The Breach [Mass Market Paperback]

Patrick Lee (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 29, 2009

“Audacious and terrifying—and uncannily believable.”
—Lee Child

New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series, Lee Child, was blown away by The Breach—and you will be, too! A novel of unrelenting suspense and nonstop surprises, The Breach immediately rockets author Patrick Lee into the V.I.P. section of the thriller universe. A treat for Jack Bauer (“24”) fans and “X-Files” aficionados, it is a white-knuckle roller-coaster ride that combines the best of Dean Koontz and Michael Crichton with a healthy dollop of Indiana Jones thrown into the mix—the perfect secret agent/government conspiracy/supernatural adventure.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Lee's debut thriller pits ex-con ex-cop Travis Chase against increasingly dire odds as the action ratchets up like levels in a complex video game. Fresh out of prison, Travis sets out on a solo Alaskan trek, wanting nothing more than quiet time for introspection. Then he encounters a downed plane containing the dead bodies of the United States's first lady and several others, plus hints about a mysterious missing item. Armed with superior firepower and the instincts and savvy of a good cop, Travis tracks down the murderers, who are torturing hostage Paige Campbell to get her father, Peter, to reveal another clue. Travis manages to rescue Paige just as Peter confesses the information and is killed. His last words send Paige and Travis into a dangerous world of secrets and conspiracies, where they slowly learn about the eponymous Breach and meet progressively more menacing foes. It's all here: brilliantly devious enemies; nifty, innovative gadgets and weaponry; hang-on-to-your-hat action; and razor-sharp plot twists aplenty. (Jan.)
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Review

“Audacious and terrifying-- and uncannily believable.” (Lee Child )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper; X edition (December 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061584452
• ISBN-13: 978-0061584459
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (256 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patrick Lee lives in Michigan. He is the author of three novels: The Breach, Ghost Country, and Deep Sky.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

163 of 173 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If only every thriller was like this. January 3, 2010

By Dan Krokos

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I've tried reading thrillers before, but they never really thrilled me. Ticking clock, world's going to end, bulky hero with unlimited martial prowess. Boring.

Then I read The Breach and my concept of thriller was turned on its head. By page 8, Travis Chase stumbles across a downed plane with the First Lady on board. From then on the tension does not stop. There is no dreary exposition, drawn out descriptions, or useless subplots. Places to rest end up being the exact opposite.

At times, I put the book down to just think about how amazing it was. There are scenes I had to process bits at a time so that I was sure to savor every line.

And the action. Thrillers I've read before (and maybe I've just been unlucky, I've only read a few) have basic action. He shot the gun, he dove under the table, etc. The action is this book is so crisp, so visual, it's disturbing. Sometimes very disturbing.

All the high tension cards stack up until the end, when they're blown down in one big twist that will leave you shaking your head and smiling and wishing book 1 would morph into book 2 in your hands.

74 of 81 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars First rate thriller of the X-Files type January 3, 2010

By J. B Kraft VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Patrick Lee's "The Breach" is delightful read, but a hard novel to characterize, combining elements of terrorism, special operations, and "X-Files" type mysteries. However one characterizes it, Lee keeps you on edge as it rips through an intricate plot peopled with characters of genuine complexity. Travis Chase is a former crooked-cop and ex-con. He has turned his back on his former life, and seeks a new one in Alaska, going off into the Alaskan Bush for a summer hike. While camping about 30 miles from the nearest settlement, he hears an unusual sound during a thunderstorm. Further on in his hike, he discovers a crashed unmarked 747. To his amazement, nobody is on the scene after 3 days, which he cannot fathom. Investigating the fuselage leads him to a murdered crew and dead passengers including the First Lady of the United States, who has left a note informing him that hostages have been taken and are being tortured nearby to secure a device of great national import which was on the plane. The note says for him to kill the hostiles and kill the survivors and call a number for help. Satellite phones have been destroyed, so Chase has to improvise, locating the people who caused the crash nearby. He observes a woman and a man being tortured. While the man is executed before he can intervene, Chase has contrived a plausible and clever plan to kill the hostiles, managing to save the woman, who has been severely injured. He knows the hostiles have other reinforcements and a helicopter nearby, but must strike out on a all-terrain vehicle for the nearest settlement with the injured girl. Eluding a helicopter, he manages to reach the village and call in assistance, but is unaware a deadly and literally invisible assassin has been launched to intercept and terminate him and the girl....

