an ancient plague to wipe out the middle-eastern population. I cannot understand how it made number 17 in last years Whitcoulls (NZ) Top 100 - it was OK but I had such high hopes that I feel very let down by a fairly average story.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holiday reading only!!! Bit ashamed to admit to this one.

[Ashish Jaituni]

A good read! No where close to the best in the genre but still it is good for a read!

[The Honest Book Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounded up to three stars, but not sure if it was a three-star novel. It had a good concept, but I think something lacked in the execution. Each character very much fit a stereotype, not that it's always a bad thing, yet there didn't seem to be anything original to them. Parts of the plot seemed stretched out to fill in pages, and where I thought the story should have moved at a fast pace it dragged.

The jar-head characters in the novel may make readers uncomfortable, especially with their dialogue, but I figure it's probably true to how a lot of the armed forces speak to each other and matches the context of the novel.

The main thing that bothered me about this novel is the villain giving away all his secrets to the heroes. I've seen it a lot in novels, and it always bothers me. Readers aren't stupid. We don't need pages devoted to the villain telling the hero every part of the evil scheme.

[David Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is anyone else really bored with "thrillers" that open with a prologue set thousands of years earlier in which an ancient civilization deals with a supernatural power in order to set up the main story? It's a tired old cliche and every time I encounter it now I think "I could just skip this and it wouldn't affect my enjoyment at all."

I read the prologue of The Genesis Plague but ironically I skipped another chapter accidentally and found I didn't need to go back and catch up with it. In fact I could skip huge chunks of this book and I wouldn't be missing content, I'd just be saving time.

A naughty televangelist, interchangeable military grunts, a pretty archaeologist-type, convenient exposition providers and a lot of plodding make this a difficult slog to finish. It felt like a dozen other books in the same genre but with twice the padding and half the character development.

[Kourtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't remember the last time I was so uncomfortable and disappointed while reading a book.
Reasons why:
-tosses around words like "rag-head", and "sand police" and other derogatory terms with very little protest from any character in the book.
-outrageously generalizes and demonizes Middle Eastern men.
-seemingly uses "Middle Eastern" and "Muslim" as synonyms.
SPOILER:
When the characters discover the existence of the ancient deadly virus that is engineered to kill only "Arabic men", they are more concerned about how accurate the virus' aim is.

Furthermore, the characters are weak, the anticipated theological mystery is weak, and the main plot are just American mercenaries poking around a cave and calling the locals racial slurs. Just absolute awful garbage.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast moving adventure story for modern times of religious conflict with an interesting theme. The idea of evil existing and surviving for thousands of years coupled with modern day psychopathic extremism and hatred fuelled by religious obsessions. The characters are well drawn and easy to relate to because of very good use of dialogue and scene setting. One fault for me is the short chapters that skip backwards and forwards between up to ten characters and three settings. But there is evidence of clear research to highlight the themes of age old legends, modern day 'mercenary' military and archeology. An interesting read.

[Paul Bourke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, Fast Paced Thriller with a Cool Twist

Really enjoyed The Genesis Plague. It's a story set in the troubled Middle East but brings a different perspective to numerous aspects of the story. Whether it's the Kurdish team member, official army v contractors, history of the regions religions, no matter what there is a slant that has you looking at the world through a slightly different lens. Anyway, great story, fast paced, with characters I enjoyed ... Have a look at this one. Easy read and quite satisfying.

[Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quite incoherent tale of a racist plague. It was founded on some quite dodgy science and also incorporated (badly) the legend of Adam's first wife, Lilith.

It rolled along quite nicely, and I wanted to know what happened, but at the end I was left a bit confused as some parts just didn't seem to tie together well.

Not the worst book I've read, but far from the best.

[Rebecca Gates · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just can't accept the ancient villan as evil. The women treated her well but the men gang-raped her (not a spoiler cos it happens in the opening chapter) so she releases a male only virus? Totally proportionate response. Good for her.

Reading wise it was just hard to care what happened to any of these people. Generic and not in a fun way.

[Mark Welton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read although not quite as stimulating as his previous works. The author seems to be torn between writing a modern war drama and an intelligent science/religion/mythical piece. Some nice ideas and a good closure. Dragged in places (the army scenes).

[Hassan Ahmed Al Lawati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting perspective of the novel. Linking Mesopotamian relics with biblical accounts of creation and then twisting the scenario towards the destruction of an entire race of humans. I enjoyed it as a story. It has -as expected- some scientific gaps.
My rating 4/5.

[Geoffrey Beaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

A fast paced, exciting read. The storyline wasn't too complex and there was a good mix of characters and locations. There could have been a longer back story for the mercenaries but still enjoyable.

[AJ Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

Just ok. For me the story never gripped me but others margins it more to their tastes. All in all an ok read.

[Saumya Siag · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good thriller. But it seems quite evident what's happening between the streets of Boston and horrifying mountains of Iraq. But not a waste of time. A one time read....

[Anel Kapur · Rating 1 out of 5]

How this has rated as high as it has I'll never understand.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got too bogged down in details about half way through the book and couldn't carry on reading. I wasn't enjoying it at all.

[Anne Nelissen · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5
Easy and fast story. Sometimes too fast.

[Lorelei · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof... just. Oof. No. Full of all the tropes and stereotypes you expect and have seen in other books like this, but done poorly.

[Priscilla Del Gesso · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in the mood for an easy read at work and this was sitting on the shelf of books to be shared. If you feel like something undemanding but full of action and color and movement to escape into for the half hour sitting at your desk with a less than exciting work lunch then this does the job. It had anthropology, religious zealots and intriguing geography set in contemporary US/Arabian relations and was full of fascinating historical and military bits and pieces. A description of how to direct a missile from a helicopter involving where to focus a laser on a screen and when to press the button is still fixed in technicolor, for a reason that escapes me, in my mind. Once finished it is forgettable but it was so engaging that I ended up taking it home so I could read for longer than half an hour and didn't have to fight to keep beetroot juice off the pages. I find it difficult to judge for this reason. It did exactly what I demanded of it. But I won't be seeking anymore by the author out - not because it was bad but because he didn't do anything any hundreds of others in his genre does.

[Abbie Ennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Byrnes you have done it again.

In his third novel 'The Genesis Plague' Mr Byrnes delves into the world of deamons and serpents and the root of evil and how evil can spread through one amn into destroying a nation of people.

One academic is the only member left alive from a team who went to Iraq and explored a cave and is now a target for something that is being released onto a large population with a fatal intention... no survivors.

Through his raw writing and strong characters, Mr Byrnes portrays a gripping tale that will leave you wanting more.

[Ard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's an exciting action story blended in with a mystery from the dawn of history. Although it will probably be compared to the books of Dan Brown, this book deserves more credit. It's well written, easy to read, pretty well researched and reads like it could easily become a pretty awesome movie. Although rather a book to bring to the beach than aspiring to the literary shelve, this was definitely good fun.

[Anandh Sundar · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first glance, this book seems a poor James Rollins ripoff with the same theme of 'world threatening' events in exotic places. It also feeds into the present Biblical frenzy(exposing some deep cover up within the Bible). But the book's plot is tightly and well written. The novel method of world threat(sorry no spoilers read the book for that) is alone enough to justify a buy

[Nurture Waratah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an excellent novel, though it could have been better. I am the kind of person who likes a graphic description of the gradual progress of the plague. Unfortunately, this really doesn't concentrate on the plague very much. It is more about the politics of crating a new armageddon. Not what I expected, but still a good read.