Title: Breach (Dark Walker Series Book 2)

Author: Shelly Campbell

Release date: July 9th, 2024

*Huge thanks to Eerie River for sending me a digital ARC of this one!*

Back in 2021, Campbell’s novel ‘Gulf’ was released and I was blown away.

A portal-horror novel that followed David, a lonely teen who finds a doorway to another world in a cabin, it was gripping, moving and utterly terrifying. I’d not previously read any of Campbell’s work, but ‘Gulf’ made me an instant fan. After the original press that released it dissolved, I was super excited to see it get picked up by Eerie River and now, with book two arriving and a third on the way, it was even more amazing to see the books get revamped with matching covers across the series. Saying that, Kealan Patrick Burke’s original cover for ‘Gulf’ will remain one of the single greatest covers I’ve ever laid my eyes upon.

So, what comes next? That was the question after book one ended.

I for one couldn’t wait to see, and on the very day I was about to crack open Campbell’s fantasy novel ‘Under the Lesser Moon,’ the epub of ‘Breach’ landed in my inbox! You’re next ‘Under…’ !!

Before I dive into the review, I do want to say that if you’ve not read book one, there are some aspects here that might be mini-spoiler-ish because this one does follow the first. Enter at your own risk from here on out.

What I liked: The book picks up directly after book one. David awakes, in an observation cell, sick and not alone. The woman who saved him from the creatures is quarantined with him. Her name is Charlie, and she fills David in on where he is and who’s watching. The Embassy. A government entity on the other side keeps things in check. But they’re particularly interested in David, because David was able to cross over between worlds in a way nobody else has ever been able to. And now they want to study him.

Where ‘Gulf’ was a bread-and-butter coming-of-age, portal-horror novel, ‘Breach’ falls closer in alignment to ‘Total Recall.’ More sci-fi action than things that go bump in the night, and that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it adds an element of tension to the world(s) Campbell’s created in that soon, Charlie and David – and another Gatekeeper, Cory, – are heading elsewhere, needing David to heal up so that his powers that The Embassy believes he has will be at 100%. It’s not long after that things are revealed and Charlie and David flee alone.

Campbell does a wonderful job with Charlie. We get a rolling sort of ‘is she or isn’t she into me’ romantic angle between her and David and even after things get spicy, there’s always the subtext of her using David for her own means. This plays out with trying to get David to use his abilities specifically where it relates to her family.

The final quarter of this one takes a turn when The Embassy arrives and it makes for some solid emotional impact. It also nicely sets things up for book three and leaves us readers with some huge questions.

What I didn’t like: This is solidly a book two in that you have to have read book one to know what’s going on.

Also, fans of the coming-of-age horrorness of book one may be disappointed with the direction this one takes as it’s more sci-fi leaning than horror. I personally loved the expansive world building we get here, but I also can see where this one may irk some readers who want more of the same that book one brought us.

Why you should buy this: Campbell has not only done book one justice, but book two takes a giant leap and clobbers the reader over the head. This one is filled with heart, desire, complex emotions and at its core, that same scared kid trying to connect and find where he belongs. David is a startling raw main character, one who embodies the positives and negatives of anxiety, longing and the search for place. The creatures return, the scenes are crisp and frantic and Campbell handles all with a wicked grin on her face.

‘Breach’ levels up the sum of its parts, bringing everything great about ‘Gulf’ into the fold and amplifying it in this new reality introduced and I for one, can’t wait for the third book to arrive.

5/5