Chase proves himself a clever and resourceful foil for the assassins, and is taken prisoner by the organization Tangent after saving the girl. He is taken to a remote and secret base in the Wyoming wilderness where he is made aware of the unbelievable source of amazing technologies such as the invisibility suit. After undergoing a thorough interrogation, he is apprised of the true danger to the globe threatened by a traitor accessing alien technology, who always seems one step ahead of Tangent. Lee tantalizes us with glimpses of Chase's past, while he becomes romantically involved with Paige, the woman he rescued, as he tries to save the world.

Lee expertly weaves the various subplots to an exciting conclusion, which keeps one thinking "what-ifs" long after reading the last page. This is a very plausible and satisfying thriller, and I hope there will be a sequel, because Chase is an excellent protagonist.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Read more ›

42 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting race. December 30, 2009

By Kellie VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This book is suspenseful and exciting, an action novel with a bit of mystery and science fiction thrown in.

Travis Chase finds a plane in pieces in a remote Alaskan countryside. I was immediately drawn into the story as Travis first tries to find out what happened and is then drawn into the situation, trying to discern who is good and bad and what is good and bad...not an easy task, a task that only gets more difficult as the story unfolds. Through many twists and surprises, the story unfolds, the excitement builds until the last surprise at the end.

This was a fun book to read, hard to put down, and impossible to predict. I was a little ambivalent about the ending, but I enjoyed it thoroughly anyway. I would recommend this book as a good read that is hard to put down.

34 of 40 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good read but setting up for a serial series.. no warning. February 17, 2010

By Frank E. Trinkle VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I read this novel while shipboard enroute from the Middle East back towards the Pacific. It was a good read and well written.. at least until the ending which is clearly setting up a series. I didn't appreciate that because it left me unfulfilled and feeling forced to buy his next in the series to get answers to questions left open in the book.

Nonetheless, it was a suspenseful and original thriller that was pretty good for killing transit time aboard ship. I'm not sure I would purchase it had I known that the ending would be a setup for at least one sequel.

Caveat emptor.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Rather large disappointment January 23, 2010

By J. Horst

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This technically-oriented sci-fi story snaps, crackles, and pulls you along wonderfully for about 80% of its length, then drops you like a stone. The REALLY interesting stuff is part of an entirely different story, a (probably much more interesting) story that's not even told, at all. Everything I wanted to learn about happens "off-screen"--only alluded to in this mad dash to save the world. Not to give away too much, but this story isn't about alien technology, and that's the biggest disappointment of all.

Patrick Lee is a good writer, and knows how to tell a story. No denying that. His plotting and characterization are decent, but at times does try to be a bit too clever with the plot. His real failing, and it's a subjective one, is in not recognizing that when there is more than one story to tell, a writer needs to pick the best one. He doesn't tell what, for me, would have been the far more interesting story; the one about how the protagonist put everything into motion. The untold "origins" story would have been harder, technically, but ultimately more satisfying. In fact, there are three stories in all, and they could have all been told with less emphasis on the worldwide race to find and stop the "bad guys" that was chosen. I'm not saying The Breach isn't a compelling read--it's all that--it just doesn't leave me wanting to read more. (The protagonist goes on to star in other stories by this author.)

Why did I give this 3 stars? Because technically it's well done, and the characters are reasonably interesting, even if we don't get to know enough about them (hence my comments about the author missing the more interesting story not told). If it hadn't been well-written, I would have given 1 or 2 stars and probably had less to say.