The Genesis Code

By: John Case

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

In a remote hill town in Italy, a renowned scientist enters the confessional. A dying man, he pours out the secret that has consumed his life for years - a sin of such magnitude that the shocked priest refuses him absolution.

In a suburb of Washington, D.C., Joe Lassiter's only sister and her young son have been killed in a sudden fire that engulfs their home. The police believe it was arson; they soon discover that mother and child were brutally murdered before the blaze was set.

As Lassiter tries to find out why they were killed, he comes to believe others may have been murdered in similar fashion. And still more people may die if he cannot discover the elusive connection that links the innocent victims together.

©2005 John Case (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"You'll probably guess what's behind the murders of mothers and their very young sons long before investigator Joe Lassiter does, but that shouldn't spoil your enjoyment of this exciting and thoughtful new thriller that mixes science and faith in with its action. Lassiter's own sister and beloved nephew are among the victims, who were all patients at an Italian fertility clinic run by a doctor with some unusual ideas about DNA. Why this catches the attention of a dangerous religious order, and whether Lassiter can save one surviving woman and child from their wrath, should take up a good part of your night." (Amazon.com review)

A solid listen

The book was a little better than I expected it to be. The comparisons to Dan Brown are inevitable; this is a far better-written book. The premise was decent enough, though you won't be the least surprised by the big reveal at the end. In fact, you'll be rolling your eyes wondering why Joe Lassiter can't add two and two.The last few chapters are kinda jammed with new characters and action, making me think the pacing was a little off... I'd like to have met a couple of those characters slightly earlier. (And the names of the two major characters introduced at the end are almost a bad joke, but it works fine really.) Dick Hill does a very good job with his narration, as usual, though frankly I might have made a different choice for such an accent-heavy book (not Hill's strong suit, in my opinion). All nitpicking aside, though, it's well-written and well-read and was a pretty fun listen throughout.

Not bad, but not great, either

The ending won't come as a shocking surprise, because you'll figure out why people are dying about an hour into the book, but regardless, I enjoy John Case's writing, so I give it three stars. A perfectly credit-worthy listen, if you have a credit going stale.

Great! What an ending!

My first book by this author, but I’ll definitely look for more! Narration good too.

Enjoyed it.

I went into this with no expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed it. At times I thought that I was listening a James Rollins book, then a Michael Connelly book. A suspenseful story, a good cast of characters (scientists, assassins, priests, detectives), the plot moves at good pace and the book takes you half way around the world. I definitely recommend it.

Love this book...

I first read a hard copy of The Genesis Code back in the late 90's. This book single handedly got me hooked on John Case and his brilliant and detailed style if writing. The whole concept of the book, Jurassic Park meets theology, blew me away. I loved it so much that I had to read it again. I was really glad I came across the audible version; it made the second time around even better, almost like watching a movie.

As for the narrator... I couldn't imagine anyone more perfect for the part. His change in character voices was spot on as were his inflections. He made the book even more enjoyable.

I highly recommend this book.

Good Read, but Insulting

The characters are well developed, reader is excellent, good "read" for most folks, however, the premise of the story is insulting to faithful Christians. You decide.

sorry it's over

Loved this book. It carried me away to a different place because the story was so exciting and engrossing.

Better than DaVinci Code

Excellent narration by Dick Hill. The writing is much stronger than "DaVinci Code", and avoids the cliche-filled dialogue that plagues the suspense genre (e.g. "First to Kill"). This book came out in 1995, so many technologies weren't around ... kinda neat to look back a little bit.

Excellent book

I was riveted from beginning to end. I drive for Uber and so I listen to a LOT of audio books and decided to give this one a try. Absolutely worth the money and the time to listen to it. I even listened to it outside of my car while taking a bath, getting ready for bed and even let my teenage kids listen who then promptly stole the book to listen to from beginning to end.

I believe in God

This book kept me on the edge of my chair, partly because of the excitement and partly because I couldn't believe how silly and dense Lassiter was. How can a person be a detective and own a detective agency and isn't intelligent enough to figure out what's going on. My mother you to tell me that God takes care of a baby and a fool and in this situation it's true.

With that being said the book was a nail biting adventure that had me thinking differently about priests and the Catholic Church. Several times I tripped over the many different names, and there were many. Would I refer this book to anyone? Yes. Would I read it again? Probably, eventually. However, even if I didn't think very much of the book Dick Hill can make lemonade out of rotten lemons so even though There were parts in the book that didn't make sense and I would put the book down out of frustration over Lassiter's clumsy attempt at solving they mystery I found myself coming right back within 30 minutes and allow Dick Hill to pull me back into the story. By the end of the book I found that I liked everything except the ending. Good job John Case.