Ghost Country
Sequel to The Breach
Patrick Lee

HarperCollins
December 28, 2010/ ISBN 978-0061584442
Thriller / Hi Tech / Sci Fi
Amazon

Reviewed by Christine Lindemer

Ghost Country is the hi-tech sci-fi sequel to Patrick Lee’s debut novel, The Breach, and is set in the same world – both its present and bleak future.

As Paige Campbell heads back to Border Town, she becomes the sole survivor of a motorcade that is mowed down - by order of the President. Travis Chase and Bethany assist Paige in escaping from the bad guys who capture her. They learn that the world as they know it will no longer exist in four months.

A pair of cylinder ‘entities’ are used to punch holes into - and out of - the future. These rare items, which have a ‘shelf life,’ are fought over between the Travis’s small group and the bad guys. Other technologies, briefly described, had already passed through The Breach.

What they find in the future is Bleak December. What they learn and what they find leads them to do all they can to travel back to the present day in order to prevent the destruction of the world as they find it 73 years into the future.

The story is a chase for knowledge of the plans of the conspirators, who are bent on destruction. This is a race in time – in and out of the present and future – to attempt to head off near certain doomsday.

Towards the end, it is Travis Chase who is making his best attempt to save Paige – the one he adores – and Bethany from being left in the future, as the remaining cylinder entity is about to expire.

I do enjoy a rare sci-fi story. The one thing I didn’t care for was the numerous violent gun-inflicted injuries and deaths. This story is fast-paced, and the worlds and their environments are well described.

Reviewer's Note:

Reviewer C.R. Lindemer is the author of picture books including The Night of Many Lights by Shapato Publishing. Her essays and poetry are in several collections, and she is the editor of an anthology.