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Nathan Helix Thrillers #1
Helix Genesis
A vengeful war hero. A politician's wife. A lethal pathogen. Scores to settle.
London 2039. The post-Ebola population tolerates each other in two unequal parts. The Cardinal City elite enjoy a life of privilege, comfort and plenty, while those outside forage, hunt and dig for survival.
Major Nathan Helix, VC DSO has given twenty years of his life and sacrificed half of his body in service to his country. The price for his rehabilitation is at least ten years further service to the Cardinal of the Eastern Sector. He refuses to accept that his special forces career is over, regarding his promotion, decorations and new life of investigating trivial crime among the city glitterati no substitute.
Doctor Gabrielle Stepper, the venerated scientist credited with defeating the Ebola pandemic, craves a life of normality and anonymity. Trapped in a loveless marriage to the ambitious Chancellor of the Exchequer, she seeks solace outside the city in the arms of a fellow member of the Scientific Elite. Her hopes for future happiness are extinguished when her lover is found poisoned with evidence that Stepper was the last person to see her alive.
Helix has long admired Stepper and, when assigned to investigate, he refuses to believe her capable of murder. When he also learns that she has discovered a pathogen, equal in virulence to Ebola and someone is trying to steal it, he will do anything to protect her and the research. He foils an attempt to kidnap her, orchestrated by Colonel Terry McGill, his former nemesis and the architect of his older brother’s death. With McGill back in his sights and Stepper on the run, Helix is torn between tracking her down, or avenging the death of his sibling under the burgeoning threat of a biological attack with the power to finish the job that Ebola started.
London 2039. The post-Ebola population tolerates each other in two unequal parts. The Cardinal City elite enjoy a life of privilege, comfort and plenty, while those outside forage, hunt and dig for survival.
Major Nathan Helix, VC DSO has given twenty years of his life and sacrificed half of his body in service to his country. The price for his rehabilitation is at least ten years further service to the Cardinal of the Eastern Sector. He refuses to accept that his special forces career is over, regarding his promotion, decorations and new life of investigating trivial crime among the city glitterati no substitute.
Doctor Gabrielle Stepper, the venerated scientist credited with defeating the Ebola pandemic, craves a life of normality and anonymity. Trapped in a loveless marriage to the ambitious Chancellor of the Exchequer, she seeks solace outside the city in the arms of a fellow member of the Scientific Elite. Her hopes for future happiness are extinguished when her lover is found poisoned with evidence that Stepper was the last person to see her alive.
Helix has long admired Stepper and, when assigned to investigate, he refuses to believe her capable of murder. When he also learns that she has discovered a pathogen, equal in virulence to Ebola and someone is trying to steal it, he will do anything to protect her and the research. He foils an attempt to kidnap her, orchestrated by Colonel Terry McGill, his former nemesis and the architect of his older brother’s death. With McGill back in his sights and Stepper on the run, Helix is torn between tracking her down, or avenging the death of his sibling under the burgeoning threat of a biological attack with the power to finish the job that Ebola started.
- GenresThriller
268 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2019
33 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Chris Lofts
7 books15 followersHello, I'm Chris Lofts, the author of Helix Genesis, Helix Nexus and Helix Trinity the first three instalments in the Nathan Helix thriller series. Also, don't miss my standalone novels: Life Untenable and Restitution. Previously, I worked as an IT Project Manager and started writing when "living" in hotels while away with my job. I came late to writing but always felt I had a book or two in me. I love action, psychological and thrillers so it seemed natural to me to write in the same genres. Now, having hung up my project plan, I spend most of my days writing and marketing my work which is a labour of love. I live in the county of Kent in the United Kingdom. Together with my wife Corinne we are the human slaves to our cat Monty and a family of chickens.
You can discover more about me and follow me on social media at the following links:
My author website: www.chrisloftsauthor.com.
Sign up for my mailing list to hear about forthcoming books and get a free eBook at:
https://www.subscribepage.com/chris-l...
Instagram: https://instagram.com/chrisloftsauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisloftsau...
You can discover more about me and follow me on social media at the following links:
My author website: www.chrisloftsauthor.com.
