The Fold

In The Fold, Mr. Clines capitalizes on the popularity of the geek subculture to create a mesmerizing and yet horrifying novel about the consequences of messing with time and space. The scientific elements of the story are easy to understand as basic concepts, which is all that is necessary for readers to grasp because this is a novel not about the science but about the costs associated with it. The characters are also rather generic, but again readers will find them perfectly acceptable given the parameters of the story. For, in spite of the focus on science and experiments in teleportation, The Fold is an action story and not a character-driven one. Readers will not mind the distinction, for it makes a compelling novel that is show more difficult to set aside.

Mr. Clines does a great job of making Mike sympathetic in spite of his unusual skill set and brusque manners. It could be very easy to dismiss Mike’s gifts as utterly impossible and therefore ridiculous. Instead, readers get a character with problems most people could never fathom but with whom it becomes easy to empathize. Through Mike, readers see the positive and mostly negative aspects of off-the-charts intelligence. While most people think they want a better memory, Mike shows readers just how dangerous such a wish can be. One cannot ignore the tongue-in-cheek nod to the improbability of someone have Mike’s gifts, but it does not lessen their impressiveness or danger to Mike’s mental stability. Readers will find themselves studying his actions and thought processes clinically and in much the same way he views his surroundings.

Like most science fiction novels, there comes a time in The Fold where readers must suspend their disbelief in favor of the story. Some readers may find that they must do so at the mere idea of a suspicious Door that allows a person to cross a long distance by stepping through a set of rings. Other readers may find that switch when they discover there is very little science associated with this Door. Yet for others, this will come towards the end as the story evolves into a horror story. Whenever it happens however, readers will not care that it does, for the story immediately engages a reader’s imagination. Whether it is about Mike and his skills or the Door itself or the mystery occurring within the complex, readers will want to continue to read long after the point at which the story becomes slightly silly.

The Fold is a strong science fiction novel with elements of horror as the consequences of the Door reveal themselves. The characters are every bit as eclectic and geeky as one would expect in a novel about teleportation (hello, Trekkies), but they do their job as secondary characters. Mike, as the lead character, is surprisingly empathetic and quite fascinating to watch as his brain processes are so very different from anyone else. Better yet, it ends with enough closure for it to be a standalone novel but has the fantastic potential for future stories should Mr. Clines so choose. Either way, it’s a mind-bending novel of physics, alternate realities, and a very serious cause-and-effect scenario with world-ending consequences. In other words, it’s just a kick-ass story for those who like science and fantasy and the implausible come to life. show less

I'm a big fan of Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes books, so when I saw he had a new thriller out, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on a review copy. I generally like to go into a book knowing as little about it as possible, and in this case I didn't even read the back-cover synopsis, so I was practically jumping in blind—Clines' name on the cover was enough to get me excited. And my enthusiasm was amply rewarded.

The Fold starts out at a slow burn. We meet our protagonist, Leland "Mike" Erikson, who has a genius-level IQ and an eidetic memory, but prefers life under the radar, teaching English at the local high school. But he gets a call from Reggie, an old friend at the Department of Defense, who persuades him to fly out and use his show more special skills to observe a certain government-funded project. Reggie won't tell Mike what the project is, but it works, and it's amazing—but the project team appears to be stalling for more time and funding. Mike's job is to make sure everything at the project is on the level, so Reggie can push the funding through. But of course, things at the "Albuquerque Door" project aren't entirely what they seem...

The first half of the book takes its time setting things up: Mike flies out, meets the team, and gets to see the project's success first-hand. He also spends a lot of time getting to know the individual team members and poring over the project's logs and records. It reminded me a lot of a good Michael Crichton science thriller, with a lot of talking and science-y stuff, and only the occasional shock thrown out to deepen the mystery.

This goes on for the first half of the book, but the pace never flags: Clines keeps the tension high and the slowly-unfolding mystery intriguing. The short chapter-length and crisp prose work wonders, too. At about the halfway point, though, the Big Reveal hits and things start to unravel (in a good way!) at an accelerated pace, with the final act (after the Bigger Reveal) just going completely off the rails. It's nuts. Maybe a little too nuts. But it's frigging compelling reading. I read the whole thing in 24 hours: the first quarter Friday night (late Friday night), the second quarter Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon, I couldn't stand it anymore, and plopped down and cranked through the second half in a single sitting. I just could not put it down.

