The Breach by Patrick Lee (review)

Title: The Breach
Author: Patrick Lee
Illustrator: N/A
Kindle Locations: 5.337
Genre: Fiction
Dewey Decimal: F Lee
ISBN: 978-0-06-196205-9
Kindle Cost: $7.99

Speed reading. This book flies by so fast, you will be looking for a new book to read in a week. Patrick Lee makes his debut novel so compelling to read, I could barely read anything beyond the local newspaper. In fact, I think I read the first half of the book in about two days. The second half was a bit slower paced, but was still entertaining enough to make me want more.

“I forget who wrote it. One of those things everyone reads in English 102. This servant goes to the marketplace, and he sees Death standing there, and Death makes a threatening face at him. The servant runs back to his master and says, ‘Let me borrow your horse, I’ll ride to Samarra so Death won’t find me.’ The master lets him go, then heads down to the market himself, sees Death and he says, ‘What are you doing making a threatening face at my servant?’And Death says, ‘Threatening? No, no, I was just surprised to see him here. I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.’ ”

The premise behind the novel is unique, but only to a degree. We have the same old plot of an "average" man with a dark background out to redeem himself and gets thrust into a world of intrigue and danger. Think The Da Vinci Code, only ten times better. Lee writes characters that are semi-real enough to identify with. But the characters take a back seat to the action, and there is enough action to keep you turning the page.

The intrigue and danger focus around the Breach. This unknown "thing" reminds me a bit of the Stargate, except it's always on and odd things come out of it (like super heavy pieces of fabric or guns that heal you). This of course brought about a secret agency that controls and protects the Breach and the obligatory bad guys out to take control of it. This is the mess that Travis Chase, the lead man, finds himself thrust into the middle of.

Paige Campbell, the female lead, falls in love with him, forgets about him, and even plans to kill him. And as confusing as all of that sounds, it all makes sense once you read the book. All the objects that come out have their unique properties and powers. Some are boring and do nothing, some could end the world (and almost do).

“Humans call this problem the grandfather paradox. They get tied up thinking about it. What happens if you go back in time and kill your grandfather before he meets your grandmother? Do you cease to exist, having prevented your own birth? No. Your arrival in the past becomes your birth, even if it means being born fully grown, with a head full of memories of a childhood that may never end up happening...”

In the end, this debut novel is well worth your time and your money. Lee crafts an adventure with enough action to keep you on the edge of your seat for a few days (or weeks if you read slow). His next novel, Ghost Country, sounds interesting from the little blurb I read. And if it compares to The Breach, it will be worth the wait.

PS - You may be wondering why I have Dora's backpack in the photo above. It is because my wonderful wife thought it would match perfectly with the overall theme of the book. Which is items magically appearing out of a "hole" (or backpack in this case).