Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Imagine having the Internet connected to your brain. That would be insane. I have really enjoyed all these books in the series and they just keep getting better. The realism that this book brings. The way you engage and forget about the world around you. Makes you think that maybe he's hacked into your brain and feeding you this information.

The scenario behind Eliot Peper’s Analog series is that the internet is directly connected to our brains. If you think that this is crazy, think again, as Elon Musk with his start-up company Neuralink, as well as others, are working on making that a reality. Personally, the thought of being on the internet 24/7 is absolutely horrifying, but I grew up in an era where the most exciting technology was color TV and Pong. Nowadays, young people have grown up with the internet and have grown very attached to their technology, so I can see many of them jumping on board to be the first to get their brains rewired. So no more worries about losing your phone, forgetting to charge it, or washing it with your laundry. All you have to do is think about it, so what could possibly go wrong? Plenty. We are now seeing some of the uglier sides of technology. Hacking, trolling, fake news, identity theft and privacy concerns are just a few of the problems that we are now dealing with as a result of the internet. So just imagine if it was hooked directly to you round-the-clock. Eliot Peper’s series gives us a glimpse into what they may be like.

In this latest and last addition to the series, Breach, the focus is on Emily Kim who happened to be the scoundrel in the first book of the series, Bandwidth. Kim’s notoriety came about when she and a group of activist hacked into the ‘feed’, the brain-interface internet, to manipulate individuals and governments into establishing a carbon tax to tackle climate change. Kim’s most egregious act was the extreme manipulation of Dag Calhoun, a lobbyist for powerful technological and energy companies. But Kim’s world fell apart when Calhoun revealed Kim’s breach of the feed to the company that runs it known as Commonwealth. Even though Kim’s effort was to save the world from catastrophic climate change, her methodologies to obtain her goal were unjustifiable. After Calhoun’s revelation of Kim’s misdeeds, she goes into hiding and punishes herself through isolation and becoming a fighter in an infamous fight club on the isle of Camiguin. But a chance meeting with an old nemesis forces her to leave her isolation to save the people she most cares about and perhaps to gain their forgiveness that she feels she doesn’t deserve.

I have to admit this is my favorite in the series mostly because of Emily Kim’s Tasmanian devil alter ego, Pixie. Some of the fight scenes are very memorable. Though I felt that the finale was a bit anticlimactic, I still feel that Breach is a must read. Even though Breach could be read as a standalone in order to truly appreciate it, it would be best to read Bandwidth beforehand.

Another outstanding novel in the Analog series! Eliot Pepper works wizardry combining the near-future, dystopian "Feed" with current hot-button issues (wealth inequality and re-distribution) in a way that's fascinating, fast-paced, highly intellectual and believable. Quite a high bar he's set for himself. Bravo!

This is the third book in a near future thriller series built around the struggle between the rich elite and the rising social conscious intellectuals as ever present connected technology increasingly dominates the world. The writing is crisp and clear, the images are vivid and the pace fast. A very well written book and series. Although each book can stand alone it is well worth reading from the first novel as the characters and story line builds upon itself.

Breach, the third entry in the Analog series, gives us the story of the most mysterious character in the fictional universe, Emily Kim. The trials and tribulations of the Commonwealth mega-corporation continue to hold sway on the world order and the cast of characters from past books is at work to keep everything running. Breach is another great addition to the series, adding essential background information on the very person who started it all.

I’m obsessed with Emily Kim as a character. Honestly, I shouted a ‘YES!’ when I read the first sentence and realized we were finally going to learn everything about this fascinating and brilliant force of nature. She’s this powerful, super-intelligent woman who has used her skills and her presence to grow a silent empire, only to have it all pulled out from under her. At the start of the book, she’s broken, having removed herself entirely from the world she knew. Even in seclusion, she remains the ultimate badass, masquerading at an underground fight club as Pixie, an undefeated champion fighter.

The book is a journey of self reflection and healing for Emily, showing how much her defeat affected her worldview. She’s brought back into the fold by pure chance and gets back to her old ways surprisingly quickly. We get to see her in action, taking down would-be kidnappers and entrapping the sleazy villain who keeps popping up at the most inopportune times. Above all, we get to see her mind at work through expertly written discussion on world order, the power of a company to create change on a global level, and the dangers of leaving the keys to the kingdom with a potential despot. There’s always so much at stake in this near-future world, and it’s a delight to follow along.