As I said previously, I'm not big on spoilers myself, and I also like to keep my reviews fairly tight-lipped when it comes to plot. But I mentioned Crichton earlier, and somewhere around a third of the way in I was very heavily reminded of his novel Timeline. If you took some of the concepts from that book and mashed them up with Patrick Lee's The Breach trilogy (read that if you haven't already, seriously) you'd get something very much like The Fold.

If I had to quibble, I'd say that the main premise (cool as it is) probably doesn't hold up to much scrutiny (or if it does, there are a lot of coincidences going on) and that, despite Mike Erikson's memory and intellect, I was able to arrive at a number of correct conclusions long before he did. And the end certainly does get weird. But really this book was just so much fun that I can barely bring myself to voice the complaints themselves, let alone delve into them. It's just that good. And according to the afterword, it's also tangentially-related to an earlier Clines book called 14. Shoot, looks like I've got a book to track down... [4 out of 5 stars] show less

Reread Aug 2023: That was satisfying. I sure hope Clines returns to writing in this universe some day. Bumping up to 5 stars.

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The Fold by Peter Clines is a stand alone science fiction/thriller. Cliens takes the classic scifi trope of teleportation and weaves it into a wonderful mystery giving the trope fresh feeling that is a whole lot of fun. This is old-fashioned science fiction done right.

Mike Erikson has a unique gift: he has an eidetic memory. Sure he could be doing anything he wants, like running the FBI or something, but he much prefers his quiet life as a high school English teacher in a small New England town. That's right until and old friend presents him with the ultimate mystery to solve. Out in the California show more desert a group of scientists has a device they call the Albuquerque Door, a sophisticated computer that uses mathematical equations to allow a person to cover great distances in a single step. The team of scientists who all insist the door is safe also keep saying they need more time to test and they need additional funding. Why would additional testing be needed if the project is a success? Mike agrees to take a trip to the site to gather information and provide a recommendation on the future of the project. It's not long before Mike realizes that things are not right, though how "not right" everything is will take some digging.

The first half of the book is all about laying the groundwork for the mystery. The story moves slowly as it introduces us to people and concepts yet never feels like an info dump. Even after Mike gets to the site and begins to dig, it takes him a little while to figure out what's going on. There is definitely a secret everyone is keeping. Then at the halfway point there's a major incident as an unintended consequences of what the scientists are doing. After that it is one heck of a thrill ride as the twists and reveals keep coming, lots of action to keep the pages turning, the tension remaining high right up to the very end.

The team of characters are fun. I liked seeing into Mike's thought process. I really enjoyed how Clines explains the way his eidetic memory works using different types of ants to represent memories and emotions. I can see just how useful that kind of memory could be but some things are meant to be forgotten! It's definitely both a blessing and a curse. The team of scientists is also good, having their own quirks. The character banter added a great touch of humor. Plenty of cultural references are worked in, especially Star Trek.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Ray Porter. He is fantastic! I really enjoy his voice and how different he makes all the characters sound.

The ending wraps with enough closure to make this a standalone novel though the writer has left himself an opening to continue on with Mike's story should he wish to. I hope he does. show less

Accessible Science Fiction! That, my friends, is exactly what The Fold delivers. Quite well in fact, if I do say so myself. As a fair-weather reader of Sci Fi, I tend to shy away if things get too technical. I love the ideas that this genre puts forth. Especially because so much of what it offers up is actually plausible! Still, when I can't comprehend some of what I'm reading I tend to loose interest. The Fold walked that beautiful line between facts, and fiction. It gave me characters that I could love and understand. It gave me chilling mystery, and profound moments too. Long story short? This was a great read!

Although I've never known anyone like Mike, with his staggering IQ and eidetic memory, he was so likable that I felt like show more we were friends. Imagine having a brain like a super computer. Able to recall anything that you've ever seen, heard, or even tasted. What would you do with such a power? If you're Mike, you'd work as a high school English teacher. I won't get into the particulars, since I'd rather you discover them for yourself, but trust me when I say that Mike is one fascinating individual. Watching him slowly unravel all the secrets surrounding the "Albequerque Door" had me riveted. Not two weeks before I read this book, I was reading an article about scientists working with dark matter, and looking at folds in space. After reading this book? Well, I'll simply say that I really hope things don't turn out that way they do in here.

I think what makes this book so accessible, honestly, is that it doesn't just dwell on the scientific aspect of things. The team working on this project feel like real people. We see how they interact with one another, along with their strengths and flaws. Every time it seemed like things might be getting a bit too heavy, something would happen to pull me back. I had such an investment in the characters of this book, such a deep need to see them through, that I couldn't stop reading. I knew what they were doing was dangerous, I just didn't realize how right I was. The twist here is amazing!

My final verdict is a simple one, and that's simply that this book needs a spot on your reading list. While it wasn't perfect, it was a ton of fun to read! It's not often that I power through a Sci Fi book, but this one made it impossible not to. I hope there's a follow up, because I could definitely read more about Mike. show less

The author's voice sounds like Dean Koontz and sticks pretty damn close to its SF roots until it turns into some delightfully wacky horror. I'm a creature of habit. I love horror, and anything that gives it to me is my friend.

If it's ostensibly SF before it gives me all that horror, then I'm pink as a bloody peach.

I'll get something out of the way, first. It feels like a hugely popular novel. I don't know if it is, or will be. I'm reading it because it's new SF and it's an author I've never touched before. Even if it is dumbed down a bit for an audience, at least it feels its roots. Mystery first, SF second, and then, after the first two acts are done, it transforms into Horror. I'm satisfied with the progression, but I do think it show more could have been a bit more complicated and long, building into a grand masterpiece of ideas far outstripping it's fundamental teleportation science roots, not that I didn't appreciate the well-crafted renewal of an old multiverse trope.

Don't get me wrong. As SF I was thoroughly captured and loved the perfect timing and progression. It always kept my undivided attention. I enjoyed the screaming telegraphs of things to come, even if they were all hamfisted and obvious.

There were, on the other hand, some points that truly surprised me and hit me in the gut with the implications and the effects. Practically all the big reveals were damn satisfying and had me repeating the words aloud. It was damn amusing.

And that's what the whole novel was: It was Damn Amusing. The characters changed by way of broad strokes and implacable effects, and Mike was way too good to be true, but hell, at least he had a pretty down-to-earth rationale for keeping a wrap on his gifts. AND I'm so relieved that it wasn't yet another tortured genius trope. So, so.

Clever tale, wonderful progression between genres that built up to big action, and likeable characters. I can't say this will ever be regarded as perfect literature for any genre, but its mixtures, clear prose, and clear characters gave us all a pretty damn slick and entertaining novel.

You know, brain candy, with mysteries, cockroaches, interdimensional portals, and multi-limbed alpha-predator horrors coming to a popular Californian town near you!

The literature equivalent of a blockbuster summer film. :) show less

Right from the start I love how The Fold unfolds.

It's science fiction, conspiracy theory and government secrets all wrapped up in one. After the first few chapters I couldn't put it down until I uncovered the mystery of the Albuquerque Door, that seemingly harmless fold in the space time continuum.

There's a certain amount of implausibility to contend with as the story's unimaginable elements collide with the mundane, I'm thinking of the X-Files here, but I found it easy to suspend my disbelief since the fear felt as real and raw as ever.

The Fold is an amazing book. I couldn’t put it down, which is not something I normally write in reviews because it sounds so much like a cliché. In this case, however, it’s absolutely true and no exaggeration. This book even caused a moment of blustering indignation at one point, because it was 4:30 in the morning but it still wasn’t letting me close it up and get some sleep. And that is the story of how I finished this almost 400-page book in a little more than a day.

Needless to say, I was already feeling beyond excited when I first learned that Peter Clines was going to have a new book out this summer. I’m a big fan of the author and his genre-mashing stories and writing style, after having read his novel 14 and gobbling up show more every book in his Ex-Heroes series as they are released. So when The Fold finally landed in my grubby little hands, I could hardly wait to get started. What does it have in store for me, I wondered, if it wasn’t another Ex novel about the zombie apocalypse versus superheroes?

