Genome

By: A. G. Riddle

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 13 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

The thrilling conclusion to The Extinction Files is finally here!

A code hidden in the human genome...will reveal the ultimate secret of human existence.

And could hold humanity's only hope of survival.

In 2003, the first human genome was sequenced. But the secrets it held were never revealed.

The truth was discovered 30 years ago, almost by accident. Dr. Paul Kraus had spent his entire career searching for what he called humanity's lost tribes - human ancestors who had gone extinct. When Kraus compared the DNA samples of the lost tribes with our own, he found a pattern of changes: a code. At the time, the technology didn't exist to unravel what it meant. To protect the secret, Kraus hid his work and disappeared. Now the technology exists to finally understand the mysterious code buried in the human genome, but finding the pieces of Kraus' research is more dangerous than anyone imagined.

Dr. Peyton Shaw and her mother have obtained part of Kraus' research - and a cryptic message that could lead to the remaining pieces. They believe his work is the key to stopping a global conspiracy - and an event that will change humanity forever.

The ultimate secret, buried in the human genome, will change our very understanding of what it means to be human. For Peyton, finding it may come at an incredible price. She must weigh the lives of strangers against those she loves: Desmond Hughes and her mother. With time running out, Peyton makes a fateful choice - one that can never be undone.

©2017 A. G. Riddle (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Loved it!

Great story, can be a bit hard to follow at times, but stick with it, it proves to fill the gaps nicely. Very well read, Ballerini pulls you into the story and keeps you wanting more.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

a Masterp8ece

one of the best books I've ever read. the narrator could well be the best to bring emotion and authenticity ever in a book.Get it Now

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Good follow up

Went a very different route from when I started at the beginning of the first book. Not at all a bad thing but it was far from what I expected. Overall it was a good follow up to the first book and it wrapped the story up nicely.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

I Loved it! I Can't wait for the next one!

I Loved it! I Can't wait for the next one! Hopefully we won't have to wait long!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Exciting and interesting, but confusing and weird

Although this is a pretty exciting and interesting story, there are several problems that get in the way of interest. First, there are the myriad chapter jumps from character to character and from time to time with no clues. It is very confusing trying to figure out if a given chapter is happening now or some time in the past. And there is a LOT of past here, more than 50 years of it, and we have to keep those pasts straight for so many people. Stalingrad, Australia, Oklahoma, Germany, Spain, the North Atlantic. Now, last year, 5 years ago, 50 years ago, a billion years ago. I lost my place in the book once when my phone kept playing after I had put it down. It took me over half an hour, and a lot of relistening to figure out where I had been. THAT is a confusing story.

This has sort of mixed up genres. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. This one started out (in book 1) as a biological pandemic which then turned out to be a Lex Luther bioterrorism theme but now there's Virtual Reality and computer-controlled everything. This current volume takes it even further into VR and super computers. It's already confusing trying to figure out how their computer programs can do what they say they can, and then you have to understand how the Neanderthal cave paintings fit in (?), and then it just keeps getting weirder. Something is hidden in the human genome and it is supposed to answer the deepest questions of Man's existence. What's that question again? And where in the story, or Lin Shaw's genetic research, was this answered? Not much is answered because the question isn't clear. Most of the themes have been dealt with anyway in Star Trek in far less time and with less confusion.

It's a bit sci-fi. Our hero has hidden his memory in some computer somewhere? He has to find it to save the world.

It's a bit romance. Two women love him. Unless one just shrugs it off, there are only two ways for that to resolve, either one dies, or one has her heart broken. Take your pick.

The people cleverly change from being good guys to being bad guys or visy-versy. Who's hiding something? Who can you trust? You'll start with the eye rolling.

There are some good action scenes, but even they are confusing chronologically.

The last conversation of the story is the most confusing of all. It's supposed to be all high-brow intellectual philosophical and just ends stultifying: Let's not call the highest peak of our world by the name we use, let's be sly and use the name of the first surveyor-general of India and call it..... wait for it......Mt. Everest. Yeah, that'll obfuscate things.

Even though the story can keep you entertained, it is not satisfying because there's not a real moral, or a real conclusion. It's just kind of woo-woo, aren't we mysteriously esoteric!

