Sunday, July 8, 2012

First Chapter Review: Breakthrough by Stephen Tremp


Last month, author Stephen Tremp offered his book, Breakthrough: The Adventures of Chase Manhattan as a free download. I took advantage of it and read the first chapter this week while at the beach.

BLURB: The Information Age is moving at breakneck speed. Breakthroughs in areas of science that were once fodder for science fiction are now becoming part of our everyday life.

A group of graduate students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology has stolen a breakthrough in opening and stabilizing Einstein-Rosen Bridges, commonly known as wormholes, that allows them to instantly transport people from one location to another. Their goal is to assassinate any powerful politician and executive controlling the world’s banking system that would use this technology for their own greedy gain rather than the advancement of mankind.

In south Orange County, California, young Chase Manhattan, part of a new breed of modern-day discovery seekers, seeks to leave behind his life of danger and adventure and settle down as an associate professor of physics at University of California-Irvine. He also desires to build a lasting relationship with a beautiful woman he has not seen since high school.

His idyllic plan is postponed when he soon uncovers the diabolical scheme on the other side of the country. He realizes he is the one person who can prevent more murders from happening and either control or destroy the technology. Once the M.I.T. group understands Chase and his friends have the ability and motivation to not only take the technology from them, but also thwart more killings, Chase finds himself in their crosshairs, the top-of-the-list target on their assassination agenda.

As the death toll mounts, Chase and his friends must battle this group of misled zealots from M.I.T. on both coasts and in cyberspace in a thrilling, desperate race to determine the outcome of this monumental, once in a millennium discovery that will drastically change life as we know it—for better or worse.
COVER: Superb. This cover captures the setting and the plot in one fell swoop. Love the "Do Not Enter" sign next to the wormhole.

FIRST CHAPTER:  Chase Manhattan is in Las Vegas, having been hired to retrieve a flash drive outlining how to build a new technology. With the flash drive in his possession, he attempts to leave the motel. Three thugs are soon in hot pursuit. Someone is willing to pay millions of dollars for that flash drive, and they don't want to give it up.

KEEP READING: Yes. While science and technology aren't high on my list of reading materials, Tremp has created an action-packed opening chapter that begs the reader to keep going. The action is a bit predictable. The bad guys pursue the hero; they catch up; there's some fighting and tossing around of nasty threats; lots of chaos and destruction; Chase is able to put greater distance between them; then repeat. There is some bad guy banter between the smarter villain (Stockton) and the not so bright villain (Webhead). This helps lighten the intensity a bit, but not much. There's tons of tension here and it will propel you right into the next chapter.

  • File Size: 661 KB
  • Print Length: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Amazon.com (July 20, 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B003WQBFV2
  • Currently available for $1.99

  • I download a free copy of this book from Amazon. I received no monetary compensation for this first chapter review.

    1 comment:

    Anonymous said...

    Hi, Cheryl! I've read Breakthrough. I really enjoyed it.

    I've also read the 2nd book in the trilogy, which is Opening. Looking forward to the 3rd book, Escalation, to come out this fall.