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Intervention
Disillusioned archaeologist, Greg, has often wondered what death felt like. Little does he know, he will prematurely find out.
After a fatal car accident, he enters The Cloud – a viewing platform with the ultimate box set of everything that has ever happened, and has yet to happen, on Earth.
As Greg excavates the artefacts of his own history, journeying across time and realities, he discovers he has a power he could never have imagined: Intervention. The ability to change one thing on Earth but sacrificing his eternal existence in exchange.
Will he take the deal? What will he change? And what ripples will spread from his Intervention?
After a fatal car accident, he enters The Cloud – a viewing platform with the ultimate box set of everything that has ever happened, and has yet to happen, on Earth.
As Greg excavates the artefacts of his own history, journeying across time and realities, he discovers he has a power he could never have imagined: Intervention. The ability to change one thing on Earth but sacrificing his eternal existence in exchange.
Will he take the deal? What will he change? And what ripples will spread from his Intervention?
Paperback
Published November 29, 2024
7 people want to read
About the author
Harrison Murphy
5 books13 followersHarrison Murphy is a writer from Motherwell, Scotland. He specialises in downbeat, and often provocative, speculative fiction with elements of sci-fi and fantasy thrown into the mix. The Girl in The Tower – a cli-fi Rapunzel story – is his most recent novel. His fourth novel, IV, is an exploration of the afterlife, as well the limited agency we have in affecting this life. He also wrote the Chrysalis trilogy, set in a world where we can design our own minds.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 18, 2025
Wow!! I loved this so much!
Some top quotes first..
‘Closed ears make for closed minds’ - SO TRUE
There’s a great section on sleep! ‘Sleep is not, however, the cousin of death’
Also, do dinosaurs speak a different language? This book had me thinking the whole way through! The characters had a million different versions and it was so well connected and intertwined with the interventions!!
Must read! Loveeee it! It isn’t like anything I have read before
Some top quotes first..
‘Closed ears make for closed minds’ - SO TRUE
There’s a great section on sleep! ‘Sleep is not, however, the cousin of death’
Also, do dinosaurs speak a different language? This book had me thinking the whole way through! The characters had a million different versions and it was so well connected and intertwined with the interventions!!
Must read! Loveeee it! It isn’t like anything I have read before
December 30, 2025
This novel is complex and unconventional. This genre was not typically something that would suit my fancy, but from the very first paragraph, the quote by Anote Tong gave me a new perspective. Connecting climate change and slavery was radically humane, and the author used it smartly and precisely. Even the title, 'Intervention', hints at the trajectory of the narrative. It evoked a familiar concept, a belief deeply rooted in our culture: the 'Court of Yama', where after death, an organism finds itself in 'Yamaloka' and its deeds are judged, resulting in punishment or reward. Somehow, this novel reminded me of my childhood mythological stories, as if they were anglicized versions with twists and alterations.
Moreover, the novel follows a non-linear, multi-temporal axis, moving between immediate past,past,present, and future, which makes the story unique. The incorporation of precise historical details, like the Age of Exploration and the Industrial Revolution, adds authenticity, making the narrative feel genuinely connected to reality and giving it the texture of actual history. The ambiguity surrounding the Cloudspeaker kept me intrigued, wanting to know more. I acknowledge that the shifts between multiple realities were perplexing and exhausting, but with patience, the story's logic became understandable.
The imperfections and flaws of the characters make them relatable to the present world scenario. The parts about Brexit, which clearly express the author’s displeasure, also ground the story in our contemporary world. In a nutshell, this novel did not waste my time. I do not regret reading it; it was truly worth my time.
Moreover, the novel follows a non-linear, multi-temporal axis, moving between immediate past,past,present, and future, which makes the story unique. The incorporation of precise historical details, like the Age of Exploration and the Industrial Revolution, adds authenticity, making the narrative feel genuinely connected to reality and giving it the texture of actual history. The ambiguity surrounding the Cloudspeaker kept me intrigued, wanting to know more. I acknowledge that the shifts between multiple realities were perplexing and exhausting, but with patience, the story's logic became understandable.
The imperfections and flaws of the characters make them relatable to the present world scenario. The parts about Brexit, which clearly express the author’s displeasure, also ground the story in our contemporary world. In a nutshell, this novel did not waste my time. I do not regret reading it; it was truly worth my time.
September 28, 2025
You know when you get to the end of a great TV series and feel jealous of people who haven't watched it yet because they get to experience it for the first time? Well, that's how I feel about this book. I wish there could be a version 2.0 where I get to read it for the first time again. I will definitely give it a second read. The concept is so clever and the nuggets of insight as you read make it difficult to put down. Harrison Murphy never ceases to provoke thoughts that trigger further thoughts and imaginings of what could be possible. Cracking book.
November 27, 2024
‘We were destroying the planet all along, weren’t we?’
The potential destruction of Earth as a result of climate change is a key theme of this interesting novel, delivered rather bluntly through characters like Madge and the Narrator, but also through reference to earlier historical events. However, the real philosophical crux of the novel is this: if you could intervene to change just one thing on Earth, what would you choose?
-- What’s it about? --
When Greg dies, he is already ground down by life: he feels ill-treated by never achieving the professional recognition granted to his colleague, Liam, in the archaeological world, and by his relationship with his ex-wife, Jenna, so to be prematurely dead as a result of a car accident feels like just another kick in the teeth – until he discovers the power of Intervention.
Welcome to The Cloud, ‘the ultimate box set of everything that has ever happened, and has yet to happen, on Earth’. Initially distracted by his new-found ability to view other peoples’ lives at will, (and his horror at realising that this means other people will have seen his private, less salubrious habits over the years!) Greg eventually comes to realise that he can change one thing on Earth, providing he is willing to trade in his eternal existence in The Cloud for ‘Permadeath’.
What will Greg change? And what will the consequences be?
-- What’s it like? --
Episodic and fragmented in style, with variations that do not reflect particularly kindly on the human race as a whole! I don’t think it constitutes a spoiler to say that Greg is not the only character to gain the power of Intervention, and not everyone is using their power for the greater good…
‘Intervention’ poses an interesting philosophical question, which Murphy explores through following a core cast of characters with constantly shifting fates through a period of a few years. Rather than chapters, the reader navigates ‘versions’ of events, beginning with version 3. Gradually, as the novel cycles back through the same events and explores the impact of decisions made via Interventions, some characters emerge as more skilful than others at using The Cloud to their advantage, but Murphy has a broader point to make about society and he makes it explicitly as the novel draws to a close, fully embracing the metafictional approach:
‘[She] said, almost like I came up with her character and this scenario to examine further the overarching themes of this novel.’
-- Final thoughts --
There are some nice touches of comedy here, such as when the narrator tells Greg that the crash ‘kind of did [him] a favour’ by killing him pre-2020 because that year was ‘crazy’, and inherent in the notion that when unsuccessful people blame malign, external actors for their own limitations and failures – they may well be right!
I found the reactions of the different characters to death in The Cloud interesting, especially Conal, whose reactions differ significantly from the other characters and was intrigued by the initial mysteries (such as, why did Liam act like he did after the night out?)
The moral of the story is heavy handed and the ending increasingly didactic, but this is an interesting – albeit slightly depressing! – thought experiment. The fractured style of the narrative definitely makes this feel like more of an experiment than a conventional ‘story’, but it’s easy to keep track of the various characters (if at times unclear who is pulling their strings) and feels terribly convincing as an insight into human nature!
Many thanks to the author and Anne Cater’s Random Things Tours for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and a spot on the blog tour.
The potential destruction of Earth as a result of climate change is a key theme of this interesting novel, delivered rather bluntly through characters like Madge and the Narrator, but also through reference to earlier historical events. However, the real philosophical crux of the novel is this: if you could intervene to change just one thing on Earth, what would you choose?
-- What’s it about? --
When Greg dies, he is already ground down by life: he feels ill-treated by never achieving the professional recognition granted to his colleague, Liam, in the archaeological world, and by his relationship with his ex-wife, Jenna, so to be prematurely dead as a result of a car accident feels like just another kick in the teeth – until he discovers the power of Intervention.
Welcome to The Cloud, ‘the ultimate box set of everything that has ever happened, and has yet to happen, on Earth’. Initially distracted by his new-found ability to view other peoples’ lives at will, (and his horror at realising that this means other people will have seen his private, less salubrious habits over the years!) Greg eventually comes to realise that he can change one thing on Earth, providing he is willing to trade in his eternal existence in The Cloud for ‘Permadeath’.
What will Greg change? And what will the consequences be?
