Spring Reading 2016 The Fold

Imagine that Mycroft Holmes were alive today and instead of running the British government from behind the scenes, he had chosen to become a high school English teacher in Maine. Hmm, a bit of a mental stretch, but you can do it. He has a friend who happens to run DARPA, and this friend sends him to observe a research group that has built something that looks a lot like a Star Gate (although they dislike the comparison). His friend, Reggie,  feels that something is a little off with the research group and the project, but can't figure out what is giving him that vibe.  Who better to look into things than an outsider who happens to be a super genius with an eidetic memory? Their device is supposed to fold dimensions to make enormous distances easy to travel with a single step, but there may be more to it than that and it could be dangerous, very dangerous.

If you enjoy shows like "Star Gate" that involve both geeky tech and action, shows like "Sherlock" that have a character with incredible mental abilities, or sci-fi/fantasy stories where people mess with the fabric of space-time and could cause an apocalyptic event - then this is a story you will probably have a hard time putting down. It helps that on top of all that appeal, the character of Mike (the observer), is said to look like a "young Severus Snape," the research team has named their device the Albuquerque  Door in honor of Bugs Bunny's famous line about taking a left turn at Albuquerque, and there are loads of other pop culture references. Let's see..."Johnny Mnemonic," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Star Trek, and Looney Tunes are just a few that come to mind. There is also a smidgen of office romance mixed in.

The story is well told, the revelations about the door and its repercussions are given at just the right points to maintain the suspense, the characters are interesting, and the writing just flows along. Once I started it, I couldn't stand putting it aside to finish the next day, so I stayed up past midnight and read it straight through. It was worth the effort. I would love to see a sequel with these characters (HINT, HINT, Mr. Clines).

You may visit the publisher's website for more info about the book or for the author bio.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.