Sean Thomas releases Gobekli Tepe book

Novelist Sean Thomas yesterday released his latest offering - a book titled The Genesis Secret, a murder and intrigue novel centred around the real-life archaeological digs at Gobekli Tepe in south east Turkey.

The writer first spotted a potential novel when he became interested in the Turkish excavations as the first details began to emerge at the turn of the century. He wrote an article on Gobekli Tepe for The First Post in 2006.

"The book is not an attempt to win the Pulitzer, it's simply a ripping yarn that I enjoyed writing," said Thomas, the son of celebrated author DM Thomas. "This book is just me - not me trying to out-do Dad."

It marks a departure from Thomas's other literary offerings, which have included Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You, a book of sexual memoirs, and Kissing England, an equally sex-fuelled novel for which he won the dreaded 'Bad Sex in Fiction Award' in 2000.

Written under his 'Tom Knox' pseudonym, the new novel touches on the ancient history of the Gobekli Tepe site, which some believe is located in what was once the Garden of Eden.

Even if not of Biblical significance though, Gobekli Tepe, at 12,000 years old, is the oldest-known building on earth and may represent mankind's move from nomadic hunting and gathering to a more stable and static existence as farmers. In The Genesis Secret Gobekli Tepe is the link that combines a series of gory murders in the British Isles. ·