The Breach

by Nick Cutter, Marc Vietor (Narrator)

John Hawkins is counting down his last days as chief of police on the Lone Crow Reservation in the lonely, frigid woods of the Yukon. But when a faceless body with mysterious wounds washes up on the shores of the Porcupine River, he’s pulled deeper in than ever before.

Hawkins and coroner Jacob Littlecorn suspect the disfigured body is that of theoretical physicist Graham Raphelson, also known as the “molecular madman of Trinity College”, who recently disappeared. The two investigators enlist Meg Gilday, a charter boat captain, and Linda Raphelson to examine the place where her husband was last seen alive. There, they find a house infested with more than secrets: bugs wriggle behind the walls, and in the attic sits a bizarre machine cobbled together from toy parts and electrical wire, a device that might be able to tear a hole through the fabric of reality itself. When Meg and Jacob get bitten and someone goes missing, Hawkins realizes that firing up the machine might be the only way to solve the case.

Buzzing with suspense, this dark, gripping mystery from acclaimed horror writer Nick Cutter will leave listeners’ skin crawling.

Genres: Horror, Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction, Lovecraftian, Adult, Mystery

Audible Audio

First published October 22, 2020

About the author

Hello Everybody!

I figured this bio was looking a little cobwebby, so here to update it a bit (Sept 2025). What's changed in the decade since I wrote my initial bio? Mmmm, not a lot. I still enjoy bubblebaths, strong coffee and passionate conversations, moonlit walks on the beach, eldritch horrors and biological horrors run amuck.

Oh, and I have a new book: The Queen!

The following years should see the arrival of The Dorians (2026?), The Coffin Worms and other Grotesques (2027?), The Invaders (2028?) Gravenhurst (etc), and republications of The Acolyte and The Breach ... after which I will likely devolve into a puddle of sentient goo (2030 - RIP).

I've been politely requested to be on Twitter again. I may pollinate to other social media locales in the coming months and years, but for now I can be found malingering around at:

@ItsNickCutter

Yrs,
Nick Cutter
(but not really)

Reviews

[Brandon Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this is the 3rd time I’ve listened to this, it still baffles me just how freaking gnarly and intense the body horror is. It’s like the perfect mix of The Deep and The Troop.

It’s a bit of a shame that this is only available on audible, as I would love to annotate a physical copy, but that’s really the only downside here. The narration is creepy as hell, and imagery provoked is some of the most brutal and graphic I’ve ever heard.

[Dead Inside · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The pig says we all shall cleanse.”

[Zlatko Demirovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is everything i wanted in a new Nick Cutter novel. 2020 was a good year for literature. Davidson released Cascades in the summer and now the Breach at the peak of spooky season. My dad passed away the day before this was released so i was understandably bummed, but listening to this helped get my mind off things. Part Cronenberg's The Fly and part Lovecraft's From Beyond, this is a killer read. It's intimate with not too many characters and the Yukon setting in the woods is perfect. I think i can comfortably say if you liked The Troop or Little Heaven or any other Cutter/Lestewka work, you'll enjoy The Breach. The only downside now is that i have to wait probably another 2 years for more of Nick's horror goodness. Lets hope I'm wrong!

[Mike Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Nick Cutter novel couldn't have come at a better time. He is definitely one of my all-time favorite horror writers. Once again Nick delivers up a twisted and imaginative concept oozing with deformities and larval insects.

5 Stars*****

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review soon!

[David Thirteen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone familiar with Nick Cutter knows to expect extreme horror with a generous dose of body horror. The Breach (available only on Audible at the time of writing this) has to be one of his most ghastly to date. Maybe it was the fact that I was listening to the words instead of reading them, but it seemed that nearly every scene had some gross-out to cringe at. Not that I’m complaining, but wow, this is not for the faint of heart (or stomach). Also, definitely not for anyone with any kind of phobia related to insects. In many ways, this felt like a spiritual successor to The Troup, although by the same measure, it felt like a step backward from Little Heaven in terms of style and finesse. Still, it was a fast, terrifying tale, and if you like Cutter’s work, it’s well worth an Audible credit.

[Niall Cavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typical Nick Cutter stuff: lean and mean. This one is like a hybrid between John Carpenter's The Thing and an awesome X-Files episode.

Compared to Cutter's past work it's probably 3.5 or 4 stars but I love his writing so much that he gets an auto-bump. If I had one minor complaint it would be that the ending felt a *tad* rushed. But nevertheless: I love Cutter's writing and imagination. He's never missed with his genre work - it's such an impressive run he's on.

[Jami Zahemski · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not good at all. The narration was poor, the audio quality was poorly. The switching back and forth between the investigation with the ship and the current characters left me more confused. I got the general idea of what was happening but I just couldn’t pay attention long enough to fully care.

I would’ve preferred to physically read this instead of listening.

Such a shame because I loved the Troop and you can see similarities between the two stories in terms of the parasitic body horror but this was rushed and just bad.

[Paul Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a dead body is found, Canadian Mountie, John Hawkins has to go deep into the Yukon to see if he can find out what happened. One of the people that accompanies him becomes ill after being bit by a bug. Things spiral out of control as they do in a Nick Cutter novel.
My main complaint with this novel is that I didn’t love the characters. I was not invested in them at all. There was complicated reasoning behind the what was happening in this Lovecraftian tale.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5.

I consider Nick Cutter one of my few auto buy authors. The Troop is one of my favorite horror novels of all time. I would rank it in the top 5 for sure. Maybe even in the top 10 of my favorite books, not even genre specific.

So when I say I was let down by this one, it hurts lol

My first problem is that this is audible exclusive. I love audiobooks and primarily consume my reading through them these days, but there are some stories I'd much rather read traditionally. I don't necessarily hold this against Nick Cutter as I'm sure he had nothing to do with that and just took the opportunity given to him (and hell, who wouldn't?). But the narrator picked for this book was really...lacking to me. And the production quality I feel could have been spectacular.

Since this book can only be consumed in one format and that format is audibly, I feel like the narrator should be doing very distinct voices for the characters. A lot of the dialogue is leaving off dialogue tags, so I got confused who was talking A LOT. There's a really small cast of characters, so to maybe at least have two narrators to put just a bit of difference into it would have helped a lot. Secondly, this is hella cosmic horror, and I can't imagine the difference it would have made to have some sound effects, or voice modulation. When the character is screaming or laughing erratically or chanting or doing something audibly weird...make it audibly weird!!! But instead moments that probably would have scared me if I had been reading it felt super awkward for me.

Besides from the narration being pretty unpleasant for me, which admittedly makes it hard to just judge the writing of the book itself, I did feel like the plot could have been better. This is my third Nick Cutter book (Little Heaven being one of his I haven't gotten to yet) and this is the third book that deals heavily with BUG horror.

I'm all for cosmic body horror. But at some point, I want to see something new from him. Especially since the premise of this book could have gone full Cronenberg, but it relies really heavily on insect imagery. Don't get me wrong, who isn't absolutely mortified at the thought of a bug/human body horror story? But when The Troop and The Deep both are deeply into the bug theme, I just sort of go "aw man..." because I know Nick Cutter can deliver more!!

Either way, it's with a heavy heart I can't rate this any higher. I really hope somehow this audible exclusive gets a kindle deal at some point. Because it's very likely if I was able to read the book myself, I would have been way more into it.

[Dan Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5

Now THAT’s the Nick Cutter I know and love! Disgusting, bleak, relentless and ultra creepy. The body horror in this one is WILD, cleverly crossed with some cosmic horror and science gone awry. It has the claustrophobia of The Deep and a few more ingredients borrowed from The Troop. What a crazy story. There is one section in particular that contained easily one of the creepiest sequences I’ve read in a book this year.

The Breach nearly got the full 5 stars, but for a few minor grievances (including being unavailable in print!). Another solid one from one of my favorite modern writers in the genre. Bonus points for a sweet Jaws reference.

[Kimiadhm · Rating 2 out of 5]

انگار که نیک کاتر یه فرمول داره و با همون ۳ تا کتاب نوشته: the
deep, the troop, the breach

البته که من اون تا کتاب دیگه رو خیلی بیشتر دوس داشتم، این یکی به نظرم اصلا به اندازه اون یکیا هیجان انگیز و ترسناک نبود

روایتگر آدیوبوک هم انگار داشت خبر میخوند :)))

خلاصه که پروژه شکست خورد

[José · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó bastante, aunque no tanto como los libros anteriores de este autor.

Nick Cutter es un maestro del gore y me encanta cómo mezcla terror y ciencia ficción en todas sus novelas.

Este libro tiene todos los elementos que ya son el sello de Cutter: un experimento del gobierno que sale muy mal, un científico desquiciado que decide continuar los experimentos a pesar de todo, un grupo de pobres infelices que van a investigar y un montón de momentos desagradables y turbios. Pese a todo esto, el final me dejó con gusto a poco (cosa que no me pasó con sus demás libros) y lo sentí un poco apurado.

De todas formas es un libro de terror bastante entretenido y con escenas que me causaron asco y me provocaron escalofríos, en eso no hay ningún autor que supere a Nick Cutter.

Aviso que es un libro exclusivo de Audible, así que la única forma de "leerlo" es suscribiéndose al servicio de audiolibros de Amazon.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Such great fun and I love the way Nick Cutter describes everything in his books. It’s just so rich! Had to rewind a few times so I didn’t miss anything! I highly recommend listening to this one if you’re into horror like me :)

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a big, big surprise.

Overall it was a very enjoyable horror novel.

Yeah, Nick Cutter doesn`t disappoints.

[Jennifer T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will describe this as a mix of The Mist by Stephen King mixed with the color out of space by HP Lovecraft. Excellent cosmic-body horror horror from Nick Cutter! This is very gory, claustrophobic, and disturbing; don’t listen if you did not like his other books. I loved the characters and could really see this as a movie.

The narrator was very good. I listened at 1.4 speed.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read The Troop and wanting to read The Deep I thought I would go to the Breach. A audiobook format & Lovecraftian stuff. Unfortunately it didn't click with me in several moments (mainly the end) which led me to take same time to read it.

It's interesting and lovecraftian and a bit of gorey side but the end was not what I expected. Also being audiobook made me feel some characters since he was switching from character to character... although to be fair probably my fault since it took me a while to read. At the end I remember like two or three characters.

But the biggest fault I think it was that BANG I was expecting... Oh well.

Not bad believe, BUT if you are going to audiobook it one go (6/7H) then probably even with some of my "complains" you will enjoy it more.

[SheriC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second attempt at this author's work, having DNF'd the first and almost DNF this one. And yet, I'm not ready to give up on his stuff. This was not a bad book. It was interestingly gory, and I always give extra credit to Lovecraftian cosmic horror elements. The characters were fairly engaging, with no tiresomely obvious villains.

What knocked this story down from four stars is that I was also annoyed and confused for much of it. He's providing some exposition/background/clues through some historical documents, in episodic breaks from the current action, and the way the information is presented really does not suit the audio format for me. I'm usually multitasking while listening to books, and I can't easily retain dates and times and fiddly little details this way, especially without the ability to stop and re-read something from a few pages or chapters ago. Ordinarily I'd have dropped the audio and switched to text format, but this book only exists in the audio format. I was interested enough to listen to the end rather than DNF'ing, though.

Audiobook via Audible. Narrator Marc Vietor gives a solid performance.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️
I don’t recommend this on audio.
It’s not bad, per se - not hard to listen to.
But the narration does nothing for the story.

[Adrian Coombe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much a Nick Cutter novel in the best possible way. Superbly lean, seriously grim body horror, but in a well worded way not extreme for shock value. Works brilliantly as an audiobook. Imagine a Blake Crouch homage to The Prestige film mixed in with The Troop's body horror.

[✿ℎazℯℓ - thℯ ℛock Cℎick ℱairy✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished this one!
It was indeed still icky and horrifying!
This author never fails to describe things in a real gruesome manner.
I don't know about the ending though.

[Shane Hawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cutter is a wordsmith with horror imagery. He writes some of my favorite descriptive metaphors in this genre. This novel was a bit wild, trippy. Some ideas seemed borrowed from The Troop and some from The Deep which makes me wonder if this is an older novel he couldn’t traditionally publish and went the Audible Original route. I don’t mean this as a negative jab. I enjoyed the heck out of this weird little novel.

Looking forward to the paperback in a year.

[neko cam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Breach doesn’t hold a candle to The Troop

[unstable.books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good grief. Nick Cutter sure loves his worms, doesn't he?

[BookzBookzBookz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Breach, by Nick Cutter was a pretty interesting book. Not the best, but I’ve only read a few books by the author. What I can say is, I read this directly behind The Troop, and found the books closely related.

The story told of a man’s desire to cut through the walls of time and dimensions, stemming from the loss of his daughter. He was too smart for his own good, taking many good people with him into a portal of darkness that constantly repeated, “tHE COW SAYS... THE COW SAYS... THE GOOSE SAYS... CLEANSE!” Kinda funny, because the narrator did a good job, but the story in itself was simply a decentread. Not great, nothing to run and brag about but if someone asked, I’d say worth the time.

The Breach is a book of cringe, and disgusting fascination. There weren’t any scary parts, but the things described almost made me feel like I was poking a dead dog with a stick to see what comes out. It was gross and had it’s cringe moments, but then they quickly faded away. And the ending was good, but I was like- wait! It’s different now? What happened?

Not saying this book is bad, because it’s not. I gave it 3-stars because the gross and creepy stuff was good and creepy, but it felt like it was written within the shadows of another book I mentioned, The Troop. Now that one was good- probably because I’d read it first.

[Jakob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m hard-pressed to think that there are more than a handful of authors that write body horror or describe insects or worms or slug like things better than Nick cutter.

This is right up there with the novels of his that I’ve read so far. I really enjoyed the story however this only being an audiobook sucks a bit because the narrator is terrible. I find him very boring, very monotone. I’ll put it out there that I don’t do audiobooks often, but since that was the only option for this one, I went ahead and was solidly reminded why I don’t do audio. Not to mention there were really bad edits towards the end of the novel that really took me out of the story.

However, all the best of Nick Cutter’s writing style is in there and it was a very satisfying story.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Cutter work, unfortunately. It felt like "let's do The Troop again, but throw in some of the more cosmic horror elements from The Deep." I also think the big flashback section in the middle brought the pacing to a halt. But there were some great scenes in this, and if you like gross body horror, this certainly fills the ask. But if you've read The Troop already, you may feel like this is a bit of a letdown.

[Purple Bookish Frog (Bonnie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god, this is one of the best horror stories ever! I just couldn't stop listening, even when I was mega grosssed out! Brilliant!!!! 5 Stars!!!!!!

[Stuart Coombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, not quite the Troop but still a disturbing and at times nauseating body horror story with big lovecraftian nods. Really enjoyable.

[Brayden Keyser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really much for audio books but since it was Nick Cutter I decided to give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a nice quick little read while I was at work.