Review: Some unnecessary scenes and slower pacing for a techno-thriller, but overall a good read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 28, 2013
In The Genesis Code, an odious corporate employer seeks to increase worker productivity (name a corporation who doesn't) and by sharp contrast of the Jeff Strand short story "Work/Life Balance": less home and social life equals more work. The story begins with protagonist Mark Weston interviewing and accepting a job at tech company OneMarket. Been a while since I've read a novel that begins with a job interview, but I know there's been at least a few sinceThe Shining. Not a very exciting place to start a story, especially a thriller, but I hoped story-wise it would improve. Slowly, things did, as we began to learn more about Mark, his relationship with his wife, the pressure cooker employer OneMarket and a strange doctor and his assistant also employed there.At times in the narrative, I was reminded of the writing style of Robin Cook. Some of what Cook does I'm a huge fan--particularly the way he weaves complex medical information into stories--but sometimes he's a bit vanilla with characterization. I liked how the author wove weighty computer terms into the narrative without draining the momentum. Cook's characters sometimes can methodically, sometimes repetitively, analyze their inner thoughts, probing too much how they feel about certain situations and 'what if's' in the story versus using action. Generally, I find character action more creative and readable than excessive character musings.The story doesn't move as fast as most thrillers and the technology aspect, while it was plenty geek-speak infused, wasn't really that thought-provoking until the final chapter. I'm used to more amazing technology in a techno-thriller than what distills to a familiar tale of human experimentation.The characterization was a bit dry at times, and yet overall it succeeded. I cared what happened to Mark and his wife, to the point of being irritated that one dramatic character conflict introduced wasn't adequately explained.Despite a few bumps, there was a skilled build-up of suspense, culminating in an ending that wrapped up the central plot points and left the author room to explore a sequel in the future, if desired.For a debut thriller, this was a decent read. Certainly showing the author has some good potential. It's my understanding this has roots as a short story (?) that was nurtured into a novel. For this reader, I think it would have made a better novella than short story or novel. It would have tightened up the pacing and done away with some of the unnecessary scenes that didn't add to the story, advance the plot or further define the characters. I would read another work by this new author. 3 stars. 4,779 Kindle locations.