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Stel Pavlou
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Gene Kindle Edition

by Stel Pavlou (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.6 out of 5 stars 58 ratings
Detective James North is called upon to deal with a young, mentally unstable man holding a child hostage at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. When he arrives, he is disturbed to discover that - although the bad guy is a complete stranger - he's been asking for North by name.

The hostage situation goes wrong, and North finds himself injected with a substance that causes hallucinatory nightmares and flashes of memory that are not his own. He begins to hunt through New York for his attacker, a man he feels inexplicably compelled to kill - a man called Gene.

As he does so, North unlocks the secret of his past, a past that stretches back over 3000 years. GENE is the story of forgotten Greek warrior Cyclades who fought and died in the Trojan Wars, and was fated by the gods to be reincarnated seven times. Locked in a cycle of battle with the Babylonian Magi Athanatos, Cyclades must once again strive to defeat him and thwart his quest to achieve immortality. Cyclades and Athanatos. North and Gene. But in this incarnation, neither man knows which is which, or why each of them has the instinctive need to kill the other.
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  1. Print length
    460 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster UK
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    4 Mar. 2010
  6. File size
    694 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product description

Review

"Highly successful and provocative an intelligent, entertaining and damn exciting genre thriller the natural heir to Michael Crichton." -- SFRevu

"The world needs a Dan Brown who can write and we reckon Pavlou might just be that man." -- SFX Magazine

"Stunningly compelling a superb story full of vivid characters and an intricate storyline." -- The Eternal Night

"Highly successful and provocative. an intelligent, entertaining and damn exciting genre thriller. the natural heir to Michael Crichton." -- SFRevu

"SF that Greg Bear might have written." -- Emerald City

"Stel Pavlou is a real genre-bender... Gene is a powerful read." -- The Observer

"The world needs a Dan Brown who can write and we reckon Pavlou might just be that man." -- SFX

"Intense and very addictive... a tantalising storyline that will grab your attention to the end." -- SHOTS: The Crime and Mystery Magazine

About the Author

Stel Pavlou lives in Kent. He has worked in various jobs, received a degree in American Studies and written the script for the film THE 51ST STATE, starring Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle. Visit www.stelpavlou.com

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003HF0N48
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 4 Mar. 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 694 KB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 460 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1849831390
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer reviews:
    3.6 out of 5 stars 58 ratings

About the author

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Stel Pavlou

Stel Pavlou

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Stel Pavlou is the British international bestselling author of adult fiction. Daniel Coldstar: The Relic War is his first novel for young readers. Stel has written screenplays for Morgan Freeman and Samuel L. Jackson, and stories for Doctor Who. He lives in Colorado with his family, a dog named Rocket, and the ghosts of two chickens.

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
58 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • PeteB1979
    5.0 out of 5 stars ... for a long time and so she was very happy
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 January 2017
    Verified Purchase
    A book my other half had been wanting to read for a long time and so she was very happy
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  • John Norrish
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 February 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Good book.
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  • Antony
    3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but not as good as his first book.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 January 2005
    Verified Purchase
    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.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Charlotte Liddle
    2.0 out of 5 stars A complete contrast to decipher
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2008
    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.
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  • The Big Onion
    5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 November 2007
    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.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • BigAl
    4.0 out of 5 stars Gene
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2012
    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. **
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  • P. Zardoshti
    1.0 out of 5 stars Uninspiring
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 May 2007
    Verified Purchase
    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.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Geoff Springthorpe
    3.0 out of 5 stars I do like books that switch between past and present
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 July 2017
    Verified Purchase
    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.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • David Alexis
    5.0 out of 5 stars A work of genre-bending art
    Reviewed in the United States on 8 December 2013
    Verified Purchase
    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!
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  • Jerry C.
    2.0 out of 5 stars .?
    Reviewed in the United States on 6 October 2019
    Verified Purchase
    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
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  • Yevgeniy Orlov
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on 16 June 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Thank You for a good read!
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  • Debra Bennett
    2.0 out of 5 stars confused
    Reviewed in the United States on 20 February 2014
    Verified Purchase
    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.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on 10 April 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Fabulous.
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