The Basic Story
When an experiment intended to prove the existence of parallel universes goes horribly awry, thee people, two physicists and a guy they’d just met have to make their way from Paris France to Cambridge England to shut the machine off.
The world around the trio has become a world of death and destruction as the parallel world merges with their own. The problem? They can’t see anything from the other world, but they can feel it. Making things worse, they can’t interact with anything from the other world in any way, making even the most mundane objects deadly as they pass through steel, wood and flesh as if they were not there at all.
Along the way they fight soldiers, picking up a helicopter pilot. They escape a crazed ship captain and the elements themselves as they cross country borders and discover just how bad their situations could be.
Characters
The lead character Mia, at least on the surface appears as a bit of a single track character. She talks a lot about her husband and child and how scared she is for them and wants them to be safe. That said, she’s acting and reacting as any mother/wife would react in an end of the world situation. Though her focus is on getting home, she manages to make some very smart decisions and becomes a sort of emotional leader to the trio.
Abraham is a bit of a neat character. He’ a physicist who watched as the ordeal happened live during a conference. He became one of the most valued members of the trio, especially being supposed as the only person capable of turning the machine off, and thus saving the world.
Bruce… Bruce was fine. I found he really didn’t have a lot to do other than be the reader stand in. He was the guy to ask the questions as he didn’t understand the sciencey stuff as well as the two physicists. He was a likeable character, just didn’t really do too much to progress the plot or character arcs.
I want to talk about the piolet as well, Liv. She was my favorite character in the book, her actions and reactions to everything around her made me like her. She was nonchalant, casual and didn’t seem to care about what was going on around her as much as the others. She didn’t want to die, but seemed to have accepted that she could die at any moment.
Basically, all the characters in the book were well written. Some had more of a role than others, but that’s how most books are.
Thoughts on the story
From the start the book gives you an intense situation filled with a shit ton of blood and gore. Mia and her friend are at the top of the Eiffel tower when the two worlds collide. The book grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the final chapter.
Speaking of the final chapter, well, the final few chapters, that’s actually where the story lost it for me. It’s not that the ending was bad by any means; I was just able to predict what I was going to see almost beat by beat. I just found it dragged the story down a bit. It was still a good ending, just not one I enjoyed. I’m not going to spoil anything; you’ll have to read the book for yourself.
In Conclusion
This book was great. I enjoyed the characters, the world, the situation and the obstacles the trio had to face. The descriptors were spot on. Basically, it was everything I could have wanted from a parallel universe novel.
Rating out of 10
This book was great. I enjoyed what I read and it had kept my attention from beginning to end. This book gets an excellent score of 8/10. I’ll be recommending it to friends and family.
Who would Like this?
If you’re a fan of science fiction, horror and suspense, this book is for you.