Overall, Breach proves to be equally entertaining and nail-biting, continuing the on-edge feel of the previous installments. At the end, everyone is on the same team again, Commonwealth is on its way to creating massive global change, and the villain has been fiercely undercut. It doesn’t feel like this is the end of the Analog series and I’m looking forward to any additional stories we get in this expertly crafted universe.

Review to be published on 5/28: https://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/05/28/breach-book-review

“Build a Future We Want to Live In”

If you’re not familiar with the Analog world that Peper has created – you are missing out. The world feels so insanely real it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

Something that I don’t think I noticed before this book is that Peper has this sort of poetic way of writing. Not to say the book reads like poetry (not at all) but it’s more of this refined read. There are no wasted words. I enjoyed that a lot and I almost want to go back to the other books just to hear it again.

When I used to read on my Kindle (more than I listened to audiobooks) I would highlight lines that stood out to me. Now that I listen to audiobooks I don’t often do that. Well, with Breach, I did it a lot. I would pause the audio, open the book, and find the line I’d just heard. There were so many great lines that Peper created that I had to call that out. Here are a couple of examples:

“Emily loved learning. Which was why she hated high school.”

“Diplomats are people who murder you politely.”

“The only value money has is the value we believe it has.”

“…private property isn’t an actual thing, like granite or gravity. It’s just something we all agree to, like not cutting in line.”

See what I mean? That’s some awesome stuff up there.

Breach is able to cover so many topics that I can’t cover them all here. Nor do I want to since I think that you need to read the series and the book to find them all. Peper is able to weave these intricate worlds that would make Black Mirror producers salivate. It feels like you’ve stepped into the future, but one that feels like we’re already there.

Overall, I’m not shocked at all that I loved Breach – but wow did I fly through it. From the opening fight club scenes to the last monologue from Emily – this book spoke to me. Every once and a while you’ll get a new book and you just have to read it. That was the way I felt about Breach – and not only did I have to read it – I had to finish it as fast as possible. Peper wrote another near perfect novel and I will be telling people to check out this book and series for a long time. I can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeve next.

On a total side note – I wish that I taught high school English or even Social Studies – or knew someone who did, because I feel like this series would be a perfect “in-class” reading assignment. Kids are given these old texts that don’t mean anything to them – I think that this would be perfect for today’s new generation of social media users and future decision makers.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise sounded amazing and i was so ready for a technothriller - I need a fresh dystopian world in my reading life and I was not disappointed. I was a bit on the fence because I had not read the first and second book in the trilogy, but hints online pointed towards not needing to, so I took the chance on it.
I dont think I was missing too much from the previous books as this one caught me up enough to understand the main character Emiliys background and drive.
This book has a rough dystopian setting with fight clubs and an amazing take on how technology can go either way and how it influences human actions and politics and how our own morals and principles can get in our way.
If you like a dystopy with a take on technical advance and a deeper look into humanity and how our advances influence us, this might be for you.

Breach by Eliot Peper is such a great book I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Not only does the writing paint vivid pictures of what is happening but it is a great end to the analog series.

For the final story in the analog novels, Eliot further weaves the prior books of this series together by bringing back prior characters that some may have forgotten. This time, however, the people who long ago were manipulating the feed are the only ones capable of saving it as an activist group is trying to destroy the credibility and power it possesses.

Prior to this Emily, who had manipulated a backdoor to the feed had no thought of going back and reconnecting with her past friends and acquaintances but after stumbling upon this plot to hurt those people she knew she couldn't sit idle. As she weaves her way back into the lives of those she abandoned she reflects on her upbringing and what brought her to where she is today.

Honestly, I could go on and on about the story but I think you should pick up a copy yourself to read as I don't want to spoil anything that might give away how it ends.

This was my first book in this series. I had no premise of who the characters were, or anything about the world this is set in.
This book is considered a technothriller. Which I found is a perfect way to describe it. The underground fight clubs, the all absorbing feed. It had great a feel to it. Add the politics and this was an interesting dystopian picture.
I did not feel like I was missing much from the previous books in the series, maybe some background information on the main character Emily. But this book gave enough, to understand how and why she became the person she is. It had a very deep look into people, and humanity, and how our own principles sometimes can destroy us.
The story also analyzes how technology can become good or bad in the world of politics. In a world that's one.
At times the book was detailed in analyzing the humans and politics. It became daunting, and I found myself skipping. But this was an interesting read and would definitely recommend to those that like a different look into dystopian world.

