Ghost Country by Patrick Lee

I just finished Patrick Lee’s second book, Ghost Country. It’s a sequel to his first novel featuring both Travis Chase and Paige Campbell. As those of you who read my review of Lee’s previous novel, The Breach, I really enjoyed how Lee ended the story and so I had high hopes for Ghost Country. As I read Ghost Country I was pleasantly surprised to note that, although it is a sequel to The Breach, it is not just a re-warmed version of the same story. Lee worked hard to ensure that the new book is fresh, and it is. In Ghost Country, Paige is captured by some nameless bad guys in Washington D.C., but before they can cuff her and carry her away she sends out one last desperate phone call to her assistant, who recruits Travis Chase (who is retired from awesomeness) to rescue her. From there the plot of Ghost Country expands from saving Paige to saving the whole world.

The story gets started because another Breach technology is discovered that allows people to open a window into the future. Paige looked and saw a world where everyone is dead and gone. She goes to ask the president if he knows what is going to happen, he plays dumb, but it turns out he really knows…and the goons (remember, the ones who kidnapped her at the beginning of the book) are his!!! The plot only gets crazier from there and involves crazy megalomaniacs, radio waves that drive people crazy, and crazy plans to wipe out the world as we know it.

The thing I most enjoyed about Ghost Country is its original plot and story line. The Breach and all the little trinkets it throws out add more variety to Lee’s books that one generally sees in the thriller genre. Additionally, Lee’s novels (so far) aren’t about terrorists who want to blow up New York (yawn, yawn), they’re about the destruction of the entire world!!! That’s got to make things a little more interesting. And not only is the whole world at stake, but Lee has an uncanny ability to make it all plausible. There was never really a point in Ghost Country where I was totally incredulous.

Unlike The Breach when the climactic ending caught me breathless and left me wanting more, Ghost Country started the wind-up about halfway through the book, which means that by the time I was finished reading the book I had already moved on mentally. I’m the kind of guy who likes to be kept guessing all the way to the end of the book and Ghost Country didn’t do that for me. Although Lee has definitely honed his writing style in lots of good ways, the decision to spell out the ending way before it happened was a bit disappointing. All in all a good way to spend an afternoon. Again, probably not a great choice if you get queasy around Star Trekkie gadgetry, but otherwise a refreshing break from the average thriller.

To learn more about Patrick Lee and the Travis Chase series check out his website here... http://www.patrickleefiction.com/.   We're giving away a copy of The Breach and Ghost Country to one lucky commenter.  Just leave a comment using the word incredulous and you'll be entered into the drawing.  Winner will be announced Monday.

This review was written by The Senator.

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.