The Breach by Patrick Lee

So you haven’t heard of Patrick Lee yet? Well, if you’re a fan of modern thrillers, chances are you will soon. In fact, if you’re reading this review right now, then voila, you’ve now heard about him. Lee is a new entrant to the thriller scene, having released his first two novels, The Breach, and Ghost Country in the last year or so. However, the way he approaches the genre is fresh and unique because he takes all elements of the crime thriller that I know our readers love so much, and combines them with some really wacky science fiction concepts.

In Breach we meet Travis Chase, an ex-con who has just been released from prison, he’s hiking through the back woods and mountains of Alaska, trying to figure out who he is and what he wants to do with the rest of his life. His family has totally rejected him and there’s nothing left for him, a fairly typical back story, and frankly not particularly interesting. However, things pick up quickly when Chase finds the smoldering wreckage of a 747 full of sophisticated computers, the bodies of government agents, and the First Lady of the United States. No one has come to help so, Travis is the only one who knows what has happened. Through a series of harrowing escapes and adventures he saves a beautiful young operative who has survived the crash (of course) and finds out that the plane was brought down by mercenaries seeking to recover an alien technology that knows everything!!! And will help its holder take over the world!!!

How did the beautiful young operative (named Paige) gain possession of said alien technology? Apparently back during the Cold War, American scientists accidently ripped a hole in the space-time continuum (called the “Breach”) and now an unknown alien entity is passing weird technologies through it. I know, sounds like a bit much to swallow, and it is. Thus, if you have a hard time suspending disbelief you might have trouble with this book. On the other hand, it’s also kind of hard to believe that one man, even one named Reacher, could go into a warehouse and kill 15-20 operatives using nothing but his bare hands and a bit of dental floss, so maybe alien technology isn’t too hard to swallow. Seriously, if you have trouble with sci-fi, this may not be the book for you.

As far as the general presentation of the book goes, it doesn’t start off too well, I could tell that Lee was writing his first book. However, the end of this book is brilliant. I was taken totally by surprise and had no idea the book was going to end when it did. Absolutely amazing, the end of this book was one of the best I’d ever read. So…if you have the patience to muddle through some so-so portions in the beginning and middle, you’ll be richly rewarded at the end.

In sum, Breach is a good start for a new author, with an ending that totally knocked me over. I recommend it highly to fans of sci-fi and thrillers, as well as for anyone seeking a new read.  You can find out more about Patrick Lee on his website here.

This review was written by The Senator.