Well, my excitement only grew when I started reading and discovered that The Fold is actually kind of a “side-quel” to 14. And while the novel’s protagonist Leland “Mike” Erikson might not be a superhuman, with his powerful eidetic memory and the ability to perfectly recall anything he has ever heard or seen in his life, he may as well be. This part is really cool: Mike visually pictures all his memories as bits and pieces in his head, carried by a swarm of ants all constantly seething with information and interpretation. The ants allow him to take in the sights and sounds, and organizes them with his thoughts. He can put together graphs and statistics, even overlay them in 3D representation if he wants, all in a blink of an eye. Captain America or any movie that’s ever been made can be instantly replayed in his head whenever it pleases him, as long as he’s seen it before. Man, what I wouldn’t give to have a gift like his.

But then, there are the downsides. Mike can never forget anything, which includes bad memories. Traumatic experiences stay with him forever and with awful clarity, like they only happened five second ago. Between that and the overwhelming, all-consuming way his ants seethe and swarm when he lets them out to do their thing, I can understand why the guy just wanted to fade into obscurity and teach high school English in the-middle-of-nowhere, Maine. It’s a safe place without any great challenges to tempt the ants. It’s a place where he can just be normal.

All that changes one day, when his best friend Reggie drops in on him with a job offer, one that he knew Mike could never refuse. Out in the California desert, a team of DARPA scientists have figured out a way to transport matter in a mode that is effectively as good as teleportation. By “folding” across dimensions, their invention called the Albuquerque Door makes the difference between point A and point B almost negligible, so that the subject can simply travel across that distance with a single step. The Door works. And it’s safe. Those are facts no one can dispute. However, the scientists are refusing to go public with it for some inexplicable reason. On top of that, Reggie can’t shake the hunch that something about the project just feels wrong, so he sends Mike out there to scout things out and report back to him before the government approves funding for another year.

What follows is riveting and unique genre-mashing experience, taken to a whole new level. After all, that is what Peter Clines does best. The Fold starts off reading like a Michael Crichton novel, with 100% more pop culture and geek references. Despite its nature as a sci-fi thriller-suspense mystery, the book is surprisingly easy to enjoy without the reader feeling inundated with heavy science and tech terms – an impressive feat, considering how so much of the premise deals with topics like quantum physics or cosmological theory. Information was doled out in unobtrusive ways which often meshed neatly with the plot, like during the course of a funding review, or in casual conversations between characters over drinks at a bar.

Though the writing style isn’t anything special, the smooth flow of the prose almost makes reading this book like watching a movie. Mike is like a modern Sherlock Holmes, gathering clues with his photographic memory to build a framework of evidence to bring back to Reggie and DARPA. There’s always an air of suspense just hanging over your head, especially in the beginning when you don’t know what’s going on, and the scientists’ strange attitude towards Mike can’t be explained away by simple hostility. Even when nothing much is happening in a scene you can still feel the increasing tension and expectancy, which makes it really hard to stop (in case you’re wondering, this is how yours truly got in trouble and ended up being awake even five hours past her bedtime).

There’s a marked difference in the second half of the book, when the story take a turn for the creepy before arguably veering into horror territory. If you’ve read 14, you’ll have some idea of what I’m talking about. It actually surprised me how pleased I was to see the green cockroaches in The Fold, as that was the first hint that the two books were connected. In fact, The Fold reads a lot like 14; the two books share more than just the same world, as they are also similar in tone, style, as well as structure (though ultimately I think Clines handles the themes and pacing much better here). And just like my review of 14, I can’t really go into the second half of The Fold without giving too much away, though I will say everything reaches critical mass in a significant, explosive way.

The Fold is hands down my favorite Peter Clines book to date. It’s got everything – mystery and suspense, humor and horror, science fiction and the paranormal – all perfectly blended together with a bizarre twisty ending that will keep you saying, “Just one more page…” A fun and enjoyable read all around. show less