Tom Knox, The Genesis Secret

The Genesis Secret

Tom Knox

Viking, Apr 2009, $26.95

ISBN: 9780670020881

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