Genesis Flood
By Shelley Cox
Format: Paperback
(4 customer reviews)
Publication Date: 28 Jul 2023
£9.99
Want to buy as an ebook? Click hereCategories: Contemporary
ISBN: 9781915603951Description
Two women. One devastating tsunami. And a decision that will change people’s lives forever.
Eighteen-year-old Jeannie has suffered a life of abuse at the hands of her stepfather. Now Jeannie thinks she is pregnant and wonders how she will ever escape him. When she disappears after a tsunami, her stepfather senses that she is not dead, that she is running from him, and he vows to track her down.
Anna’s husband, Jamie, has borderline personality disorder. Obsessed with Anna, he believes theirs is a perfect marriage; only a baby would make it better. As far as he is concerned, only death is capable of parting them. Then the tsunami hits and Anna is gone. Demented with grief, he goes to extraordinary lengths to recreate the life he and his dead wife should have had.
Two strangers, connected only by trauma and disaster, whose lives collide forever, set off a chain reaction that will have devastating consequences for another, innocent, woman…
Shelley Cox lives in beautiful North Devon with her husband of thirty years. She loves nothing more than a good psychological thriller where, with clever writing and literary sleight of hand, the reader is deliberately led the wrong way through a story. Having long dreamt of writing her own novel, her husband’s prostate cancer diagnosis made her realise that life is too short to just dream. Genesis Flood is her debut novel.
Reviews
Claire Scott (Guest Review) - 11 Jul, 2023
What a debut novel! From the beginning, I felt heavily invested in the fate of the two young women, Jeannie and Anna, caught up not just literally in a tsunami, but also in turbulent and tempestuous relationships. We learn about their difficult and stifling lives before the event, and how, in their own ways, each of them is battling against controlling and dominating men.
We are plunged into the devastation and chaos with the women as they try to survive. The descriptions of the merciless wave’s aftermath evoked the true horror of the event. These strangers are violently thrown together by the mighty water as it rampages through the streets. But can it really wipe the slate clean, just like the flood in the Bible?
The book tackles issues like domestic violence and mental illness. But it is fear that is the main theme here. It is almost another character stalking the pages and wreaking havoc on the protagonists. Fear of rejection, fear of discovery, fear of capture. It pervades the lives of the people in the story for decades.
But it isn’t all doom and gloom. There are lighter moments including a wedding and idyllic scenes of Abbotscliff, cleverly interspersed with gripping drama, tension and dilemmas. This is a real page turner, right to the very end.
Ultimately, this epic psychological thriller has a lesson for us all, to never give in, to never waver, to not let fear triumph over hope.
Tina (Guest Review) - 11 Sep, 2023
Amazing story line, lots of gripping twists and turns just couldn’t put it down.
Steve Noyce (Guest Review) - 30 Aug, 2023
What a fantastic book, had me gripped from page one!! The Author is has added twists to the story that make it not only gripping but an exciting read.
You won't be able to put it down.
Well done Shelley, can't wait for next book
Linda Copp (Guest Review) - 27 Jan, 2024
This book was reccomended to me by a friend who knew the author, and as she is very local to me I was interested so ordered it from our Library. I found it very good but got confused with the different characters sometimes. On the whole I think it is a great first effort and would give her next one a read. Well done Shelly.
