Breakthrough: The Next Step (Mass Market Paperback)

by Whitley Strieber (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Bestselling UFO author and horror novelist Strieber (Communion, Transformation) here recounts his purported ongoing series of alien contacts over the past few years. Abducted in 1987 from his upstate New York cabin by a "visitor," Strieber is taken by UFO to Boulder, Colo., where he holds down his friend Dora Ruffner while her small daughter has her spine hammered by an insectoid alien. In 1993, a male humanoid "visitor" in a white tunic takes up residence with Strieber and his wife, imparting a sense of peace and joy. In other encounters, Strieber takes a jeep ride with a boy and ends up in an alternate universe; the "visitors" stage a journey through Eden; the author slips through the floorboards to enter the body of a human stranger. The aliens' contact with him?and with independent witnesses or contactees cited here?is cloaked in the symbolism of myth, folklore and spirituality. By this account, many who have written to Strieber divulging their UFO-related experiences report meetings with dead relatives. Without giving names or sources, Strieber also describes his involvement in a secret congressional UFO investigation. Fans will be captivated; others will be skeptical or wonder what it all means.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Strieber continues the saga of his encounter with extraterrestrials.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (Mm) (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006100958X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061009587
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #164,731 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars He Lost Me with This One, September 22, 1998

By	M. Broda "ScuzzBuster" (Indianapolis) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Communion" changed my whole belief system. It was a brilliant, contemplative and credible account of events that may or may not have happened. "Transformation" was interesting but mostly a rehash with a new perspective. This book is where Streiber finally lost me. If he hadn't written this book, I may still be totally convinced by him. When he started this Communion business he was seemed very believably sane, that's what made his story so chilling. I suppose it's possible that it's all true. It' more likely that Streiber is finally losing his mind, maybe the visitors drove him insane, maybe he's simply delusional, or maybe it was a ruse from the beginning. Whatever the case, when I finshed this book, I realized that he had written one book too many on the subject...I didn't buy the next one. but I will read "Communion" again...with a different view of Streiber...and see how it plays now.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking & original, but you'll have to concentrate, October 22, 1999

By	Mr. Rds Harley "Robin" (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

From the start, this is an engaging book that captures the reader with an easy writing style and structure. That Strieber is an accomplished author, there is no doubt. This is the first book I have read on the subject of encounters that attempts to plumb the depths of 'why' rather than 'what' and in that respect it is very thought provoking. Strieber has made a commendable effort to present the visitor experience in a new and challenging light, although later in the book, new ideas and philosophies do pop into existence at an alarming rate and can be difficult to follow. On the whole I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to reconcile how the Visitors might fit into New Age thinking, but be warned, you'll have to concentrate hard on the last few chapters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Strieber takes the next step and stumbles., June 12, 2003

By	Chadwick H. Saxelid "Bookworm" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Communion told the story of a man confronted with the unkown and struggling to make sense of it. Transformation continued the interior dialogue begun in Communion and, while it helped Mr. Strieber clear up some of his own jumbled memories, it offered his readers no new insights or evidence. Breakthrough: The Next Step however attempts to do just that, but Mr. Strieber's days of being taken seriously ended with this highly subjective attempt to understand just what the Visitors are trying to accomplish with himself and other abductees. Strieber makes a sloppy (and some what disturbing) argument that he is some kind of Chosen One, being granted visions to help enlighten others. The author clearly is attempting to move past being a simple abductee and reinvent himself as a kind of New Age guru. Not helping are the giant spiders in his bedroom and the little bald guys playing piggy-back with him in his New York office. Sadly, despite all the promises of hard evidence he makes, he just trots out the same old tired conspiracy theories and foggy rumors that everyone else does, and offers no concrete sources to fact check quoted statements or theories. In the end, the book is more interesting for its insight into Mr. Strieber's character than for its examination of the abduction phenomena. Best left to the obsessively curious.