Sign up for my mailing list to hear about forthcoming books and get a free eBook at:
https://www.subscribepage.com/chris-l...
Instagram: https://instagram.com/chrisloftsauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisloftsau...
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 31, 2020
Helix Genesis by Chris Lofts is a thriller set in England in a future time. An epidemic of Ebola decimated the populace, and the world is still recovering. People are slowly regaining some normality.
Even if there are several points of view, the main character is indubitably Major Nathan Helix, a war hero who keeps serving his country working as a crime investigator.
The story begins as a typical murder mystery - a body found in suspicious circumstances, an investigator sent on the scene to collect evidence and information, and a killer on the loose. But it quickly transforms in something different (even better!) when Major Helix founds that things are way more complicated than the situation suggested.
I really enjoyed reading this book for three main reasons:
1. The setting: without watering down the story with long descriptions or explanations, the author depicts an interesting future world, where the latest technology advances in big towns, with automated vehicles, biometric security and personalized commercials, while country villages are back to a basic system of autarky and barter.
2. The main character: Nathan Helix embodies the tormented hero very well. He has demons, a strong sense of justice which often in conflict with his sense of duty. The author keeps a good balance between Helix’s most human side and the military training that makes him positively lethal.
3. The plot: from murder mystery, to a tale of revenge, to an international conspiracy. The plot of Helix Genesis kept me captivated from the beginning to the end. Using the cast of characters and the changes in points of view wisely, the author brings the reader in a smooth ride between plot twists and action scenes.
Since English is not my mother language, it took me a while to get into the style of the author, the technical terms and the details of this future world. However, this didn’t deprive me of the pleasure of reading.
I strongly recommend this book. both if you enjoy a good thriller or if you are more into science
fiction. Helix Genesis cover both genres admirably, delivering a no frills action-packed story.
Even if there are several points of view, the main character is indubitably Major Nathan Helix, a war hero who keeps serving his country working as a crime investigator.
The story begins as a typical murder mystery - a body found in suspicious circumstances, an investigator sent on the scene to collect evidence and information, and a killer on the loose. But it quickly transforms in something different (even better!) when Major Helix founds that things are way more complicated than the situation suggested.
I really enjoyed reading this book for three main reasons:
1. The setting: without watering down the story with long descriptions or explanations, the author depicts an interesting future world, where the latest technology advances in big towns, with automated vehicles, biometric security and personalized commercials, while country villages are back to a basic system of autarky and barter.
2. The main character: Nathan Helix embodies the tormented hero very well. He has demons, a strong sense of justice which often in conflict with his sense of duty. The author keeps a good balance between Helix’s most human side and the military training that makes him positively lethal.
3. The plot: from murder mystery, to a tale of revenge, to an international conspiracy. The plot of Helix Genesis kept me captivated from the beginning to the end. Using the cast of characters and the changes in points of view wisely, the author brings the reader in a smooth ride between plot twists and action scenes.
Since English is not my mother language, it took me a while to get into the style of the author, the technical terms and the details of this future world. However, this didn’t deprive me of the pleasure of reading.
I strongly recommend this book. both if you enjoy a good thriller or if you are more into science
fiction. Helix Genesis cover both genres admirably, delivering a no frills action-packed story.
August 2, 2021
Great read with interesting twists
A few possible plot holes become fairly obvious early in the book, however the story never loses the nagging sense that something else is going to happen. Holes filled with a beautiful twist.
A few possible plot holes become fairly obvious early in the book, however the story never loses the nagging sense that something else is going to happen. Holes filled with a beautiful twist.
November 23, 2023
Good thriller
Tangled and detailed plot combines science fiction with a timely pandemic, strange murders, multiple antagonists, politics, and a truly scary bio weapon. Good characters with strong relationships. Occasional challenges due to confusing descriptions lacking clear references, but I just read through those and kept going because the story was worth it. I’m picking up the next book.
Tangled and detailed plot combines science fiction with a timely pandemic, strange murders, multiple antagonists, politics, and a truly scary bio weapon. Good characters with strong relationships. Occasional challenges due to confusing descriptions lacking clear references, but I just read through those and kept going because the story was worth it. I’m picking up the next book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews