Friday, October 21, 2011

Breakthrough, by Steven Tremp.

Say what you will about Dan Brown, he does give us a nice point-of-reference when describing stories. When I say that a story is a Dan Brown style mix of science and murder-mystery action story, I can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Recently, I had the opportunity and joy to read Steven Tremp’s “Breakthrough,” and it can easily appeal to the same audience.

The protagonist is drawn into a murder-charge of the scientist who discovers how to create a stable wormhole, making him able to get in and out of a place without the inconvenience of vehicles or doors. With this discovery comes the conflict of whether this will be used by benevolent forces, like candy-grams, or by the highest-bidder delivering bombs to crowded stadiums.

Immediately, I was impressed with the action. Mr. Tremp was able to portray a detailed fight without stalling the action. He plainly did some study of martial arts to deliver this really well.

For those of us who have been reading Breakthrough Blogs, the affinity for science is no surprise. This was also included in the story without losing the reader in jargon. Whether or not you have an interest in the science of the time-space continuum, the part of the story that relies on it will be interesting.

The protagonist, Chase Manhattan, has a history of CIA-style missions, but what he’s done and who he worked for isn’t spelled out. While I hope this is revealed in later books, it isn’t necessary to the story, and gives a backstory-texture to the work, without the dreaded ‘info dump.’

Chase also relies on the help of his friends more than the average hero. This added some colorful characters to the story, andI liked the ‘team’ feel.

I highly recommend this book for any fan of a good action-and-intrigue story. It spans audiences, and in the end, it’s a good story, well told. I really look forward to the next installment of the Chase Manhattan series.

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review Will!!! I greatly appreciate it. I did a link back on my blog and will post this on Facebook over the weekend. Thanks again and glad you enjoyed BREAKTHROUGH!

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  2. This is a really good review, nice one :-)

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  3. Hey Will, here's a comment from my good friend Hilary Melton-Butcher. She emailed me because she was not able to post to your comments ...

    Hi Will - I agree .. there's great action there and the story line is interesting because of the added factors of scientific knowledge ..it's good to learn while being entertained. I too can't wait for Opening to come out ..

    Cheers to Stephen and his way to publication .. great review - Hilary

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  5. This is a wonderful review. I am definitely going to pick up Stephen's book.

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  6. Hey Will, thanks again for taking the time to read BREAKTHROUGH and posting a review! I greatly appreciate it!

    If you're up to it, I'd be happy to send you an Advanced Review Copy of Opening as I'm soliciting last minute feedback before I go live with it. Of course, I'd send you a signed copy when the final version is released. At the moment, this would be an electronic version you can read from your PC, iMac, or download to an eReader. No worries though if you want to pass.

    If interested, email me at golionssss@yahoo.com

    Thanks again!

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