Gene

A book my other half had been wanting to read for a long time and so she was very happy

Good book.

Perhaps I was expecting too much. I really loved his previous work, Decipher, but Gene left me feeling something was lacking. Whereas Decipher was grounded (for the first part of the book) in science and actual history, too much of Gene is direct, straight-forward stuff with no room at all for interpretation on the reader's part. OK, Decipher goes off on a real tangent with Golems etc, but Gene starts that way and maintains the same throughout with little deviation from the outset. A decent story, and I'd say it was a good read. Just disappointed me a little, probably the anticipation I felt when I saw it had been released.

Having read and loved Decipher I was straight on Amazon to buy another of Stel Pavlous book, however I was disappointed. I was interested in the main idea but I felt that the story dragged a lot and I have to say that I lost interest in what happened to the characters. I did read it to the end and I do think that a lot of people will love this book but just be warned that it is very different to decipher and many of the things that make that book so good are missing from this book. If I did not know better then I would have said this was by a different author, but then may that is something that he can feel proud of, that can write such different books and have people enjoy both types.

And I don't mean that in the modern 'really good' sense, but in the older sense; this book is worthy of awe. Having ticked just about every box that there is to tick with his first novel, I didn't think Stel Pavlou could surpass that achievement. I was wrong. I sat and read this book in one sitting, on one day. In between the nature of memory, and how the genetic transmission of memory/instinct may function, in between the richly created worlds of the past, in between the fire of the characters is a great story that pretty much literally left me astounded. I could run off into cliche, but all I can say is that this is a book that deserves to be read, lent to a friend and the reread as soon as (or if!) you get it back. It is such a rich novel in so many ways.

Although published by a major publisher in the UK, Gene "scared off a lot of editors in the US." After reading it, the reasons are clear. It wasn't for lack of a good story, nor was it for lack of a good reason. In short, the editors had no idea in which section of the bookstore Gene belonged. If a bookstore can't shelve a book correctly, they can't expect to sell it. Pavlou's solution was to skip both the publisher and the bookstore to give interested readers in the US a chance to find his book on their own. If forced to boil it down to the essence, I would describe Gene as part police procedural and part fantasy, with elements of mythology, science fiction and history thrown in. There is a mystery to be solved and risk for a main character if it isn't solved soon, which also makes it a thriller. I can see how this could scare a reader off. Someone who dislikes any of these genres might feel that Gene isn't right for them. But if you're interested in being taken out of your genre-comfort-zone, you might find that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. **Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **

I chose this book purely on the basis of his excellent first book "Decipher" which I thoroughly enjoyed. This one however, was a huge disappointment in every respect. The story line was disjointed and character development non existent. A very dull book indeed.

A well written novel, but left me with more questions than answers. Where Decipher had me gripped and made sense at the end, I felt a bit robbed by Gene, never did work out who these characters were in present or past form and the ending left me with a huh? I do like books that switch between past and present, Wilbur Smiths Sunbird and Kate Mosse' Labyrinth to name a couple, are fine examples. It hasn't put me off Stel's work it could have been better though.

Gene is a fantastic, genre-bending, thought-provoking, heart-pounding work of art. The story winds through 3,000 years, and I love the way Stel Pavlou's prose changes to suit the time period. I especially enjoyed the grizzly gore of gladiators and of trip through Hades. As I was reading this book, I came across studies in epigenetic memory, which only served to heighten my enjoyment of the book's concept of immortality through the genetic transference of memory from generation to generation. Fantastic!

Following the main character was quite difficult because the author kept switching back-and-forth and you never knew who the main character was until he was halfway through the book. That is well written as his first book

Thank You for a good read!

Maybe my brain is just too old but this was rather confusing. Jumping around from times in the past to now. Sometimes I had no idea who was speaking. Good writing, I just couldn't keep up.

Fabulous.