Rating: 
Summary: The Worst "Biomedical Thriller" I Have Ever Read
Review: This is one of the worst books that I have ever read. The only reason I finished it was to find out what the "big" confession was at the end, which to my disappoint I figured out as soon as the author reveals that the doctor is both fascinated with religious relics and fertility experiments. After the second chapter you know who killed the family (or, at least you should know if you call yourself a knowledgeable reader) and about half way through the book you figure out why the killer did it. This book was about as suspenseful as watching paint dry, to be horribly cliche. The plot is very weakly strung together and I couldn't help but skim over half of the rambling paragraphs describing God knows what (haha).
Case writes in a dry, heavy style that doesn't flow at all. He tries to write in a very profound way, but fails at all attempts, and comes off sounding as a wannabe English-major that flunked out of Eng. 101. This is a 150-pg. novel stretched out into a 450-pg. one. And, please, don't even get me started about what the big confession was. ***MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD*** I mean, c'mon, the doctor was trying to CLONE JESUS from various relics. That's almost as funny as the idea of the Red Sox ever winning the World Series. I finally realized why the author saved that little tid bit of information for the last few pages--for if he had put in the first couple of chapters I know I would have stopped reading immediately. JESUS! I can't believe he honestly thought that he could write a 'serious' "biomedical thriller" (front cover quote, paperback ed.) with that as his major plot line. It isn't 'thrilling', it's down right laughable, and, in fact, I did laugh when Joe finds out the reason why poor Brandon was so brutally murder, his throat slashed from ear to ear (after about the tenth time of hearing about poor Brandon, you start to feel like you want to slash Joe's throat). The characters are dry and lack any kind of depth or human emotion.
Another major problem that I had with this book was the simple fact that it was NOT a "biomedical thriller". I expected that I would be reading a book that focused more on the medical and biological aspect of cloning, dare I say it, Jesus, and not the boring adventure, if that's what you really want to call, of trying to find out WHY (who cares, Joe really didn't seem to upset about the deaths) his family was killed. The only biomedical parts of this book were a couple of paragraphs scattered here and there, most of them coming when he visits the teacher in Boston. After taking one college-level bio class in high school and writing a twenty-page term paper on stem cell research, I can tell you that the author barely even begins to cover the topic of stem cells and the doctor's use of them in his fertility experiments. The book also could have been a little better if the author gave more attention not only to the scientific aspect of the doctor's experiment, but also to the moral and ethic questions that such an experiment is sure to raise (as a thinking, breathing human being you should be using your mind to think about such controversial matters that in the near future are sure to become powerful technologies, and if you disagree with me then you have a very deluded way of looking at the world).
Finally, the book wouldn't be so bad if the author hadn't included the four or so pages which comprised the epilogue. The last two sentences of the epilogue are the worst two sentences in the history of "biomedical thrillers". Not only is Jessie, or Jay or JJ, however you wish to refer to him (Lil' Jesus), possible a clone of Jesus, the author chooses to lead the reader into believing the Jesse really is Jesus (praise the Lord, our savior has finally come back--right, that's totally believable) when he picks up a dead fish, says some awe-inspiring words, puts the fish back in the water and the fish SWIMS AWAY! You have got to be kidding me. I would have laughed had it not been so bad. I instead settled for a groan and tossed the book aside glad to have finished it once and for all. In summary, since I know I have a tendency to become quite verbose and sarcastic in my writing, this is book is full of bad plot lines, bad characters, bad secrets, bad writing, bad everything in general, I would not recommend this book to anybody. Case better not quit his day job, oh wait, he already has. Oh well, sucks for him, anymore "bestsellers" like this one and he might just find himself living on the streets. Oh and one more thing, for all of you reviewers you said that this book was better that Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code (which I liked but didn't love) maybe you better go back to high school and take an English lit or writing class and actually learn something about good authors and good writing. If you want a really good book to read that incorporates both science and religion I recommend that you read Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons". It is one of the best books that I have ever read and is one of my favorites to this day. In general, you really can't go wrong with any of Brown's novels. I apologize for any spelling or grammer mistakes, for I am writing this review very fast. I was just outraged with this book that I had to put a review out there as fast as I could to dissuade any other potential readers from reading this horrible book.
JESUS is my HOMEBOY--not ;)
Rating: 
Summary: Un-Put-Down-able
Review: An un-put-downable adventure as Lassiter tries to find out why his sister and her son were killed. Every lead he finds or stumbles upon is killed or results as a dead end.
From the States to Rome to Italy to Slovenia, Lassiter is hounded. In Italy he comes close to discovering the book's title via the priest who was the first to hear it whispered from the lips of a dying doctor. The priest is murdered when Lassister goes to visit him a second time. The first visit, the priest gives him a letter from the dying man, it is in Italian, so the priest offers to translate it for him -- in a couple of hours. This doesn't happen as the priest is killed before the second meeting takes place and Lassister is the prime suspect.
