The Genesis Flaw

Planning the climax of the story in NYC

What is The Genesis Flaw about?                                

The Genesis Flaw is a fast-paced environmental thriller for our time.

It is the story of a gutsy advertising director with a guilty conscience, called Serena Swift. She takes on the world’s most powerful and corrupt biotech company. She believes their genetically engineered plants and animals are reactivating ancient deadly viruses in people who ingest them, causing an incurable pandemic. She hooks up with a hacker and goes undercover to find evidence. But nobody, repeat nobody, should dare to make a fool of Al R. Bukowski, the Global CEO, and he will do anything to stop her exposing the truth. Serena is chased from Sydney to New York where she has to face Bukowski and his hit man in one last attempt to reveal the company’s deadly secret.

What the critics say...

'L.A. Larkin's The Genesis Flaw combines corporate dystopia and the moral fringes of bio-science to create a savvy, entertaining environmental thriller.' The Age 

'It tells the story of one woman's fight against the corporate greed involved in genetically modified foods, and will have you riding a frantic roller-coaster of plot twists until the final resolution.' Sunday Telegraph Magazine

'This Australian-based debut deserves a place among the big names...a sweaty-palm page-turner with short chapters and loads of action. It's the literary equivalent of The Day After Tomorrow or Lost; exciting, compulsive reading.' Bookseller + Publisher

'Larkin wanted her book to have a gutsy heroine. And she has delivered that with the character of Serena Swift.' North Shore Times

'A thriller that will captivate and continue to engage to the very last turn of the page.' MC Reviews 'Words'

So where did the idea of this story come from?

Some years ago I traveled through eight African countries in a truck, including Zimbabwe, where the fictional genetic experiments take place. On arriving in Australia from the UK, I worked in magazine publishing. I, also, did voluntary work for Greenpeace and this gave me the opportunity to speak to world renowned geneticists who had originally believed that GE food was the way to feed our growing global population. But, when they did their lab tests they became increasingly alarmed by the health and environmental impacts. I have thoroughly researched the subject and engaged with authorities in the field, like Professor Joe Cummins in Canada, Dr Arpad Pusztai in the UK, and Jeffrey M. Smith in the USA. What hit home was:

• The extraordinary power and influence of these global corporations
• The evidence that a gene inserted into a plant that you eat, might move into the DNA of human gut bacteria
• That some scientists believe this has a potential to reactivate the dormant, ancient viruses that we all carry around.

So I created a world in which the ‘what ifs’ became a horrifying reality.

To view the first chapter of The Genesis Flaw please follow this link.

Discussion Points for Reading Groups and Book Clubs

1. Serena Swift believes a Gene-Asis product caused her father’s lung cancer. When her father dies, she is racked with guilt and feels she has failed him. There are many powerful emotions which can drive people to do exceptional things. How powerful is guilt as a spur to action?
    
2. The heroine is vulnerable but has certain skills that help her compete with her powerful adversary and his henchman. What are Serena's strengths and how does the adversary exploit her weaknesses? 
3. Serena is a whistle-blower. When do you think it is acceptable to break the law? When is it right for whistle-blowers to expose a company’s secrets?
    
4. The whole story is presented from the point of view of the central character: Serena Swift. Using this device, the reader learns only what Serena learns. Does this approach bring your closer to Serena? How do you feel about novels that use a single point of view as opposed to multiple viewpoints?
5. How does the author crank up the suspense during the novel?
    
6. The topic of the story is the genetic engineering. What are your thoughts on genetically engineered (GE) foods?   
7. The attempted rape of Serena is a pivotal moment in the story as it finally reveals Bukowski’s true character. How did you respond to Serena’s harrowing ordeal and what does it symbolise?
    
8. At the end, Serena has exposed the company's terrible secret and potentially saved the lives of millions? But does Bukowski get his just deserts?