Oh boy...

While there is a lot of graphic violence, it didn't come across as too much or over the top in itself. But it felt like it took away too much page-time from an already very short book.
I already got what I should expect from the series in terms of violence and gore from the first scene. I started to get impatient reading the later ones which isn't what you want from gruesome scenes.

The omniscient lines at the end of chapters were a bit weird. I don't know what it is about them but they felt out of place and unnecessary. I know many books use them to great effect but they just didn't click for me in this case.

But the thing I am struggling with the most is the ending. While it doesn't feel like the author just stopped after a chapter as I've seen in other books, it also just wasn't fulfilling enough. There is no closure for anything.
I just don't know enough about the author to have any idea where he might go with this ending.
There is no indication, no lead that tells me what to expect, and as this is a debut novel I can't check other works either.
In this case, it's particularly problematic because there are only very few routes a sequel could go that I would actually like to read. I want to give the benefit of the doubt but I expect many others might not.
In this way, the unpredictability which is one of the major strengths of the book also becomes a big weakness.
One solution I've seen to this issue of expectation is a first chapter draft of the next book that shows the reader what to expect. Doesn't even need to actually show up in the finished next book. It would just be there to set expectations.

Until the end, I would have given 4 stars hands down but after the ending, I was more inclined to give 3 careful stars and maybe change the rating if the sequel lives up to the promise.
What I find incredibly frustrating is that such a great work and a debut novel to boot has such a low average rating while the biggest piles of crap easily get over 4 stars.
So take your 4 stars. Considering your low average you deserve them.
One problem probably is that the main audience of the author consists of rather harsh critics. ( )

Good little novel for a first time writer, there where some aspects of the story that didnt click with me, but it wasnt bad and its light enough that I read it on a free time. Thanks! ( )

You begin the day in the heart of an empire lead by the Almighty who came personally to change life and at the end of the day, you realize you live in a dystopia. Breach of Peace is the debut work of Daniel B. Greene, the first of a trilogy of novellas that introduce his world.

Though the book follows the investigation of an extremely violent crime by three top inspectors of God’s own police, it gives a look into how average people view the area they live in and by the end how what they believed is completely wrong. Greene mixes a crime mystery in a fantasy world that quickly is ensnarled in political intrigue with significant religious overtones that is a lot to attempt in 134 pages with so-so results. The three main characters—Inspectors Khlid, her husband Sam, and their colleague Chapman—are a mix of good and cliché. The main narrative viewpoint of Khlid is well written in which we get a feel for the world an average person experiences—though from a law enforcement perception—and how it comes crashing down, Sam comes off as a quick-tempered cliché while Chapman comes off as a smart incompetent especially when one considers his divided loyalties. Given that the beginning s dark with the aftermath of a violent crime, the fact that the ending is darker not in violence but how a character’s worldview is completely shattered is effective.

Breach of Peace is a nice debut work as Daniel B. Greene gives readers a look into the fantasy world he is creating. Some elements work as well as some characters, he attempts to put a lot in a small page count to mixed results, but he does have good prose that makes for an engaging reading experience. ( )

“‘Love is a beautiful thing. Is it not, inspector?’“



In “Breach of Peace” by Daniel B. Greene



Clarity is great, and I love a good story, but having evocative and compelling language is important to me especially when it comes to SF, and I need an author’s voice to make a story pop and bring a book up from something that is fast food into something that is memorable. To me, that’s one of the best things books have going for them over movies and TV. And when SF writers distill things down to such a “non-style-SF”, they’re basically watering down the medium into its most palatable and losing a lot of the colour and style that makes me not to prefer reading a great story over experiencing it some other way. Generic SF is all about gerunds, dashes, clear prose, and backwards metaphours — are actually the basic building blocks that most SF authors use. I think that's how the writers of this SF “milieu” achieve their pane of glass style by using the stylistic elements that readers of the genre are already expecting to see they tend. While gerunds and dashes are popular across all fiction right now (parenthesis having become much less trendy since Strunk and White wrote “Elements of Style”), I think the clear prose and backwards metaphours are especially common in SF especially Contemporary Fantasy (cf. Brett, Wexler, Gwynne, Staveley, Ryan, Eames, McClellan, Lawrence, etc.)

For the clear prose, this is usually how I see it taught. In literary fiction, you can say that the bus was a cat, slinking between the cars as it dove down a darkened alleyway. But in fantasy, the bus could literally be a cat, so a simile or clear prose is needed. If you rely on the less clear way you'd use in other genres, it is unclear what an image is and what's a fact of the world. And the backwards metaphour is something I'm particularly fond of especially when used properly.

I am not a fan of the abovementioned writers’ style. This kind of generic SF is good for fast fodder because it's clear and easy to read, but at its worst it can feel monotonous and does not add anything new to the genre (maybe Greene only wants to write a good yarn; who knows..? I looked for his bio on GR and apparently this is his very first work of fiction and he’s also a YouTuber as stated in his “About the Author” section at the end of the novella…). When it comes to SF, I'd much rather look through a stained glass window than a clear pane of glass. But that's just me. ( )

*This review contains spoilers*

This was a solid first book. A great debut novel and a fantastic story. I feel really proud to be a fan of Daniel.

This little novella has everything that I like: fantasy, mystery, good characters, cool setting, intriguing magic and the start of a mayor mystery that I hope (really, really hope) is going to be explored in other books of this universe.

The fact that the setting isn't medieval is already a plus. I get bored very easily in medieval settings because for some reasons every one of them looks the same to me. But this one... not this one. This has guns, industries, I felt the life of the city and industrialism of it. I don't know if is because I saw his videos explaining the magic and world, but the feel of this world was very real. The darkness and corruption of it was just so appealing.

Other mayor point in favor is the story itself along with the characters. I'm a huge detective fan, Sherlock Holmes is probably one of my favorites characters of all times and this felt like an homage to him and the genre without missing the fantasy aspects. And yes, the characters don't have an arc, they don't change (they don't have the time to do it because they die before) but that's the point in this kind of stories, for me. The detectives, the characters, aren't the most important thing. The mystery and how they treat it is the important thing. But, that say... I loved Khlid. She's great and I'm really sad for her... I was in shock when EVERYBODY died. Like... I suspected that Khlid or Sam would die... but... all of them??? Daniel why you do this to me?? It was so sad...

The violence was also a point in favor. I really liked it! It wasn't too much for me, it was just the right amount.

The only thing that I can say as a "negative" point, that is not really negative, is that I would have liked it more if we could get to know more about the experiments and the creatures, but I guess that's going to be material for other books? I guess? I hope. It needs to be.

Anyway, this is probably a very bias review because I'm a fan of Daniel since a couple of years now, I watch and love every video he makes and... I don't know, I just really like him. And this is an excellent start to his career as an author. ( )