Genesis by Layton Green
Genesis is the story of an astrophysicist’s search for a murder and a investigative journalist looking for his life.
Andie is devastated with the death of her mentor. After receiving a gift after his death, she discovers there are many secrets involved. Cal is eking out an existence as a podcaster after his career was destroyed. One of his podcasts puts him on the radar of a nefarious secret society.
The two find each other and become embroiled in continent jumping danger.
I particularly enjoyed the historic perspective with Ettore Majorana. I had never heard of him and found my self Googling him to get more background. He did exist and the mystery surrounding him was true.
Green develops the characters well and provides an intriguing plot .
I recommend it.

Andie Robertson has relied on her mentor and PhD adviser, Dr. James Corwin for much of her life, especially after her mother left. All of Andie's life, she has had strange hallucinations that take her into an eerie shadow world. After Dr. Corwin is mysteriously murdered in Italy, Andie finds some research of Dr. Corwin's that is out of his field of study along with drawings that looks exactly like her hallucinations. With the drawings, Andie finds the Star Phone, a strange device that leads her on an adventure with a series of clues. The clues are associated with a secret society, The Leap Year Society and The Ascendants. On the other side of the US, a disgraced investigative journalist, Cal, is desperately trying to find the people who ruined his career. Once Andie and Cal figure out that they are both being hunted by a very dangerous and secretive group, they team up to help one another on the perilous path that has befallen them

Unknown 9: Genesis is a complex science fiction thriller featuring secret groups, code breaking, hidden history, conspiracy theories and mind bending scientific breakthroughs. This is the first book of a trilogy and the beginning of the book was a gradual set up of characters, events and background before getting too heavy into the plot. The writing gripped me from the beginning, building suspense as Dr. Corwin is running for his life. After that, the set up bounces back and forth between Andie, Cal, Omer who is contracted to deliver them, and Ettore in the 1930's. This lends to a slower pace in the beginning, however it does a wonderful job of creating deep characters and intriguing story line that is compounded, but easily followed. I enjoyed the fast paced adventures in Egypt and Italy's historical spaces. I'm deeply interested in the Leap Year Society and the secrets they want to protect. I was absorbed by the idea of The Fold and the potential it could unlock. There is much more to explore with all of the characters and the journey they are on, I can't wait to read more.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Similar in style and execution to familiar puzzle thrillers like The DaVinci Code, but with physics rather than religion at the heart, Unknown 9: Genesis is an exciting first instalment in a new multimedia franchise.

Layton Green throws a lot at the reader, with influences ranging from the sci-fi conspiracy theories of The X-Files to the globe-trotting history of Indiana Jones, this was a fast-paced story that that follows several interwoven narratives to keep things moving at a breakneck pace. A big part of what makes it so engaging, despite that pace, is the characters.

Andie is a brave young woman, thrust into world for which she’s completely unprepared by the death of her mentor, Dr. Corwin. Told to trust nobody, she is forced to rely on her own instincts in the search for answers. Cal, the young ex-reporter who crosses her path when they both begin asking the wrong questions, is a paranoid conspiracy podcaster – reminding me of The Lone Gunmen – who adds a little more experience to the quest, fueled by his underground connections in the hacker community. Then there is Omer, the man chasing them both, who captured my attention because while he’s dedicated and relentless, he’s also refreshingly fallible.

Despite the frantic pacing, you do need to have a little patience with the story as there’s a lot to set up and a lot to explain. This is a book that’s heavy on physics, science, and astronomy – not to mention hacking technology – but, to his credit, Green does a stellar job of making it all accessible and interesting. It’s the second half of the book, where we begin getting deeper into the adventure element, that the story really pulled me in, racing from one landmark (and narrow) escape to another.

Granted, this is only the first chapter in a much larger project, but the questions asked and the mysteries teased are more than enough to keep the reader’s interest, despite the cliffhanger ending. Smart, adventurous, and possibly even inspirational, Unknown 9: Genesis is definitely worth the read.

I must admit that I really struggled to get into this book even though I was really looking forward to reading it - I am not sure if that was because of the writing or because of me?! I did not end up finishing this book so would not want to leave a bad review or no feedback at all. The synopsis of the book is what drew me to it and I am gutted that I did not enjoy it as I thought I would.

Hmmm, this book was not for me. I should have realized that it was not the kind of book I usually read. I found it hard to get into.

I had some high hopes for this book. In particular, I was drawn to the story because it seemed to have some interesting science-fiction aspects to it.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to engage with the book.

There were a variety of reasons for this. First, there were just too many story elements present. I know this is a science-fiction novel, but in my mind there were so many ideas floating around that it became too unbelievable. Second, there was a huge emphasis on food for seemingly no other reason than to talk about cuisine. It honestly distracted me throughout the book. Third, and maybe the most heartbreaking to me, was the fact that this book dealt with physics, but then started weaving science with stuff that was clearly not science. I also disliked the fact that in the book there was a reference to the three dimensions of spacetime, but there are four (which is why we call it space*time*).

For these reasons, it was difficult to engage and enjoy the book. Perhaps it will be enjoyable for some, but it didn't do it for me.