Gene

Makes you think while you learn. I love novels that have fact along with fiction. This is not for someone struggling to read. His books are hard to put down once you have started reading.

I was given a copy of Gene for Christmas and have spent the most fantastic week reading it. Anyone who watches those mega-hit TV shows like Lost, or Cold Case, even CSI will instantly know the format of flashbacks to earlier periods in time occurring throughout the story to give clues to what happened, and to also flesh out the characters and make them rich and believable. Pavlou does that here to seamless effect. As the story progresses, the intertwining of the two main characters' stories become more and more entwined, and as the story probes deeper in time, so we catch glimpses of fantastic periods in history like Rome and Ancient Greece. Pavlou uses language to brilliant effect, and is very visceral at times (perhaps a little too much for some). But his descriptions are so easy to picture and his attention to details is terrific. One word of caution, the ending might not be what you were expecting. Though this is a thriller, there's a deep message to this book about the nature of men, war and revenge, and how it is soul destroying and ultimately meaningless. As a consequence if you don't understand that message, you might not understand the ending. This is a deep book, steeped in psychology and mythology. Even the character's names have mythological significance in the telling of the story. Astounding and inspiring stuff. Not what you'd expect at all based on the author's previous work.

GENE is truly unique. If the author's first novel, DECIPHER, was akin to the style of Michael Crichton, then his writing style in GENE is quite different; more comparable to Stephen King's later writings. In any novel, the relationship between author and reader is one based on trust as the reader places his/her trust in the author to take him/her on a journey during which they will share new experiences, tap new emotions, and explore new horizons. And, maybe if they're very fortunate, it will leave them with a couple of new, thought-provoking questions, too. GENE will do all that, and more, to, you if you'll let it. The prose is exceptional, the research fastidious, the characters plausible, the dialogue crisp, and the symbolism powerful. It's subtle, but don't miss it because it enriches the panorama without being invasive. However, GENE will take you to areas dramatic, dark and disturbing as it poses a challenge in the form of a single question, unique to the world of fiction: are our memories genetic? Stay with it, and it will also take you out of those disturbing environs - part of the trust relationship I mentioned earlier. Above all, because the plotting is meticulous in its structure, it really is exquisite. It isn't purely linear, though it can be. It isn't purely flashback, though it can be. It isn't purely circular, though it can be. Or it can be a combination of all three. But there's another aspect to it that contributes to the uniqueness of GENE; after you've finished it, decide whether the story works better as told, front-to-back, or in reverse order. GENE is truly unique. Stel Pavlou hasn't just written a novel, he's directed it as a film-maker might. GENE isn't brain-candy - in fact, as a friend of mine commented, "It's brain-food." If you're looking for an escapist, pick-up/put-down beach-book, then this might not be your first choice. But if you're looking for an epic, entertaining novel into which you can immerse both your entire imagination and a substantial proportion of your cognitive faculties, you've just found it. GENE is truly unique.

I was enthralled by this book. The second novel from Pavlou and was captivated from the first line:"I remember the day I died." From there Pavlou unfolds an intricate tale of a cycle of revenge that has lasted 3,000 years between an ancient Greek warrior Cyclades and the Babylonian Magus Athanatos, over the loss of Cyclades' one true love. The tale begins in New York City and NYPD Detective James North but the story unfolds backwards in flashback as North and his adversary uncover their past history together, because although this is a story of reincarnation, it is reincarnation through genetic memory, and memory can be faulty. Gene is written in such delicious prose, each journy back to Byzantium, Rome, Troy and so forth are drawn with both superb accuracy and a voice I had not expected to find. The characters have tremedous depth and passion and the slow unpicking of each character's psyche as the story unfolds leads to a tremendous glimpse at the debate of nature vurses nurture. This is a dark and brooding tale, not for the faint of heart, and thoroughly gripping. Highly recommended.