A page-turning science-fiction thriller from the author of Paradox Bound and the Ex-Heroes series.Step into the fold. It’s perfectly safe. The folks in Mike Erikson’s small New England town would say he’s just your average, everyday guy. And that’s exactly how Mike likes it. Sure, the life he’s chosen isn’t much of a challenge to someone with his unique gifts, but he’s content with his quiet and … gifts, but he’s content with his quiet and peaceful existence.
That is, until an old friend presents him with an irresistible mystery, one that Mike is uniquely qualified to solve: far out in the California desert, a team of DARPA scientists has invented a device they affectionately call the Albuquerque Door. Using a cryptic computer equation and magnetic fields to “fold” dimensions, it shrinks distances so that a traveler can travel hundreds of feet with a single step.
The invention promises to make mankind’s dreams of teleportation a reality. And, the scientists insist, traveling through the Door is completely safe. Yet evidence is mounting that this miraculous machine isn’t quite what it seems—and that its creators are harboring a dangerous secret. As his investigations draw him deeper into the puzzle, Mike begins to fear there’s only one answer that makes sense. And if he’s right, it may only be a matter of time before the project destroys…everything.
A cunningly inventive mystery featuring a hero worthy of Sherlock Holmes and a terrifying final twist you’ll never see coming, The Fold is that rarest of things: a genuinely page-turning science-fiction thriller.
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A must-read for anyone who likes a good science-fiction thriller…an intelligent, exciting story with a brilliant protagonist and a mystery that genuinely surprised me.
That rare thriller that always keeps just one step ahead of the reader…a crackling, electric read.
A fun, brilliant read. Technical enough to enthrall, fast-paced enough to stay engaging to the explosive end, The Fold has everything I want in an SF novel, and then a little bit extra.
A mind-blowing science fiction mystery that kept me guessing right to the end…Clines’ writing is steeped in popular culture and unexpectedly funny, yet highly perceptive and infused with a subtle intelligence. If you haven’t read him, you’re in for a wonderful surprise.
This may be my favorite book of all time. Mike is the coolest superhero thats actually just an english teacher. I found myself connecting with him on a personal level too even though his abilities far out rank my own. The other characters are developed fast and well, so you get a good sense of the team and the secrecy they hold. The science feel solid and plausible which adds a lot of depth. The book is one question after another until the explosive ending. I couldn’t put it down once I started putting pieces together. This book deserves a sequel, and a movie, and all the awards a book like this can get, in my opinion. Whenever I need a guaranteed good read I can ways turn back to this book and still find little pieces and clues that I missed or forgot about previously. If you like stories you’ll love this book.
A smart, intense thriller with just a dash of dark humor, The Fold will keep you turning pages until the wee hours of the morning. Well done, Peter Clines!
A little Crichton and a little Sherlock–and sure to please fans of both.
Great book, couldn’t put it down.
Peter Clines has a very original voice but makes his science very believable. I liked this story so much I acquired his novel “14” which I liked even better, though I couldn’t find it as an ebook and had to check it out of the library. This is an author I will definitely continue to search out until I’ve read them all. His books are quirky fun.
I read this book twice in a week. The characters are believable which is not that easy in a science fiction book, and the story was good while still maintaining an aura science fact with the fiction. I’d love to see the main character in another novel.
The Fold shares the same DNA as Clines’ previous book “14” and is sort of a sequel. Some characters and ideas from 14 are subtly referenced in The Fold.
A very fun stand-alone sequel to 14. And a perfect beach read.
This book whet my appetite in the very first chapter and then introduced a wonderful science fiction mystery that promised to be a full and glorious meal. Unfortunately, instead of the banquet I was anticipating, the main course proved to be a lot of hollow sugary pastries.
First the good: This novel starts out as cerebral science fiction at its very best. There is a mystery out there and we know from chapter one that people are being hurt by it. As the chapters unfold it becomes apparent that the world may be in jeopardy—not from cataclysm but through a subtle juxtaposition that would cause ever increasing amounts of chaos and distress to societies across the planet.
That’s awesome and the hero is extremely well suited to uncover the root of the problem. Mike has a fully eidetic memory and Clines has conceptualized what that means better than any author I have ever read. Mike’s ability to sort through vast amounts of information quickly and decisively was amazing. The psychic damage that never being able to forget anything does to him was also a brilliantly insightful addition to the tale. I always enjoyed the scenes where his mind spins into gear and starts making connections, although frankly I wondered why it was so difficult for him to come to a conclusion that I reached in chapter one.
