The Genesis Secret » (Unabridged)

Tom Knox is the pseudonym of the author Sean Thomas. Born in England, he has travelled the world writing for many different newspapers and magazines, including The Times, the Guardian, and the Daily Mail. His last book was the Genesis Secret; an international bestseller, it has so far been translated into 20 languages. He lives in London.

In this epic thriller, a secret with shocking consequences is buried deep in the Middle Eastern desert

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.

Publishers Weekly

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. (Apr.)

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