-- What’s it like? --
Episodic and fragmented in style, with variations that do not reflect particularly kindly on the human race as a whole! I don’t think it constitutes a spoiler to say that Greg is not the only character to gain the power of Intervention, and not everyone is using their power for the greater good…
‘Intervention’ poses an interesting philosophical question, which Murphy explores through following a core cast of characters with constantly shifting fates through a period of a few years. Rather than chapters, the reader navigates ‘versions’ of events, beginning with version 3. Gradually, as the novel cycles back through the same events and explores the impact of decisions made via Interventions, some characters emerge as more skilful than others at using The Cloud to their advantage, but Murphy has a broader point to make about society and he makes it explicitly as the novel draws to a close, fully embracing the metafictional approach:
‘[She] said, almost like I came up with her character and this scenario to examine further the overarching themes of this novel.’
-- Final thoughts --
There are some nice touches of comedy here, such as when the narrator tells Greg that the crash ‘kind of did [him] a favour’ by killing him pre-2020 because that year was ‘crazy’, and inherent in the notion that when unsuccessful people blame malign, external actors for their own limitations and failures – they may well be right!
I found the reactions of the different characters to death in The Cloud interesting, especially Conal, whose reactions differ significantly from the other characters and was intrigued by the initial mysteries (such as, why did Liam act like he did after the night out?)
The moral of the story is heavy handed and the ending increasingly didactic, but this is an interesting – albeit slightly depressing! – thought experiment. The fractured style of the narrative definitely makes this feel like more of an experiment than a conventional ‘story’, but it’s easy to keep track of the various characters (if at times unclear who is pulling their strings) and feels terribly convincing as an insight into human nature!
Many thanks to the author and Anne Cater’s Random Things Tours for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and a spot on the blog tour.
November 30, 2024
Intervention, by Harrison Murphy, follows three characters – boorish Greg, self-centred Una, and conscientious Liam – as, in alternative timelines, they die in the same road accident and discover that in the afterlife they enter The Cloud, where they can see every past and future event on Earth.
Not only this, but each person who goes to The Cloud can make a single intervention, with the caveat that this is the last thing they’ll ever do. There are some restrictions: you can’t make a change so big it unravels the fabric of reality (so no killing Hitler); you can’t undo your own death (though you can intervene in other people’s – so you can die and intervene yourself, then be restored to life by someone else, with no memory of dying or intervening); and you can’t make anyone on Earth aware of The Cloud’s existence.
We explore the characters’ reactions as they acclimatise to their new surroundings, consider how (if at all) they’d like to intervene, and how their interventions over-write history in small but significant ways. We also find out that one of them knows more than they should, and is using their knowledge to “game the system” to the extent the rules allow.
I found Intervention engaging and enjoyable. With five new versions of events over-writing timeline 1.0, there’s the potential for things to become very confusing, but the author helpfully keeps us on track by reminding us who’s in The Cloud each time we switch streams. And, as with many parallel universe/time travel stories, it also helps not to overthink it!
I had varying degrees of sympathy for the characters, but in all cases, it was fascinating to see how they reacted to being in The Cloud (Greg: despondency; Una: boredom; Liam: curiosity), as well as the ways various characters chose to intervene, and their motivations, which were often emotionally charged as a result of viewing scenes they hadn’t been privy to while alive.
It was also really interesting to see how the same scenes on Earth unfolded so differently with just a minor tweak. In addition, there’s a secondary storyline that explores what happens when a group of people on Earth do find out about The Cloud – explaining why the rule preventing that had to be added.
The stories are relayed to us by a personification of The Cloud itself, which is a nice touch. Its all-knowing voice and sharp observations of human behaviour put me in mind of some of Will Carver’s novels, which are narrated by Evil. It did have a tendency to repeat certain key points, though, and these might have been edited out for a smoother read.
Intervention is a mind-bending and imaginative speculative novel.
Not only this, but each person who goes to The Cloud can make a single intervention, with the caveat that this is the last thing they’ll ever do. There are some restrictions: you can’t make a change so big it unravels the fabric of reality (so no killing Hitler); you can’t undo your own death (though you can intervene in other people’s – so you can die and intervene yourself, then be restored to life by someone else, with no memory of dying or intervening); and you can’t make anyone on Earth aware of The Cloud’s existence.
We explore the characters’ reactions as they acclimatise to their new surroundings, consider how (if at all) they’d like to intervene, and how their interventions over-write history in small but significant ways. We also find out that one of them knows more than they should, and is using their knowledge to “game the system” to the extent the rules allow.