Now the bad: Mike makes brilliant deductions throughout this book but we’re at least halfway through it before he begins to consider what every reader knows is happening from chapter one. Heck, one of the team of scientists is even a Star Trek fanatic but the solution (born right out of that series) never occurs to her. So that’s bad, but perhaps we have to accept it so that there is proper dramatic build up, the next problem was just flat out disappointing.
The last quarter of the book moves from being a fantastic mystery to a shoot-them-up standoff at the OK Corral. This was such a copout from the much subtler and frankly far scarier problem I had initially envisioned based on the idea of millions of juxtapositions ripping apart social ties throughout the planet. In many ways, that ending would have been far creepier because it would be very easy to imagine the government refusing to accept the evidence of disaster in favor of a highly lucrative economy-changing invention.
In summary, The Fold is a wonderful idea with a highly disappointing ending.
I became a fan of Peter Clines while reading “14,” his riveting apocalyptic novel of a mysterious apartment building in Los Angeles—and mutant cockroaches. The Fold is a riveting apocalyptic novel about a high school teacher with eidetic memory, a little known government project about, well, a door—and mutant cockroaches.
The mutant cockroach thing notwithstanding, this novel is, in a word, phenomenal. Oh, and the cockroaches are relevant.
Peter Clines does Lovecraftian fiction as good as any writer on the planet today. And he’s a story teller of the highest order. Leland Erickson, aka Mike—which is short for Mikroft, Sherlock Holmes somewhat more irreverent older brother—is the very likable teacher with the eidetic memory who headlines the story. Although he just might be among the smartest people on the planet, he doesn’t care and has no desire to use his special powers to advance mankind. Following him as he reluctantly comes around to the realization that he is the only one who can solve the mystery put before him and his colleagues was fascinating, all the more so because the writing is so compelling.
The story is not necessarily original, although the spin taken by Mr. Clines and the authoritative way he writes it make the journey between the first and last words a suspenseful, steamy, and ultimately satisfying one. There’s just enough sex to make you smile, enough mystery to soothe sci fi readers, marvelously and ghoulishly rendered monsters for the horror crowd, and lots of homespun humor. It’s told in a linear format with few flashbacks. Therefore it keeps moving forward, gaining more and more momentum until it literally explodes off the page.
I was very impressed with the monsters. It’s rare a writer can make a monster both menacing and weighty without the reader feeling let down when the monster finally makes an appearance on the page. Readers here need not worry. These monsters will fascinate, their ghoul factor is high, and in Mr. Clines’ talented hands, they seem to simultaneously stand somewhere between ten and a hundred feet tall in the reader’s mind. They are breathtakingly menacing, but realistically rendered, which makes them human in scale and scary as all get out. I haven’t seen a monster like this since the first “Alien” movie.
The Fold is the best techno sci fi novel this year. Five stars. Read it. ‘Nuff said.
I tore through this story in two days. The main character has a rare eidetic memory, and there’s a wonderful twist that fits well with real-world hypotheses in physics. Read my full recommendation here https://thesciencefictionfantasybookstore.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/wormhole-with-a-twist-in-fun-science-fiction-story-the-fold-by-peter-clines/
5 stars for the book and story
2.5 stars for Audible’s choice of reader
If you’re considering this book, I beg you to please choose something besides the Audible Audio version. The female characters sound like comedian Jim Gaffigan’s mimicry of women whispering about the inappropriateness of his stand-up routine. These unpalatable voices detract notably from an otherwise compelling and highly enjoyable sci-fi adventure.
Fascinating twist on the alternate-dimension concept, and the twists at the end kept me gripping the steering wheel on a long car trip as it (the book, not my car) careened from hard scifi to wildly fantastical world-within-the-known-world-building. I still think about the author’s description of what a horror it would be to have a truly eidetic memory.
Almost reads like a who-done-it. But, with an interesting SF underlying story.
Loved it
The book starts out good, peaks slightly past the mid-point, then quickly fizzles to a dreary ending. The science is all over the map, the main science fiction “hook” has been done several times and the politics are totally unbelievable. Overall, a sad book that started with lots of potential and then quickly lets the reader down.