Genesis Alpha

by Rune Michaels

Book Overview

Josh worships his older brother, Max. They look alike, they talk alike, and they both have the same interests, including their favorite massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Genesis Alpha. But Josh and Max have an even deeper connection. Because Josh was born for a reason. It was Josh's stem cells, harvested when Josh was newly born, that saved his dying older brother's life. Now that same beloved older brother is arrested, accused of the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416965009
• ISBN13: 9781416965008
• Release Date: April 2011
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

You won't beable to put it down.

I was expecting this book to be similar to Epic and it started off that way, sort of. Please don't read further, spoilers are below Josh and his brother Max have a lot of things in common and one of their favorites is the online game Genesis Alpha. They have play dates and frequently play together. (Josh was a bit of a lab experiement created to save Max's life as a child very sick with cancer. When Josh was born, he was the cure and Max was saved.) Life is grand until Karen is found dead and Max is accused of the murder. Josh doesn't believe that Max could do this, he's his idol, he's perfect, his big brother could do nothing wrong, but when he visits him in prison he just can't get past the feeling that Max hates him. And he doesn't know why. Karen's sister will camp out in Josh's back yard and through her Josh will discover that yes, Max is the killer. He stalked several girls via the online game Genesis Alpha. Not long after, he'll also discover that he's not just Max's brother, he's his clone. I enjoyed this book very much. I would have liked to know more about what Max actually did to Karen, but it is a teen novel so not much will be revealed. I loved Josh, he's a very likable character. His love of the online game and the lives he and Max lived in the game hit close to home as I was also living in an online game for a couple years. The sad part is how Max stalked these girls/other players through the game. Josh just seems to get the raw end of the stick at every turn in this book. Max is pure evil and it shows as the book progresses. I wasn't too keen on Rachel, Karen's sister. She's a tad on the looney side I felt. But the ending was good. I would have liked to have known what Max's sentence was however. Although, this is a major page turner and I read it in one sitting, it's not a book I'd read again. I do recommend it to all readers, it was a great thriller.

Content doesn't match reading level!

This is a fascinating little book and, on the surface, a very easy read. I picked it up because, with its references to video-gaming, I thought it would interest my son. According to our library, it has an "AR" (grade) level of 3.9. I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I read it first, because I would NOT recommend it for a third grader!

Genesis Alpha Rocks!

Genesis Alpha, by Rune Michaels, is an extremely exiting thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat for the whole read. I thought it had an amazing plot which provoked several interesting thoughts. This book is one of the best thrillers I have read in years. Anyone interested in the genre should read it, especially if they liked the book House of the Scorpions by Nancy Farmer. Genesis Alpha is about a boy named Josh who finds out some hard truths about his older brother, Max, including the fact that he was accused of murdering a teenage girl. As Josh says, "It couldn't be true that Max did that. You would have to be evil to do something like that." This accusation makes Josh think about what good and evil truly mean. This book has an extremely strong plot that will pull you in and never let go. At the start of the book, Josh finds out that his brother Max has been accused of the murder of a young woman. Then that women's sister shows up and tells Josh about her side of the story. What really makes him worry is that he is a designer baby and his stem cells saved Max's life. As all these questions circle around him, his world is turned upside down and he looks inside himself to ask, "Am I responsible?" After reading this book I couldn't help but think about the ethical issues that technology poses. Will the world really be like this in ten years' time? This book presents many issues, including cloning. As Josh says, "Clones?" "Twins," his mom insists. "Twins born a few years apart, with some scientific help. That's all." "That's not all and you knew it..." responds Josh. When cloning and genetic engineering come into play, who knows where the line will be drawn? Will people continue to care about good and evil or will the world spiral into darkness? Who knows? But this book certainly gives you a lot to think about. I hope that you find this book as enjoyable as I did. If so, tell your friends about it. It's a great book. Over all, one of the best books in the genre. I recommend this book to teens ages 13-16, but anyone should read it.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

There's a quote on the front of GENESIS ALPHA from author Kenneth Oppel: "Dark, dangerous, and utterly riveting." I couldn't agree more. The words "a thriller" are what convinced me to pick up the book; the fact that I was so deeply engrossed in the story and superb writing were what kept me reading for the next few hours as I devoured it in one sitting. Josh is a typical teen who isn't actually, well, typical. Although he's like any number of teen boys in that the better part of his day is spent playing an online computer game named Genesis Alpha, and that he aspires to grow up to be just like his older brother, Max, and even has a pretty normal home life, there's one thing that sets him apart from everyone else - Josh is a "designer baby." Specifically created in the hopes of saving his brother from a deadly form of cancer, Josh was once a small group of cells that were chosen because of their genetic makeup. When he was born, the healing cells from his umbilical cord were transplanted into his brother, and Max eventually became cancer-free. So the bond between these two brothers is stronger than most. Except now Josh's world is falling apart. Where he once thought everything about his life was, if not routine than at least normal, now he's discovering that things are never really what they seem. Max has been accused of a horrible crime - murdering a college girl. His father, a psychologist, and his mother, a biologist, are just as shocked as Josh is when they learn the charges against their oldest child. After all of the years of watching Max fight for life, and the tears and turmoil of waiting to see if Josh would be his cure, now he's sitting in jail, facing murder charges? The entire family is in shock. Josh, though, more than any of them, is finding out things that he wishes he had never known. There's a strange girl hiding out in the cat shed behind their house, and the story she has to tell him is one he at first rejects outright, and later has no choice but to take as fact. And it all revolves around Genesis Alpha, the game that both Josh and Max devoted so much time to. How is it that something that brought Josh so much joy could be the very thing that will show him the horrors of the world - and the deceitful double life of his brother? Rune Michaels has written a chillingly good thriller with GENESIS ALPHA. With action that never stops, a storyline that is all too believable, and flawless writing, she has managed to write a story that will captivate you from the first page. With Josh and Max, she has created a bond that was created by science and will be tested with pure human compulsion - and the existence of evil. This is a great read for anyone who loves a good thriller. I personally can't wait to read more stories in this vein from the very talented Ms. Michaels. Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"