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I am reliably informed that Genus is Jonathan Trigell's third book, though it is the first that I have downloaded and read after receiving a Kindle for Christmas. I will confess to not having heard of Trigell before this. Quite simply, the book description sounded interesting, it was cheap, so I bought it and read it.

The aspect that drew me to the book was the simple fact that it is set in a near future dystopian society where genetic modification has become the norm. This has lead to a distinction between the handsome, skilled and healthy 'Improved' and the physically inferior 'Unimproved'. The focus of Genus is on an area of London called The Kross, which is the refuge of the Unimproved, and is a grim area that very much reflects the standing of the Unimproved within society.

The book primarily follows the life of Holman, the disfigured son of a famous beauty queen who gets through day to day life using a combination of the positive influence of painting and the negative influence of 'synth' (an alcohol substitute). His journey through the book finds him linked to a series of mysterious deaths which are being investigated by Günther Bonnet, a tenacious and often vicious police officer who has the best genes on the whole police force.

Genus fits nicely into a well established genre, though the way that Trigell deals with the narrative does show originality. Specifically, he resists the temptation to give the reader an overview of this 'too familiar for comfort' near future world, instead focusing the vast majority of his descriptions on this deprived area within London. This does significantly heighten the gritty nature of the book and is a decision that fits overall, though I certainly did feel the desire to know a little more about the wider world than was provided.

The descriptive style used by Trigell uses a lot of distinct and vivid imagery, with unusual descriptions commonplace that nonetheless provide a stark picture of what is being portrayed. At the same time, however, this style can be overwhelming when used constantly, and whilst I did like the style overall I did find myself wanting Trigell to be a bit less artistic with his language in parts in favour of being a bit more blunt.

Indeed, whilst the writing style provides an interesting and compelling opening to the book, I did think that the overall plot became a little lost in the middle of the book due to Trigell choosing to dazzle the reader with constant descriptions rather than just feeding the plot in a more systematic fashion. This is a bit of a shame, because the plot picks up again in the final quarter and brings the book to a well paced and thoroughly satisfying close. As such Genus is a book that I would recommend to those who like the genre, as it provides a gritty and effective background world with a plot that ultimately proves itself to be hard hitting and satisfying. The book just stalls somewhat in the middle, but providing you're willing to dig through those sections, you'll not regret reading this one through to the end.