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Travis Chase #3
Das Labyrinth der Zeit
ŷ Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Science Fiction (2012)The anomaly called the Breach is the governments most carefully guarded secret.
But there is another secret even less known . . . and far more terrifying.
As the U.S. President addresses the nation from
the Oval Office, a missile screams toward the White House. In a lightning flash, the Chief Executive is dead, his mansion in ruins, and two cryptic words are the only clue to the assassins
Now Travis Chase of the covert agency Tangent is calling the total destructive might of a shadow government down upon them. For Travis Chase has a dark destiny he cannot be allowed to fulfill . . .
But there is another secret even less known . . . and far more terrifying.
As the U.S. President addresses the nation from
the Oval Office, a missile screams toward the White House. In a lightning flash, the Chief Executive is dead, his mansion in ruins, and two cryptic words are the only clue to the assassins
Now Travis Chase of the covert agency Tangent is calling the total destructive might of a shadow government down upon them. For Travis Chase has a dark destiny he cannot be allowed to fulfill . . .
448 pages, Paperback
First published December 27, 2011
183 people are currently reading
1646 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Lee
8books971followersThere is more than one author with this name
Patrick Lee was born in west Michigan in 1976.He started writing by working on screenplays but eventually moved to novel writing.
Patrick Lee was born in west Michigan in 1976.He started writing by working on screenplays but eventually moved to novel writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 350 reviews
January 5, 2012
YES.
I. Am. Thrilled. Discombobulated. Agog. Awestruck. Floored. Sky-high. Fucking freaked out.
Gimme a second.
Ok: in "Deep Sky," the third and final book featuring Travis Chase and Tangent and a host of tantalizing scientific mysteries, Patrick Lee brings his entire story to a resounding finish with a deft act of closure that has left me a little winded and very, very pleased. My mind is blown.
I tell you, I am so often disappointed by the endings of books that I now have low expectations for every one that I approach. When a book does wrap up well--as it does in rare works like or --I can get very excited--overjoyed, even, especially if a writer really closes her or his book with a master stroke.
What Lee accomplishes at the end of "Deep Sky" is astounding--especially in light of the fact that these are his first published works--and walking away from that experience, I am without question overjoyed. Light-weight as these books may be in terms of thickness and depth of character/story/setting, etc, the Chase books are nonetheless directed by a sure sense of storytelling that I only wish I could find more often in adventurous, entertaining fiction. Speaking of wishes: I wish that I could forget these books entirely and pick them up fresh, just to experience it all again. What a ride.
And now: time to sit back and enjoy this reading high.
I. Am. Thrilled. Discombobulated. Agog. Awestruck. Floored. Sky-high. Fucking freaked out.
Gimme a second.
Ok: in "Deep Sky," the third and final book featuring Travis Chase and Tangent and a host of tantalizing scientific mysteries, Patrick Lee brings his entire story to a resounding finish with a deft act of closure that has left me a little winded and very, very pleased. My mind is blown.
I tell you, I am so often disappointed by the endings of books that I now have low expectations for every one that I approach. When a book does wrap up well--as it does in rare works like or --I can get very excited--overjoyed, even, especially if a writer really closes her or his book with a master stroke.
What Lee accomplishes at the end of "Deep Sky" is astounding--especially in light of the fact that these are his first published works--and walking away from that experience, I am without question overjoyed. Light-weight as these books may be in terms of thickness and depth of character/story/setting, etc, the Chase books are nonetheless directed by a sure sense of storytelling that I only wish I could find more often in adventurous, entertaining fiction. Speaking of wishes: I wish that I could forget these books entirely and pick them up fresh, just to experience it all again. What a ride.
And now: time to sit back and enjoy this reading high.
May 14, 2015
I should have followed my own advice before picking up this novel: Don't Read Series Books Too Close Together.
I tend to never finish a series because I grow tired of the template, or the author's writing quirks start to annoy me. I've read four Patrick Lee novels in less than a month, and Deep Sky, which is the last book in the Travis Chase trilogy, was so gonzo that I'm glad to have a break from Mr. Lee.
Every book in the Chase series involves time travel, government conspiracy, a looming disaster and alien technology. This last novel was so loopy that I put the book down and rolled my eyes a few times. There was a payoff to a mystery that was introduced in the first book, and there were some fun action sequences, but in the end I thought Deep Sky was the weakest of the three.
Recommended only if you've read the first two Travis Chase novels. Otherwise you'll be up a creek without any alien weapons.
I tend to never finish a series because I grow tired of the template, or the author's writing quirks start to annoy me. I've read four Patrick Lee novels in less than a month, and Deep Sky, which is the last book in the Travis Chase trilogy, was so gonzo that I'm glad to have a break from Mr. Lee.
Every book in the Chase series involves time travel, government conspiracy, a looming disaster and alien technology. This last novel was so loopy that I put the book down and rolled my eyes a few times. There was a payoff to a mystery that was introduced in the first book, and there were some fun action sequences, but in the end I thought Deep Sky was the weakest of the three.
Recommended only if you've read the first two Travis Chase novels. Otherwise you'll be up a creek without any alien weapons.
January 18, 2012
Originally Reviewed on
In the few years Travis Chase has been free from prison, he’s learned of an anomaly called “The Breach� and the alien technologies � or entities � it inexplicably produces. He’s joined Tangent, the top secret government agency responsible for protecting, analyzing, and understanding The Breach, and has become one of its the top members, next to his girlfriend Paige Campbell. Together, Paige and Travis have stopped a renegade Tangent agent equipped with an entity called The Whisper, and have thwarted a maniacal plan born of the best intentions to stop end of the world. But their work is far from over. When President Garner is assassinated during a television broadcast by an impossible missile, the only clue left by the murderer is a two word phrase � “See Scalar�.
The clue leads to a dark secret in Tangent’s past, that unlocks the key to The Breach and the entities being sent through. Scalar will reveal the truth of everything, including the terrifying future that The Whisper revealed in The Breach � a future Travis Chase’s role in the deaths of 20 million people, and a future Paige Campbell’s order to kill Travis before he can.
The third and final book in the Travis Chase trilogy, Deep Sky ties all the tantalizing threads from the first two books together in a surprising but ultimately effective and haunting conclusion. While the first two books might have been classified as thrillers with a strong science fiction bend, this final book is a full-fledged, undeniable SF novel that embraces an entity that essentially is applied phlebotinum, more crazy time travel, and paradoxes galore. I mean this in the best possible way, because Deep Sky finishes the trilogy with a grand flourish that, in my opinion, makes perfect sense (in a bittersweet kind of way).
The overarching mystery that spans the trilogy is that of Travis Chase’s fate � in The Breach we learn that he is the creator of The Whisper, an artificial intelligence created with Breach technology, sent back in time through the Breach with the sole purpose of placing Travis Chase in front of the Breach in order to intercept a message from a future version of Paige Campbell. Something happens in a distant future � perhaps in an alternate timeline � that tears Paige and Travis apart, resulting in the deaths of millions at Travis’s hands, and causes Paige to give the order to kill him. Everything that has happened in the first two books leads up to this revelation, which is, through twists and turns, unlocked by the Scalar investigation. The investigation unlocks a number of betrayals and secrets, and of course I can’t reveal anything because the reason these books are so fantastic is because of the twistiness and unexpectedness of the plot. Suffice to say, Patrick Lee is in top form, weaving action effortlessly with fringe science in a taughtly written, expertly paced plot. Also, importantly, from a speculative fiction perspective Mr. Lee does a phenomenal job of allowing audiences to suspend disbelief.
As with the first two books in the series, a new entity is introduced in Deep Sky and takes center stage � in The Breach it’s The Whisper, in Ghost Country it’s the dual cylinders. In this third novel, it’s The Tap � an entity that allows its wielder to access any memory and relive it, and more. The Tap is pretty badass, and probably my favorite entity of the series (and that’s all I’ll say about it because to say more would be spoiling). Ultimately, I can see how the headlong leap into SF territory, with it’s many alternate plotlines (courtesy of The Tap) might be a little off-putting for some fans, especially those that preferred the thriller aspect of these novels, but in my own opinion, I think Mr. Lee executes the crossover beautifully.
As far as our characters are concerned, we get our closest, most soul-searching look at Travis Chase in this final novel. There’s an inevitability to the ending of Deep Sky and the series, but I love that readers have come to understand Travis and Paige and the choices they ultimately make. This isn’t a series too heavy on the character development, but Lee’s characters are human despite their overall level of badassness, genius, and hyper-competency � there are real emotions and moral dilemmas that define Travis and Paige, and though these are seen in fleeting glimpses in books 1 and 2, Deep Sky rounds them out nicely.
I finished Deep Sky in a single sitting, like the ravenous, greedy reader I am � and while the ending was fulfilling and made of awesome, I’m left with that painful, wistful feeling. You know the one. It’s the feeling that follows the conclusion of any truly great series. I’m sad to leave Travis and Paige, but I’m excited to see what Patrick Lee writes next. And who knows? Maybe there will be more of the Breach and its entities in the future.
In the few years Travis Chase has been free from prison, he’s learned of an anomaly called “The Breach� and the alien technologies � or entities � it inexplicably produces. He’s joined Tangent, the top secret government agency responsible for protecting, analyzing, and understanding The Breach, and has become one of its the top members, next to his girlfriend Paige Campbell. Together, Paige and Travis have stopped a renegade Tangent agent equipped with an entity called The Whisper, and have thwarted a maniacal plan born of the best intentions to stop end of the world. But their work is far from over. When President Garner is assassinated during a television broadcast by an impossible missile, the only clue left by the murderer is a two word phrase � “See Scalar�.
The clue leads to a dark secret in Tangent’s past, that unlocks the key to The Breach and the entities being sent through. Scalar will reveal the truth of everything, including the terrifying future that The Whisper revealed in The Breach � a future Travis Chase’s role in the deaths of 20 million people, and a future Paige Campbell’s order to kill Travis before he can.
The third and final book in the Travis Chase trilogy, Deep Sky ties all the tantalizing threads from the first two books together in a surprising but ultimately effective and haunting conclusion. While the first two books might have been classified as thrillers with a strong science fiction bend, this final book is a full-fledged, undeniable SF novel that embraces an entity that essentially is applied phlebotinum, more crazy time travel, and paradoxes galore. I mean this in the best possible way, because Deep Sky finishes the trilogy with a grand flourish that, in my opinion, makes perfect sense (in a bittersweet kind of way).
The overarching mystery that spans the trilogy is that of Travis Chase’s fate � in The Breach we learn that he is the creator of The Whisper, an artificial intelligence created with Breach technology, sent back in time through the Breach with the sole purpose of placing Travis Chase in front of the Breach in order to intercept a message from a future version of Paige Campbell. Something happens in a distant future � perhaps in an alternate timeline � that tears Paige and Travis apart, resulting in the deaths of millions at Travis’s hands, and causes Paige to give the order to kill him. Everything that has happened in the first two books leads up to this revelation, which is, through twists and turns, unlocked by the Scalar investigation. The investigation unlocks a number of betrayals and secrets, and of course I can’t reveal anything because the reason these books are so fantastic is because of the twistiness and unexpectedness of the plot. Suffice to say, Patrick Lee is in top form, weaving action effortlessly with fringe science in a taughtly written, expertly paced plot. Also, importantly, from a speculative fiction perspective Mr. Lee does a phenomenal job of allowing audiences to suspend disbelief.
As with the first two books in the series, a new entity is introduced in Deep Sky and takes center stage � in The Breach it’s The Whisper, in Ghost Country it’s the dual cylinders. In this third novel, it’s The Tap � an entity that allows its wielder to access any memory and relive it, and more. The Tap is pretty badass, and probably my favorite entity of the series (and that’s all I’ll say about it because to say more would be spoiling). Ultimately, I can see how the headlong leap into SF territory, with it’s many alternate plotlines (courtesy of The Tap) might be a little off-putting for some fans, especially those that preferred the thriller aspect of these novels, but in my own opinion, I think Mr. Lee executes the crossover beautifully.
As far as our characters are concerned, we get our closest, most soul-searching look at Travis Chase in this final novel. There’s an inevitability to the ending of Deep Sky and the series, but I love that readers have come to understand Travis and Paige and the choices they ultimately make. This isn’t a series too heavy on the character development, but Lee’s characters are human despite their overall level of badassness, genius, and hyper-competency � there are real emotions and moral dilemmas that define Travis and Paige, and though these are seen in fleeting glimpses in books 1 and 2, Deep Sky rounds them out nicely.
I finished Deep Sky in a single sitting, like the ravenous, greedy reader I am � and while the ending was fulfilling and made of awesome, I’m left with that painful, wistful feeling. You know the one. It’s the feeling that follows the conclusion of any truly great series. I’m sad to leave Travis and Paige, but I’m excited to see what Patrick Lee writes next. And who knows? Maybe there will be more of the Breach and its entities in the future.
April 10, 2019
So...we finally get to the end of the trilogy. It's a good trilogy. The writer in this series has set up an interesting and intricate plot. He plays with time and space. You'll have to be willing to accept his view of how time interaction and the explanation he gives about paradox.
All that said if you've enjoyed the rest of the trilogy I think you'll like this one...and we get an explanation of something we saw earlier in the books.
I liked this book and I like the trilogy, thus I moved right to Mr. Lee's next book...which opens a new series.
So, no spoilers here as there is no way I wouldn't ruin something. If you've read the first two then you'll more than likely want to move on to this one. I will say that the ending is...interesting.
I like it, I recommend it. Enjoy.
All that said if you've enjoyed the rest of the trilogy I think you'll like this one...and we get an explanation of something we saw earlier in the books.
I liked this book and I like the trilogy, thus I moved right to Mr. Lee's next book...which opens a new series.
So, no spoilers here as there is no way I wouldn't ruin something. If you've read the first two then you'll more than likely want to move on to this one. I will say that the ending is...interesting.
I like it, I recommend it. Enjoy.
June 27, 2020
Mein Fazit: Der letzte Band der Trilogie fängt etwas gemächlich an, nimmt aber dann rasant an Fahrt auf! Es wird aber zu keiner Zeit langweilig, weil viele Infos und Überraschungen auf einen warten, unterbrochen durch kleine Action-Szenen im Kampf ums Überleben und einem spannenden Wettlauf gegen die Zeit.
Einerseits legt Patrick Lee den Protagonisten immer wieder große Steine in den Weg - andererseits empfand ich es auch wieder hier etwas mysteriös, wie viel Wissen manche der Figuren haben. Auch der Computer-Crack, der sie unterstützt, findet immer alles innerhalb von 1-2 Minuten heraus und ich frage mich jedesmal: geht das tatsächlich so schnell? Das übersteigt irgendwie mein Vorstellungsvermögen ;) Überhaupt die Zeitspannen sind oft sehr gering gesetzt, in denen so viel passiert, das passt mir nicht so ganz zusammen.
Wer hier allerdings ein typisches Zeitreiseszenario erwartet wird überrascht sein - hier hat sich der Autor eine sehr coole Idee überlegt, die mir richtig gut gefallen hat und eine tolle Dynamik in die Geschichte bringt. Er erklärt übrigens auch alles technische wirklich gut verständlich und nicht zu ausführlich, um das Tempo nicht zu bremsen, aber so, dass man als Laie sehr gut mitkommt.
Es werden auch kleine Erinnerungen an die beiden Vorgänger eingebaut, so dass man die Zusammenhänge erfassen kann.
Die Auflösung des ganzen - ich schwanke da etwas. Einerseits fand ich sie gut und auch etwas überraschend, andererseits hatte ich doch das Gefühl, noch etwas mehr erwartet zu haben. Ob damit wirklich alles, was passiert ist, stimmig abgedeckt ist, weiß ich gar nicht genau, ich denke schon - zumindest ist es eine passende Erklärung für viele Fragen und mit der letzten Seite nochmal ein kleiner Kick ins Unerwartete :D
Einerseits legt Patrick Lee den Protagonisten immer wieder große Steine in den Weg - andererseits empfand ich es auch wieder hier etwas mysteriös, wie viel Wissen manche der Figuren haben. Auch der Computer-Crack, der sie unterstützt, findet immer alles innerhalb von 1-2 Minuten heraus und ich frage mich jedesmal: geht das tatsächlich so schnell? Das übersteigt irgendwie mein Vorstellungsvermögen ;) Überhaupt die Zeitspannen sind oft sehr gering gesetzt, in denen so viel passiert, das passt mir nicht so ganz zusammen.
Wer hier allerdings ein typisches Zeitreiseszenario erwartet wird überrascht sein - hier hat sich der Autor eine sehr coole Idee überlegt, die mir richtig gut gefallen hat und eine tolle Dynamik in die Geschichte bringt. Er erklärt übrigens auch alles technische wirklich gut verständlich und nicht zu ausführlich, um das Tempo nicht zu bremsen, aber so, dass man als Laie sehr gut mitkommt.
Es werden auch kleine Erinnerungen an die beiden Vorgänger eingebaut, so dass man die Zusammenhänge erfassen kann.
Die Auflösung des ganzen - ich schwanke da etwas. Einerseits fand ich sie gut und auch etwas überraschend, andererseits hatte ich doch das Gefühl, noch etwas mehr erwartet zu haben. Ob damit wirklich alles, was passiert ist, stimmig abgedeckt ist, weiß ich gar nicht genau, ich denke schon - zumindest ist es eine passende Erklärung für viele Fragen und mit der letzten Seite nochmal ein kleiner Kick ins Unerwartete :D
August 4, 2012
There's no doubt that Patrick Lee is one of my new favorite authors. I'm already anxiously awaiting his next book. The first two books rank as some of my favorite sci-fi/action books of all time. They're simply fantastic reads.
That being said, I came away fairly disappointed in Deep Sky. Without ruining anything for those who haven't read the series, the build up in the first two was so grand that by the time the big reveal occurred, it felt like all the air was released from my tires. That's not to say that it was a bad ending... In a run-of-the-mill series, it would've been perfectly acceptable. But Lee made me so excited as to what would happen that the end results just felt incredibly anti-climactic by comparison.
Further, there were a lot of moments that felt oddly forced. I wasn't a huge fan of the shift in thinking for the main character. It felt out of place. And, while I can respect the big finish, I didn't like it... though I'll admit it that it's more of a personal preference. There were also some pacing issues that I didn't find in the first two books, and for some reason I just didn't find the plot as interesting as the first two. There were several times that I started to feel like I did back when I watched X-Files, where you just get tired of not knowing ANYTHING, which is something I never felt with the first two books. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why.
Anyway, it's not a terrible book, and it does finish the trilogy. But I certainly wished for more from a series that had me completely floored with how entertaining they were.
That being said, I came away fairly disappointed in Deep Sky. Without ruining anything for those who haven't read the series, the build up in the first two was so grand that by the time the big reveal occurred, it felt like all the air was released from my tires. That's not to say that it was a bad ending... In a run-of-the-mill series, it would've been perfectly acceptable. But Lee made me so excited as to what would happen that the end results just felt incredibly anti-climactic by comparison.
Further, there were a lot of moments that felt oddly forced. I wasn't a huge fan of the shift in thinking for the main character. It felt out of place. And, while I can respect the big finish, I didn't like it... though I'll admit it that it's more of a personal preference. There were also some pacing issues that I didn't find in the first two books, and for some reason I just didn't find the plot as interesting as the first two. There were several times that I started to feel like I did back when I watched X-Files, where you just get tired of not knowing ANYTHING, which is something I never felt with the first two books. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why.
Anyway, it's not a terrible book, and it does finish the trilogy. But I certainly wished for more from a series that had me completely floored with how entertaining they were.
May 3, 2025
I'm honestly surprised this series doesn't have more readership. What a wild ride the whole thing was! For those of us who love Sci Fi with heavy doses of Action and Spy Thriller, you could not hope for more than Patrick Lee's Travis Chase series delivers.
The thing is that you have to pay attention. A lot is happening at all times, and the characters and events tie back and forth to each other across the books in ways that are easy to miss if you are distracted. This isn't a low maintenance read, which is my preference, and so I found this trilogy to be a bit of work (with a lot of going back and re-listening). On the other hand, there's a worthwhile payoff for those who stick with it.
I have to say, the big reveals at the end of Deep Sky were mind bending in context, and pretty unsettling - especially for our hero, Travis. I LOVED IT! Very much recommended.
The thing is that you have to pay attention. A lot is happening at all times, and the characters and events tie back and forth to each other across the books in ways that are easy to miss if you are distracted. This isn't a low maintenance read, which is my preference, and so I found this trilogy to be a bit of work (with a lot of going back and re-listening). On the other hand, there's a worthwhile payoff for those who stick with it.
I have to say, the big reveals at the end of Deep Sky were mind bending in context, and pretty unsettling - especially for our hero, Travis. I LOVED IT! Very much recommended.
October 16, 2021
Golly, I don’t think I have the capability to explain how I feel about this book. In once since I really liked it and in another I didn’t like it very much. That being the case I listened to it being read to me almost continuously just trying to understand what was going on until I could get to the end. And still when I finished it I still hadn’t understood. I don’t think I was suppose to understand until maybe after I read other books in the series. Nay! This is the final book in the Travis Chase trilogy. Science fiction does that when you read a good one such as this. As in most of my reviews I didn’t go through the details of book. You can get them from other reviews.
April 30, 2020
simpatičan akcijsko SF-ični serijal, nešto zanimljivih ideja solidno realiziranih
pisac spada u malobrojne amere koji ne izvaljuju tehno budalaštine u svojim djelima
pisac spada u malobrojne amere koji ne izvaljuju tehno budalaštine u svojim djelima
April 23, 2024
Der US-Präsident wird ermordet, der Täter hinterlässt den Hinweis "siehe Skalar". Dieser Hinweis gelangt nach Border Town, dem unterirdischen Sitz des Geheimprojektes "Tangent". Hier wird ein geheim gehaltenes Portal bewacht, das gelegentlich mysteriöse Artefakt ausspuckt, die quasi übernatürliche Dinge möglich machen. Die Leiterin Page und ihr Geliebter Travis recherchieren. Skalar war ein supergeheimes Sub-Projekt innerhalb des supergeheimen Tangent-Projektes.
Dritter Teil einer Triologie. Den 2. Teil habe ich leider verpasst, was aber nicht extrem schlimm war.
Anfangs sehr gut, dann beginnt die ständige Spurensuche ala Dan Brown etwas zu ermüden. Es gibt einen Haufen teils eher unplausibler und unglaubwürdiger Entwicklungen und ufert ideenmässig etwas aus. Andererseits sind viele Ideen doch recht stark und der Schluss ist schön provokant. Man muss gut aufpassen, dass man den Faden nicht verliert.
Dritter Teil einer Triologie. Den 2. Teil habe ich leider verpasst, was aber nicht extrem schlimm war.
Anfangs sehr gut, dann beginnt die ständige Spurensuche ala Dan Brown etwas zu ermüden. Es gibt einen Haufen teils eher unplausibler und unglaubwürdiger Entwicklungen und ufert ideenmässig etwas aus. Andererseits sind viele Ideen doch recht stark und der Schluss ist schön provokant. Man muss gut aufpassen, dass man den Faden nicht verliert.
April 12, 2019
A thrilling conclusion to the Travis Chase series. Once again it was fast-paced and heart pounding but I felt that in the author's attempt to complete the story lines he may have slipped up with the believability of technology described in the book.
May 3, 2020
Dakako, prije Dubokog neba ipak treba pročitati Pukotinu pa Zemlju duhova, a sve se čita nevjerojatnom brzinom i lakoćom. Patrick Lee je majstor održavanja akcijskog tempa, stila koji jamči lakoću i brzinu čitanja, idealno za TV seriju, a je li se ipak malo zapleo u radnji ili je sve skupa izvan dometa mene koji ne čitam baš SF, tko će ga znati. U svakom slučaju, čitajući Patrick Leeja možete se pošteno odmoriti od drugih pisaca. :D
August 1, 2021
Stvarno ne znam što napisati osim da očekujete nekakav obrat u svakom poglavlju. A i kraj nije loš.
Ocjena je između 2 i 3. Ali ajde, kao neki summer read dajem 3 ali jako, jako nategnuto.
P.S I dalje mislim da bi ovo bio dobar holivudski film.
Ocjena je između 2 i 3. Ali ajde, kao neki summer read dajem 3 ali jako, jako nategnuto.
P.S I dalje mislim da bi ovo bio dobar holivudski film.
February 28, 2014
In "Deep Sky," our hero Jack Bauer - excuse me, Travis Chase - and his allies in Fringe Division - excuse me, Tangent - face their most dangerous foes yet as they seek an answer to what's on the other side of The Breach, a mysterious hole into another dimension. President Harrison Ford - excuse me, Richard Garner - is [SPOILER OMITTED] and it's up to the thoroughly bland but incredibly murderous John McClane - excuse me, Travis Chase - to rescue ALL OF HUMANITY. I mean look, this series is at once both intricately plotted and lazily executed; the best ideas in the series happened in book one, the 2nd book was a total paperweight, and the saving grace of the conclusion here is that Lee totally commits to some creative insanity to wrap it all up. Timey wimey abuse of the heroes' timeline; Inception level abuse of the characters' memories; and Chase's willingness to slit absolutely anyone's throat ear to ear at any moment - it all adds up to ... well, it gets in the vicinity of adding up to something anyway, but it still gets 4 stars from me because of its commitment to Sparkle Motion. "Deep Sky" never lets up on its commitment to breathless weirdass sci-fi technothriller absurdity and for that, I gotta give props.
January 6, 2012
After finding "The Breach" on accident while bored on vacation, I became an instant fan of Patrick Lee and his Travis Chase/Tangent series. Each book is intense, fast paced and riddled by mysteries and techno-babble sci-fi. The mysteries and techno-babble remain in "Deep Sky," as well as the quick tempo and a ticking-clock, end-of-the-world consequence if they all fail. Yet, this novel fails in several specific instances; namely, that he intersperses his fast action sequences with over-wrought info-dumps. His previous novels had a steep learning curve, but he was able to inform the reader during moments of action. "Deep Sky" tries to mimic the earlier success and mostly succeeds. Where it fails, however, the change in pace is glaring and disjointed. Furthermore, the conclusion to the novel itself felt rushed so that Mr. Lee could adequately conclude the trilogy. That conclusion would have merited its own novel, and in this context seems tacked on to this novel making both less than they might have been. Nonetheless I enjoyed this novel. I read it in a single evening and was left satisfied.
November 1, 2014
Well, I understand why some people hate this book now. It ends on a serious cliffhanger. And it's not so much that I'm unsure which option the hero chooses, it's that I want to see that future play out. Being thwarted of that irks me.
The story's about a long hidden plot. Years ago, a guy got a message from outer space and did something with it. Figuring out what that is is the whole plot of the book. I'm still not entirely clear on what that was. Or why such organized resistance could have or did form against it.
Aside from a cool time travel device that I think could have been used a lot more creatively, there weren't many nifty gadgets in this story. And while the fate of many turns out to be at stake, that's unclear until the end. So they're playing for relatively low stakes here. The characters also haven't grown since the last book.
So I'd say it's got an all right amount of action in it and some interesting tech, but it just isn't as good as the second one in the series, .
The story's about a long hidden plot. Years ago, a guy got a message from outer space and did something with it. Figuring out what that is is the whole plot of the book. I'm still not entirely clear on what that was. Or why such organized resistance could have or did form against it.
Aside from a cool time travel device that I think could have been used a lot more creatively, there weren't many nifty gadgets in this story. And while the fate of many turns out to be at stake, that's unclear until the end. So they're playing for relatively low stakes here. The characters also haven't grown since the last book.
So I'd say it's got an all right amount of action in it and some interesting tech, but it just isn't as good as the second one in the series, .
October 4, 2015
The more I read books by this author, the more I become a fan. His books are well paced and he creates great suspense. His plots seem a little complicated at times with all the sci-fi elements, but he doesn't ever let those elements run a muck. They are tightly controlled and never forgotten. I always hate dangling threads at the end. This one had a great twist at the end, that I didn't see coming, so that was fun.
Another thing I like are his characters. They are well drawn and purposeful. It never feels like a parade, which I appreciate.
Another thing I like are his characters. They are well drawn and purposeful. It never feels like a parade, which I appreciate.
January 17, 2012
Not as good as "The Breach", but on par with the second book in the series. The end was interesting and neatly tied together the trilogy, but it felt a bit like Lee didn't know how to explain everything in an interesting way so he simply had one of the characters talk at the reader for about twenty pages. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book.
February 25, 2012
Dear Patrick Lee,
I listened to your first book as a freebie from Audible.com and I am now hooked on your books. You left me hanging at the end of this one, but in a good way, as it means I will be purchasing the next one!
Keep 'em coming!
Love,
A huge fan
I listened to your first book as a freebie from Audible.com and I am now hooked on your books. You left me hanging at the end of this one, but in a good way, as it means I will be purchasing the next one!
Keep 'em coming!
Love,
A huge fan
May 1, 2019
As I finished Deep Sky, I have to say I almost forgot every other thing that came before and only can focus on the ending... that Frekking ending! But I'm rambling here, I'll come to it later. I'm going to start from the top.
I guess the biggest shortcoming of Deep Sky is to come following the awesome and the literally unputdownable thrillride that was , the expectations were (deep) sky high. Its always hard to match that kind of expectation from a book that would end a trilogy with answering all the countless pressing questions and tying up the loose ends, while also need to keep the plot that much high-caliber. Well, even if we set aside that sheer expectations, the book itself is not as smooth sailing as the previous ones, and there were quite a few bumps along the road.
First, the good news: Deep Sky DID tied up all the loose ends and answered almost every questions that we've been asking since the first book of this trilogy. The plot was good, entertaining, the narrative never forgot it's momentum and there's no shortage of twists-turns to keep the reader's attention. A reader (like myself) who've been waiting on the head-scratching cliffhangers and riddles since the beginning, will be more or less satisfied with the answers about the mysteries of Breach and what lays beyond that. Whether or not he'd like the fallout that came after is entirely a different thing.
Now, the problems. As I've stated in my reviews of The Breach & Ghost Country, I flat out LOVED them, those novels are greatly written, wonderfully original, breathtakingly suspenseful reads. Although this one was quite suspenseful in times too, there are parts of it that felt a bit repetitive and hazy. Like making YET ANOTHER PotUS the big bad of the story. We already saw that scenario played out in the earlier book. Not to mention it was never stated clearly exactly why he was doing what he was doing, and what he was trying to achieve. The use of yet another magical entity just when our heroes were in a tight spot had gotten a little tiresome, though I have to commend Lee on using that entity to advance the story pretty cleverly throughout the book. Which brings me to my next issue. As much as I liked Lee's originality on the works and consequences of different types of entities in the series, there was a BIG twist just before the final act, and although it was totally unpredictable and changed any perception the reader might have had, I frankly didn't liked it. Because to me, it felt like completely invalidating much of the story and character-developments that came before. Also the "thing" in that mine that was building up to be as the biggest impending disaster there is, suddenly was unceremoniously dropped altogether and never even mentioned again!
And finally, again, about that fucking ending. I was loving all the answers of the puzzle falling into pieces perfectly by the end, when just in the last page or so we found out what's going to be done about that, and honestly, I WANTED TO SCREAM IN FRUSTRATION! There were many vague talk about it, but it was pretty clear what is going to happen ahead of the road, ultimately in the near future, and I did not like it. There was some cold hard logic behind it and I guess it did make the story somewhat come full-circle with the first book, but after going through a whole trilogy and a whole lot of character-developments and narrative-progressions, all I wanted was to be satisfied with the end result, and frankly speaking, I wasn't. I'm of course not a sucker for bullshit fairy tale happily ever after, but in this case, all it got down to at the end of the day was a choice by our hero (which could absolutely go either way), and the one he ultimately made, at least in my eyes & opinion, negates his entire progression through out the three books.
Anyway, aside for all that, this Breach Trilogy as a whole was simply a brilliant bit of very original storytelling with a perfect amalgamation of sci-fi, action-suspense, conspiracy, paranormal, apocalyptic visions all rolled into one (or three), and was just a delight to read. I highly praise Patrick Lee for his endlessly inventive, literally edge-of-seat thrilling storytelling. He has quickly turned into one of my favorite new authors and I'll eagerly looking forward to what he'll give next.
I guess the biggest shortcoming of Deep Sky is to come following the awesome and the literally unputdownable thrillride that was , the expectations were (deep) sky high. Its always hard to match that kind of expectation from a book that would end a trilogy with answering all the countless pressing questions and tying up the loose ends, while also need to keep the plot that much high-caliber. Well, even if we set aside that sheer expectations, the book itself is not as smooth sailing as the previous ones, and there were quite a few bumps along the road.
First, the good news: Deep Sky DID tied up all the loose ends and answered almost every questions that we've been asking since the first book of this trilogy. The plot was good, entertaining, the narrative never forgot it's momentum and there's no shortage of twists-turns to keep the reader's attention. A reader (like myself) who've been waiting on the head-scratching cliffhangers and riddles since the beginning, will be more or less satisfied with the answers about the mysteries of Breach and what lays beyond that. Whether or not he'd like the fallout that came after is entirely a different thing.
Now, the problems. As I've stated in my reviews of The Breach & Ghost Country, I flat out LOVED them, those novels are greatly written, wonderfully original, breathtakingly suspenseful reads. Although this one was quite suspenseful in times too, there are parts of it that felt a bit repetitive and hazy. Like making YET ANOTHER PotUS the big bad of the story. We already saw that scenario played out in the earlier book. Not to mention it was never stated clearly exactly why he was doing what he was doing, and what he was trying to achieve. The use of yet another magical entity just when our heroes were in a tight spot had gotten a little tiresome, though I have to commend Lee on using that entity to advance the story pretty cleverly throughout the book. Which brings me to my next issue. As much as I liked Lee's originality on the works and consequences of different types of entities in the series, there was a BIG twist just before the final act, and although it was totally unpredictable and changed any perception the reader might have had, I frankly didn't liked it. Because to me, it felt like completely invalidating much of the story and character-developments that came before. Also the "thing" in that mine that was building up to be as the biggest impending disaster there is, suddenly was unceremoniously dropped altogether and never even mentioned again!
And finally, again, about that fucking ending. I was loving all the answers of the puzzle falling into pieces perfectly by the end, when just in the last page or so we found out what's going to be done about that, and honestly, I WANTED TO SCREAM IN FRUSTRATION! There were many vague talk about it, but it was pretty clear what is going to happen ahead of the road, ultimately in the near future, and I did not like it. There was some cold hard logic behind it and I guess it did make the story somewhat come full-circle with the first book, but after going through a whole trilogy and a whole lot of character-developments and narrative-progressions, all I wanted was to be satisfied with the end result, and frankly speaking, I wasn't. I'm of course not a sucker for bullshit fairy tale happily ever after, but in this case, all it got down to at the end of the day was a choice by our hero (which could absolutely go either way), and the one he ultimately made, at least in my eyes & opinion, negates his entire progression through out the three books.
Anyway, aside for all that, this Breach Trilogy as a whole was simply a brilliant bit of very original storytelling with a perfect amalgamation of sci-fi, action-suspense, conspiracy, paranormal, apocalyptic visions all rolled into one (or three), and was just a delight to read. I highly praise Patrick Lee for his endlessly inventive, literally edge-of-seat thrilling storytelling. He has quickly turned into one of my favorite new authors and I'll eagerly looking forward to what he'll give next.
May 13, 2021
Sometimes this had a feel of similarity to stories that are dreams within dreams; those get annoying fast.
Unfortunately, time travel has too many logical inconsistencies to be handled effectively (multiverses still leaves the people in the initial universe in their situation regardless of whatever happens in the other verses. I don't like any resolutions that rely on an infinity of choices). Elements of this are similar to the movie Inception.
Sometimes, there was too much of a follow-the-clues-while-being-chased mechanistic plot.
I was disappointed that the Breach entities did not contain more effective defensive tools; in fact, the defensive capabilities were meager (why no lasers or directed-EMP's or force fields, etc?).
Ethical question: If you could predicts who ends up making the world a worse place (or destroys it) would you kill them before they did anything (e.g. when they were a toddler or at birth)? What about unanticipated consequences (i.e. killing a particular person who caused millions to die may result in the annihilation of billions: maybe nuclear weapons would be developed more discretely and subsequently used much more often if a madman did not expose the world to what his country was doing)?
Unfortunately, time travel has too many logical inconsistencies to be handled effectively (multiverses still leaves the people in the initial universe in their situation regardless of whatever happens in the other verses. I don't like any resolutions that rely on an infinity of choices). Elements of this are similar to the movie Inception.
Sometimes, there was too much of a follow-the-clues-while-being-chased mechanistic plot.
I was disappointed that the Breach entities did not contain more effective defensive tools; in fact, the defensive capabilities were meager (why no lasers or directed-EMP's or force fields, etc?).
Ethical question: If you could predicts who ends up making the world a worse place (or destroys it) would you kill them before they did anything (e.g. when they were a toddler or at birth)? What about unanticipated consequences (i.e. killing a particular person who caused millions to die may result in the annihilation of billions: maybe nuclear weapons would be developed more discretely and subsequently used much more often if a madman did not expose the world to what his country was doing)?
July 31, 2017
This one didn't feel quite as inspired or cohesive as the previous two, but a good read with conclusive answers about the breach and who/what was on the other side. 5 stars for the overall trilogy and one of my favorite reads of the summer.
May 13, 2019
I know it said third in the trilogy but I still wish there were more in this series. I'll be reading Mr. Lee's other series soon. Finished the book late last night. Who needs sleep right? :)
November 20, 2020
Zanimljiva prica.
October 26, 2020
Well, I'm left disappointed with this series. There were some great moments, but overall it was just an average story, in my opinion.
December 22, 2011
eep Sky is Patrick Lee's third and final book in his Breach Trilogy, detailing the adventures of Travis Chase and Paige Campbell. Travis and Paige are involved with "The Breach" - a mysterious opening in the fabric of reality deep below the ground in Wyoming which is known, to a select few, as an opening that spews forth mysterious pieces of advanced technology known as "entities". With Deep Sky, Lee brings his story of the Breach to a close, including an explanation of what the Breach is, why it came into being and how various players from the past two books come into play with the Breach itself. In his books, Lee has woven a world of engaging science-fiction stories that have felt to have an overall arc to them, which he pays off here. The book begins with a missile strike upon the White House during a televised presidential address and the power machinations of the former Vice-President and newly promoted President Hold. From there, Chase and Campbell are in a race against the clock to unravel the meaning of a note left behind at the missile launch site - "See Scalar" - and have 24 hours to unravel the note's meaning and how it relates to Paige's father and the leadership of Tangent, which oversees the Breach. Utilizing Breach technology, especially an entity called the Tap which allows the user to go back in time to a memory and interact with not only the memory but the entire world of that time period and can be used to reconstruct long forgotten or lost information.
The end result is a mixed bag. On one level the story pulls the reader in and hums along at a breakneck pace where things are not always what they seem. But the ultimate payoff of the book, and the trilogy, can be somewhat unsatisfying, and leave the reader with more questions than answers. A good part of the first half of the book involves unraveling the secret that lies below a mining community in northern California. Yet this secret is really more of a MacGuffin and the importance or even meaning of its existence is never really explored and in fact conveniently dropped as the action shifts in new directions. The purpose of the Breach makes sense overall, but leaves a number of questions, especially about the Entitles, up in the air or dismissed with a hand wave. In fact the book works best as a stand-alone entry - those without having read the first two books will not notice some of these problems and in fact may find the answers more satisfying.
A hard part of Lee's stories is his wholesale distrust/disdain for those in political power. A common thread of his stories has his villains being wide sweeps of the federal government, with his villains in Ghost Country being essentially the President, his entire cabinet and some business leaders, and in this book features an ambitious Vice-President engaging in assassination and work with others in the government to take over something powerful that they do not understand or know a lot about. While power and control are considered by many to be the ultimate aphrodisiac, the motives of his villains never really goes much deeper than mustache twirling power hungry and ambitious men.
When I heard Lee was ending his Breach series, I was disappointed. The concept gave a lot of potential for stories, with unlimited possibilities of the sometimes God like entities. In this book he ties the package up into a somewhat neat (if incomplete) bow. I hope that he finds a new rich vein which to mine for a new series of page-turners.
The end result is a mixed bag. On one level the story pulls the reader in and hums along at a breakneck pace where things are not always what they seem. But the ultimate payoff of the book, and the trilogy, can be somewhat unsatisfying, and leave the reader with more questions than answers. A good part of the first half of the book involves unraveling the secret that lies below a mining community in northern California. Yet this secret is really more of a MacGuffin and the importance or even meaning of its existence is never really explored and in fact conveniently dropped as the action shifts in new directions. The purpose of the Breach makes sense overall, but leaves a number of questions, especially about the Entitles, up in the air or dismissed with a hand wave. In fact the book works best as a stand-alone entry - those without having read the first two books will not notice some of these problems and in fact may find the answers more satisfying.
A hard part of Lee's stories is his wholesale distrust/disdain for those in political power. A common thread of his stories has his villains being wide sweeps of the federal government, with his villains in Ghost Country being essentially the President, his entire cabinet and some business leaders, and in this book features an ambitious Vice-President engaging in assassination and work with others in the government to take over something powerful that they do not understand or know a lot about. While power and control are considered by many to be the ultimate aphrodisiac, the motives of his villains never really goes much deeper than mustache twirling power hungry and ambitious men.
When I heard Lee was ending his Breach series, I was disappointed. The concept gave a lot of potential for stories, with unlimited possibilities of the sometimes God like entities. In this book he ties the package up into a somewhat neat (if incomplete) bow. I hope that he finds a new rich vein which to mine for a new series of page-turners.
December 17, 2011
Concluding volume of a trilogy begun with The Breach and followed by Ghost Country.
Here's the set-up.
An accident in 1978 when a new Ion Collider was turned on created the Breach, a sort of wormhole. Several times a day, pieces of technology, dubbed Entities, come through, a technology far in advance of our own. It was all kept secret by the government and Border Town, a subsurface research facility grew up around it. No Entity could be taken off-site.
Tangent was the name of the covert organization that guarded the Breach. Travis Chase and Paige Campbell, his partner and lover, run Tangent.
The story:
The President is giving a speech when a missile hits the White House, killing him. It turns out that the missile was an American one, housed in the basement of an ordinary looking home just a few miles away. A message, See Scalar, comes through as an explanation.
Travis and Paige start an investigation of Scalar and find all files referencing it are gone.
Next when Air Force One is headed toward Border Town, the facility was receiving a false signal. A B-52 bomber instead, it dropped a bunker buster before it could be shot down, destroying most of the facility. Only Travis, Paige, and a half dozen others got out, fleeing before the inevitable ground troops got there.
Someone in the government was taking out everyone who knew about The Breach.
Our heroes are on the run trying to figure out who and why.
A number of twists and turns, an ending I didn't see coming, and it makes me want to read the first wo, Other reviews say the first two were better.
We'll see.
Here's the set-up.
An accident in 1978 when a new Ion Collider was turned on created the Breach, a sort of wormhole. Several times a day, pieces of technology, dubbed Entities, come through, a technology far in advance of our own. It was all kept secret by the government and Border Town, a subsurface research facility grew up around it. No Entity could be taken off-site.
Tangent was the name of the covert organization that guarded the Breach. Travis Chase and Paige Campbell, his partner and lover, run Tangent.
The story:
The President is giving a speech when a missile hits the White House, killing him. It turns out that the missile was an American one, housed in the basement of an ordinary looking home just a few miles away. A message, See Scalar, comes through as an explanation.
Travis and Paige start an investigation of Scalar and find all files referencing it are gone.
Next when Air Force One is headed toward Border Town, the facility was receiving a false signal. A B-52 bomber instead, it dropped a bunker buster before it could be shot down, destroying most of the facility. Only Travis, Paige, and a half dozen others got out, fleeing before the inevitable ground troops got there.
Someone in the government was taking out everyone who knew about The Breach.
Our heroes are on the run trying to figure out who and why.
A number of twists and turns, an ending I didn't see coming, and it makes me want to read the first wo, Other reviews say the first two were better.
We'll see.
July 23, 2012
I gave it a five even though I really did not like the end. This was book 3 in a trilogy. There has been a problem between the two main character. That problem was set up in book one. By the end we know what the problem is but not how one of the main characters will react. So I like everything spelled out. It was a great story and a good ending but...Enough said. These are the only three book by Patrick Lee. His web site is not up to date so I don't know if he has anything else in the pipeline but if he does I will be one of the first to pick it up.
All said read the series. I read book 2 and book 3 back to back.
All said read the series. I read book 2 and book 3 back to back.
April 1, 2012
The second book in this series was a very good book. The first and third suffered form this: Two housewives take on two company's of Army Rangers with a iron skillet and a pair of chopsticks, and they come out on top. Then they do it again and again. Yes, it's an exaggeration, but it makes the point. Still, the story of the Breach, and the characters evolved, is very good sci-fi fantasy. The thing that saves this book, is the way the Author ties all the ends together to make a satisfying trilogy. The overall story is very well thought out and well done science fiction.
January 9, 2012
A fast-paced political sci-fi thriller? Yes, indeed. I was a bit confused in the beginning, and figured that that was the nature of the beast and things would work themselves out. Only later did I realize this is the third, and final, book in a series. I wish I had known before I began. By the time I realized it, I was too far in to just stop and go back. Overall, however, an enjoyable read with a fantastic ending.
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