There are many woman who visited a fertility clinic, run by Dr. Baresi, seventeen in all, including Lassister's sister. They all gave birth to boys. And they are all dead, except one. The key to this entire novel, a once famous actress, who is in hiding with her son, now aged 4.
Lassister tracks her down. She is living on a remote island under a new name. And she speaks Italian and is able to translate the letter.
During the novel we are introduced to a host of characters, most of them believable and quite real. It is this aspect that pulls the book through and makes it a success on my eyes. It pulls the reader along through far too many boring un-required pages of words that lead to nothing but adding page count. (I have heard that these un-needed pages are gone from the reissued edition). The last 40+ pages are shockingly good and totally gripping. And the secret is revealed in a new and interesting way, via the letter. It hints, doesn't tell as the letter was written after Dr. Baresi confesses to the priest.
The down points are: Long un-needed passages that slow the book more than needed. 2. A lesson in Bio Science that fills many pages. John Case really has done his research, making the doctor's fertility system almost possible.
Good points: 1. Gripping, well written fiction that has enough facts to make the "Secret" a real possibility. 2. The characters seem real and it is pointed out many time though out the book that Lassister is very rich, so his trips and outpouring of money is just accepted.
All in all -- A darn good book to sweep you away from the reality of life for a few hours a day. I advise getting the reissue which is at 480 pages. This seems like 50+ pages have been chopped. Hopefully they chopped the boring stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Hougan's best
Review: Better written and more provocative than Brown's Da Vinci Code
Rating:
Summary: Oustanding story - well written!
Review: Hollywood should be all over this as a thriller. What an incredibly interesting idea. Jurassic Park for the religious. When I first read this book, I was riveted from beginning to end and then spent the next month thinking about it. That has been years ago and I still tell people how good this story is - get it and see for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Oustanding story - well written!
Review: Hollywood should be all over this as a thriller. What an incredibly interesting idea. Jurassic Park for the religious. When I first read this book, I was riveted from beginning to end and then spent the next month thinking about it. That has been years ago and I still tell people how good this story is - get it and see for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Too close to possible for my comfort.
Review: I don't know where I got this book from but what a find! John Case joins Nelson DeMille as one of my favorite authors. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Good scientific idea
Review: I read the book. There is a good scientific part of it, and I have to say that it is well-written from biology-genetic point of view. A minor scientific mistake though is present, and that the expressed gene do code for proteins rather than enzymes (which they are by definition proteins). Having said that, obviously SOME genes, when they are expressed shall code enzymes. Over all, nice reading.
Rating:
Summary: WHERE'S PHIL COLLINS WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
Review: Oh boy...Case really goes all out in his books to make you think, "Omigosh...what IF this really happened?" In "The Genesis Code," it's a real spellbinder in that it proposes just how far do we go with genetic engineering, or cloning? It opens in a small village in Italy where a priest practically has a stroke in hearing an old doctor's confession. What possibly could it have been? Then the priest is off to Rome to secure a meeting with a cardinal to relate this horrifying unimaginable sin.
Enter Joe Lassiter, a well to do private investigating enterpreneur, who gets involved with all this when his sister and her young son are savagely murdered and then burned to a crisp in their home. Lassiter's trail leads him all over the globe, ultimately to a fertility clinic (or is it?) in Italy. The book, like other Case novels, opens with this jarring prologue and then meticulously details lots of technical information, mysterious men, secrets, secrets and more secrets, and a look at a very unusual religious sect, determined to bring the Catholic church back to its days of Latin masses, and to completely ignore the Vatican II council.
It moves well, though, and I agree that Lassister takes a long time to figure out what's going on. However, by the end, it all makes sense and resolves with a disturbing scene with a young boy and a fish bowl. As in all of Case's works, however, the main flaw is that his climaxes seem to zoom in and then poof, it's over...but even so, my friends, it's a great read.
RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Killer ending!
Review: This is the first book I've read by John Case, and I'm very impressed. It's a wonderful mix of religion and science, with plenty of action. And while you do figure things out a little bit before Joe Lassiter does, you're still figuring everything out step by step like he does... and no matter what the other reviewers say, I don't see how anyone could see the reasons behind the murder until well into the book. The last sentence is killer... I closed the book and opened it to reread the last sentence like 10 times. then I reread the last chapter. My mind realed the entire day... I can't even go to bed without writing this review. This is a well thought out story with many different components and it will have religious and non-religious people alike will enjoy this thoughtful, fast-paced book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Genesis Code
Review: This was a good book, but the liberal use of the "f" word was very disappointing. It's as if the author suffered momentary writer's block and inserted this profanity to cover his lack of imagination. "Mr. Case" is better than that - or could be. He should leave the "f" word where it belongs - in the garbage.
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