Review
Very exciting, very scary. What Adam fingers so accurately is the combination of muscle & malevolence embodies by government & big business. Read it as an early warning of things we hope won't happen.' - Lit. Review
Nothing ever happens in the Black Fens of Cambridgeshire, a fact only too well known to the people that live there. Until, that is, the sinister project known as Genesis II rears its ominous head in Paul Adam's latest adventure. Adam, author of the much-acclaimed Shadow Chasers, has written an eco-thriller set in the dark and gloomy waterlands of the fens around Ely. When a group of over-zealous eco-fighters is caught trashing a field of genetically modified oilseed rape, its young leader is mysteriously killed by a security patrol. At the same time, isolated cases begin to occur of a strain of influenza never seen before, one which proves deadly in all too many cases and is immediately concealed by the authorities. The two amateur sleuths who end up taking on the investigation, one a specialist in infectious diseases and the other a provincial solicitor, gradually come to realise that the cover-up extends into the highest echelons of power, and there are some hugely enjoyable scenes between assorted greedy and perfidious rogues set in the luxurious offices of Whitehall. All this is conspiracy theory with a vengeance, and though plausible up to a point and packed throughout with fast-paced excitement, there is obviously no way the for two small-time protagonists to beat the system. Accordingly the ending, which is abrupt and unsatisfying, is also with hindsight quite inevitable, and a fatal flaw in an otherwise cracking tale. (Kirkus UK)
Product Description
A group of eco-terrorists trash fields of GM crops and break into the laboratory of the biotech company who are conducting the trials. Several miles from the site of the field trial, an organic farmer, his family and his animals fall victim to a mutant form of 'flu. Karl Housman, consultant virologist, realises that this new strain of influenza has the potential to kill more people than the 1918 epidemic, but no-one in authority will take his fears seriously, even when the first few victims die. Meanwhile, Madeleine West, the defence solicitor for one of the people caught breaking into the biotech company's lab, becomes aware that the company is able to call on the services of Special Branch to protect their property. When she and Dr Housman pool their knowledge they realise that a government sponsored cover-up is going on and that the likely outcome is the death of a fifth of the UK's population . unless they can find enough evidence to expose the conspiracy.
