The Breach
March 19, 2020 by admin_name
The Breach
Written by M.T. Hill
www.ink2quill.com
“The Breach” is a sci-fi, action, mystery written by the Philip K. Dick Award nominee writer M.T. Hill. Billy `Shep´Sheperd, a steeplejack worker and urban explorer, life intersects with journalist Freya Medlock as she investigates the death of well liked urban explorer Stephen Parsons. What looks like foul play at first, turns out not to be the accident everyone thought and investigators dismissed it as. Freya is a writer obsessed with solving the case of what happened to Stephen while Shep is a steeplejack worker trying to make sense of the changes in his body and perceptions after a visit to a secluded bunker, off the grid.
The Breach Penguin/ Random House webpage
“The Breach” is a fun read for many reasons but let me start by talking about the author´s writing style. I´d call it modern. He avoids pronouns like the `He said´and `She said´in dialogues. This can be off setting sometimes for those of us used to constantly being told who the speaker is. There is also the way he tells the story in the present tense. This was considered inconceivable not too long ago and I´m glad to see writer´s break the old fashioned rules because it works well here. The way the author does this brings the reader closer to the story, so it´s a good thing.
Another element that makes “The Breach” work for me was the relevant, current technology it used. This story could very well take place in a not-too-distant future or an alternate reality. I even liked some of the changes that society made regarding the internet, privacy and right to know who accesses a person´s info. Those are much needed changes that I hope will be on the way for our society.
The starting point of the story is the death and possible murder of one Stephen Parsons and subsequent investigation by Freya. The starting place of the story is a hidden bunker that is not on any map and only known by few urban explorers. The bunker was a secret guarded by the locals and built by a man named Graham, who is somewhat of a mystery but plays a larger role in the story at the end of the book.
Freya is of course the obsessed journalist who finds the answers to the strange case of Stephen´s death for us, the reader. She is determined and not above lying and identity theft to get answers. She attends Stephen Parson´s funeral claiming to be a college friend of his, then tracks down his parents, ex girlfriend Alba with their son Oriol. She pieces together facts that seem to contradict each other at first but make perfect sense when she learns what is really going on. For example, the fact that Stephen led a healthy life, didn´t drink much and was a stable, well liked guy up until before his death. Before his death he drank a lot and behaved manically.
Billy `Shep´Sheperd is really the litmus test of the strangeness. He tries to understand what is happening to him while juggling his job. These seem like two incompatible things. The changes going on inside Shep are not anything he can stop or even fully understand. He eventually accepts them, welcomes them, not out of surrender but because he likes the changes and what he will become.
I am trying hard not to give away spoilers but there is a theme here that needs to be further explored by the sci-fi / fantasy community. The idea that we, as people, the human race, may well not be at the top of the food chain. The more capable, intelligent forms of life, that are better suited for survival, might not have two legs, two arms and a head. To paraphrase the writer Stephen J. Gould from his book “Full House”, the most successful life forms on Earth are probably bacteria and not homo sapiens.
This is the first book I´ve read from M. T. Hill and I really enjoyed it. So, read “The Breach” and enjoy it for yourselves.
John
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