Mr. Ballerini does well with all the voices except Lin Shaw's. She has to be 50-60 years old, but sounds like her daughter's sister.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

interesting

took me forever to figure out what was going on in book 2. but the finish was well worth it

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Classic Sci Fi<br />

This is a good follow up to the first installment of the Extinction Files book 1. It offers imaginative and satisfying answers to big questions like why is mankind here, what is our purpose, what is our distiny, why did the aborigines stagnate after being the most advanced people of their time by being maybe the 1st seafaring people? Another answered question is why have we not seen probes from millions of others worlds that preceded earth by billions of years. These and others provocative questions are covered while telling an excellent story with interesting character with solid prose and a unique plot. I was intertained and my mind was expanded.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Did not disappoint!

I enjoyed the series. There could be more, but if he doesn't write another book in the extinction files, that will be ok too, it ended with enough closure.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Thought Provoking

This book held my interest but is hard to describe. Extremely interesting and uplifting too. Left me hopeful and looking at our world in a different light. Is this fiction or the future of our world?

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Rollercoaster Ride

I enjoyed the premise and the story as it unfolded. The author kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t wait to listen to the next chapter and the next chapter and the next chapter.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Disappointing.

I found it to be full of long winded speeches, and far too many time jumps. The final 1/3 was interesting, but took significant will power to make it through to the end.

Tedious

Extremely disappointing, I could not finish this book. Such a shame after Pandemic was so promising.

Nowhere near as good as the first book

only managed to listen to half the story and got bored of it, I hardly ever not finish a story but I couldn't with this one

Pause for thought

Excellent narration, well thought out and pieced together, I enjoy this type of story, totally enjoyable

Brilliant

A gripping and thoroughly entertaining audio book. Ingenious concept expertly narrated in almost disappointed to have finished it I enjoyed it so much!

Long awaited

I loved the first book in the series and had waited patiently for the sequel. It took a lot more patience for the story to finally get going, it didn’t have the pace and intrigue of the first. It’s certainly worth getting through the first 2/3s, of what is almost scene setting, to get to the meat of the story when it actually gets quite good and am glad I listened to it in its entirety.

The last was OK - this is less of the same

The first book promised much but was only OK by the end. This is less interesting and seems to be made up of a great deal of chasing around about nothing. Contrived, dull and a bit silly really.

Another FANTASTIC Sci-Fi EPIC from A.G. Riddle !!!

I was worried from about 3/4's through "Pandemic - Extinction Files (*Book 1)", that this series was eerily similar to the "Atlantis Trilogy" by Riddle !!!!
I am VERY happy to say that here in the second book, my fears were mostly unfounded !!! The x2 series do have 'some' similarities,.......
BUT the premises of both are at their core, Very VERY different !!!
As ALWAYS I do NOT do spoilers or plot twists and try not to give to much of a books storyline away in reviews !!!
This is a BRILLIANT conclusion of the series !!! Asking the age old questions,......
"Where do we come from" ??
"Why are we here" ???
"What is our purpose" ????
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE,..... OUR EXISTENCE,....... WHERE DO WE ULTIMATELY GO,....... WHAT IS OUR FINAL DESTINATION" ?????
A.G Riddle poses some EPIC questions in these x2 books !!! And gives some Truely frightening glimpses into possible journeys we as humans may decide to take !!!
It is one of those books that really makes you think about the fundamental questions about life, where are we from, what is the point of "life" (*not the individual personal life,......but LIFE as a general question !!!) and ultimately what is our destiny !??!
This is in my opinion, exactly what a "proper" Science Fiction book SHOULD do !!! It should make you travel the universe, life & make you wonder,......make you think,.......make you question,.......
"WHAT IF" ???????

Virtual Reality???

In 2003, the first human genome was sequenced. But the secrets it held were never revealed.
The truth was discovered thirty years ago, by Dr. Paul Kraus who had spent his entire career searching for what he called humanity’s lost tribes—human ancestors who had gone extinct. He believed our DNA contained a code to the future of humanity. Dr. Peyton Shaw and her mother Lyn have obtained part of Kraus’s research—and a cryptic message that could lead to the remaining piece which Desmond Hughes invented and only he knows where it is hidden, all he has to do was to regain all his lost memories. His work is the key to stopping a global conspiracy and an event that will change humanity forever it is called the ‘Looking Glass’. There is another unscrupulous group who will do anything to get hold of this last piece in order to launch ‘Looking Glass’ including releasing a world-wide pathogen and killing anyone who gets in their way. There is quite a lot of flashback in this 2nd book (I reck0n around 50%+) and again technical and medical terms. I was very near the end before I understood what the Looking Glass was. I also thought the ending of the Epilogue was a bit on the silly side.

Frustrating

Many questions left open from book 1 were answered, but some coincidences left unexplained. A bit frustrating
Performance generally excellent but some changes in pronunciation and accents from book 1