I found Intervention engaging and enjoyable. With five new versions of events over-writing timeline 1.0, there’s the potential for things to become very confusing, but the author helpfully keeps us on track by reminding us who’s in The Cloud each time we switch streams. And, as with many parallel universe/time travel stories, it also helps not to overthink it!
I had varying degrees of sympathy for the characters, but in all cases, it was fascinating to see how they reacted to being in The Cloud (Greg: despondency; Una: boredom; Liam: curiosity), as well as the ways various characters chose to intervene, and their motivations, which were often emotionally charged as a result of viewing scenes they hadn’t been privy to while alive.
It was also really interesting to see how the same scenes on Earth unfolded so differently with just a minor tweak. In addition, there’s a secondary storyline that explores what happens when a group of people on Earth do find out about The Cloud – explaining why the rule preventing that had to be added.
The stories are relayed to us by a personification of The Cloud itself, which is a nice touch. Its all-knowing voice and sharp observations of human behaviour put me in mind of some of Will Carver’s novels, which are narrated by Evil. It did have a tendency to repeat certain key points, though, and these might have been edited out for a smoother read.
Intervention is a mind-bending and imaginative speculative novel.
December 1, 2024
In Intervention, we follow three main characters, Greg, Una and Liam. All die in the same road accident and in the afterlife, they enter The Cloud, in which they are able to see all events on Earth, past and present.
Whilst there, they soon learn they can each make one Intervention. But this Intervention will be the last things they ever do and there are certain restrictions on what they can do. So for example, you can't undo your own death and you can make a change that would have huge ramifications on the fabric of time, so you can't kill Adolf Hitler before his rise to power.
So our story unfolds as Greg, Una and Liam get used to the afterlife and consider what Intervention they each should make.
Want to know more? Be sure to pick your copy up.
So all in all, this was an enjoyable read. It's definitely a mind-bending tale, full of intrigue and imagination.
For me, it's quite a unique story, I've never read anything with this premise, and it's very thought provoking.
The pace was well set, the characters had decent depth, and I read this in two sittings.
4 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.
Whilst there, they soon learn they can each make one Intervention. But this Intervention will be the last things they ever do and there are certain restrictions on what they can do. So for example, you can't undo your own death and you can make a change that would have huge ramifications on the fabric of time, so you can't kill Adolf Hitler before his rise to power.
So our story unfolds as Greg, Una and Liam get used to the afterlife and consider what Intervention they each should make.
Want to know more? Be sure to pick your copy up.
So all in all, this was an enjoyable read. It's definitely a mind-bending tale, full of intrigue and imagination.
For me, it's quite a unique story, I've never read anything with this premise, and it's very thought provoking.
The pace was well set, the characters had decent depth, and I read this in two sittings.
4 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.
January 25, 2026
The repetition of certain chapters where you read the same thing again only to have the last few paragraphs different was boring.
I feel like the book has a great premise but could have been executed better. Disappointed but others may find the characters interesting and the overall message clever.
I feel like the book has a great premise but could have been executed better. Disappointed but others may find the characters interesting and the overall message clever.
February 17, 2025
First I would like thank @harrisonmurph1 for reaching out to me and asking me to give his book a try. I was was very intrigued by the blurb and was looking forward to reading it.
This book was no where near my normal style of writing but every now and then I like to try sowkthing new be due you just never know you might love it. I found Harrison’s writing style to be very good and really engaging and the book creates a very intense atmosphere.
However, I found the timeline and theme for for the story line to be very confusing. It jumps all over the place and just as I was thinking I knew what was going on something happened and I was all confused again. I was very baffled by the Nibagunex section as so well so unfortunately I found myself not being able to finish it. It all just seemed a bit out there for me.
I’m sure if your into sci-fi and speculative fiction this one is not to be missed. Out 29th November 2024
This book was no where near my normal style of writing but every now and then I like to try sowkthing new be due you just never know you might love it. I found Harrison’s writing style to be very good and really engaging and the book creates a very intense atmosphere.
However, I found the timeline and theme for for the story line to be very confusing. It jumps all over the place and just as I was thinking I knew what was going on something happened and I was all confused again. I was very baffled by the Nibagunex section as so well so unfortunately I found myself not being able to finish it. It all just seemed a bit out there for me.
I’m sure if your into sci-fi and speculative fiction this one is not to be missed. Out 29th November 2024
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews