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A review by srsanderson
Ghost Country by Patrick Lee
5.0
For a debut author, the Travis Chase series is pretty damn good. I thought that this book, the second novel in the series, was even better than the first book [b:The Breach|6987527|The Breach (Travis Chase, #1)|Patrick Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388189298s/6987527.jpg|7229688]. It starts with an immediate bang, a motocade attack to be specifc, and the action does not let up the entire story. In all sincerity, I didn't think there was a boring 5 minutes during the entire listen.
While I really like the story line that [a:Patrick Lee|4917483|Patrick Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1307552046p2/4917483.jpg] has constructed in these books, that being alien technology is being studied and used by a modern day shadow government agency called Tangent, I particularly enjoy the way Lee writes. His action scenes are intense, and painted with a second by second narration that includes not only the physical actions, but the thought proccesses of the characters involved as well. It is definitely an interesting way to read a story, a play by play scene that unfolds so slowy, its impossible to miss any thing that happens.
Another thing that Lee does a really good job with, is explaining to the reader, without making it seem like he is "explaining to the reader". He develops really intelligent characters, so when they are speaking, the reader can understand the technology, and motivations involved, without it sounding like a lecture.
While there are quite a few antagonists in Ghost Country, the main one, Finn, I can say I hated more than I was supposed to. Just own your evilness! Don't try to pass it off like: this is for the greater good and you despise the journey necessary in order to acheive your plans of mass murder! His values and morals were so whack, I cringed everytime he spoke. But to balance that out, I love his protagonists and heroes. Paige Campbell is a rock star, and I adore her character. Travis Chase is a hero with a murky past, but his exterior gruffness hides from plain sight his more golden aspects to his personality.
On a closing note, any novel that covers the immensely difficult concept of time travel, is awesome in my opinion. In Ghost Country, it is so cleverly done that it sucked me in so completely, I found myself taking longer drives to listen to larger chunks at a time. It is hard to explain without listening to it, so do it! (Props to the narrator Jeff Gurner as well, he does a great job.)
Bottom line on Ghost Country: Is it believable? Maybe not. Is it entertaing? Hell yes.
While I really like the story line that [a:Patrick Lee|4917483|Patrick Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1307552046p2/4917483.jpg] has constructed in these books, that being alien technology is being studied and used by a modern day shadow government agency called Tangent, I particularly enjoy the way Lee writes. His action scenes are intense, and painted with a second by second narration that includes not only the physical actions, but the thought proccesses of the characters involved as well. It is definitely an interesting way to read a story, a play by play scene that unfolds so slowy, its impossible to miss any thing that happens.
Another thing that Lee does a really good job with, is explaining to the reader, without making it seem like he is "explaining to the reader". He develops really intelligent characters, so when they are speaking, the reader can understand the technology, and motivations involved, without it sounding like a lecture.
While there are quite a few antagonists in Ghost Country, the main one, Finn, I can say I hated more than I was supposed to. Just own your evilness! Don't try to pass it off like: this is for the greater good and you despise the journey necessary in order to acheive your plans of mass murder! His values and morals were so whack, I cringed everytime he spoke. But to balance that out, I love his protagonists and heroes. Paige Campbell is a rock star, and I adore her character. Travis Chase is a hero with a murky past, but his exterior gruffness hides from plain sight his more golden aspects to his personality.
On a closing note, any novel that covers the immensely difficult concept of time travel, is awesome in my opinion. In Ghost Country, it is so cleverly done that it sucked me in so completely, I found myself taking longer drives to listen to larger chunks at a time. It is hard to explain without listening to it, so do it! (Props to the narrator Jeff Gurner as well, he does a great job.)
Bottom line on Ghost Country: Is it believable? Maybe not. Is it entertaing? Hell yes.