When we last saw Emily Kim, near the end of Bandwidth (volume 1 of the Analog series), she had been unmasked as having gone too far in manipulating people to achieve her ends, noble though they might have been. At the start of Breach (the third and concluding volume of the series), thirteen years have gone by, thirteen years during which Emily disappeared in shame into an anonymous (pseudonymous actually) and self-desctructive life as a competitor in a to-the-death fight club on a remote Philippine island.

But when Lowell Harding, the corporate billionaire villain of this trilogy, appears in her fight club, unaware of who she really is, and reveals a plan to kidnap Emily's foster sister Rosa and blackmail Commonwealth, Emily comes out of hiding to help the very people she has been hiding from. And hopefully save Commonwealth and The Feed from the greedy machinations of Lowell and his cadre of wealthy oligarchs.

As we saw in the transition from Bandwidth to Borderless (Analog #2), Eliot Peper focuses on a different protagonist, this time delving into the persona of Emily. That once again proves to be an effective choice. And Peper again trains the plot of his near-future speculative fiction on a subject of current interest and import -- income and wealth inequality. It certainly doesn't hurt his standing in my eyes that he and I see eye-to-eye on all of these issues -- if you disagree, that alone may be enough to turn you off.

But where Borderless was a five-star read for me, I have to slide my rating of Breach back to four stars, like Bandwidth. I like that character development trumps all other considerations, even in the three extended fight scenes, which are driven not so much by the action as by Emily acting on her inner demons -- how this translates into how the fights unfold is masterful. I also like that Peper remains adept at the use of metaphor and objective correlative.

The problem -- and it's just a minor quibble between four and five stars -- is that there is just too much of the novel spent inside Emily's internal monologue, and it sometimes grows repetitive. I'm also the tiniest bit disappointed that this book wasn't about Nell, as I had expected after reading Borderless. But overall, this is still an excellent conclusion to an excellent techno-thriller trilogy.

(Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy to review.)

This should have been an easy read and review, but I struggled with this one. I skipped book 1 due to mixed reviews. Bought #2 and DNF. I hoped to like this one, but just could not stay engaged. Peper is a talented author, but I just could not connect with the story. Others obviously liked the previous books and probably this one, which was a little different than the others -- I'd categorize that as advancing the story line. This was well-written, but not for me.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

I enjoyed the book and really liked it. Waiting to hear more from the author. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

Breach, the third, and I assume final, book in Eliot Peper's Analog series is not as good as the first two, but the trilogy is still recommended overall. I liked how it is at the end, but not so much the way that end was reached. Too much action and violence as opposed to the intelligent and thoughtful process of before.

I enjoyed the previous books in this series, but this one was a bit of a let down. I think all the propaganda going on took away from the story line and characters.

Guilty dark redemption - normally the second "Empire Strikes Back" act, but with Peper we've had two fights for the path of light now followed by a more personal examination from the creator of Analog. It;s not an easy path for Emily Kim, she almost seems to boobytrap her own progress. All wrapped up in another great techno-thriller

Breach is a great conclusion to a very interesting and enjoyable series. As a big fan of dystopian fiction, I love the exploration of the role of technology. What I like the most about Peper's construction in this novel (and in the series) is the humanity that endures within the characters, despite all of their flaws and their foibles. The real and gritty exploration of the world of technology and its potential for exploitation and political role is so relatable and frankly scary, as it is easy to see how these dangers apply to our world. The role of a great dystopian novel (or series) is to make us think about the warning it gives us and where we would like to see the world move. This novel is definitely successful.

A brutal and fitting final volume to the Analog trilogy, with the reintroduction of one of the trilogy's more fascinating and enigmatic characters. I would have like to have seen more after the "big reveal" near the end of this one. There's a lot of story left out that could have carried the saga to a slightly more satisfying ending.

Overall a good book. A fairly interesting plot and it was entertaining. I have read the two previous Analog books and liked this one the best. I felt this story moved along nicely and enjoyed the characters more.

I read the previous book in the series and liked it quite a bit. This book was not as good in my opinion. The plot flows well and the characters are adequately developed by the author. My issue comes with he political themes and overtones. This book is essentially a propaganda piece. I do not mind an author putting their opinions in their work, but this was as much a editorial as it was an entertainment piece. Like I said, well written and interesting, but if you want to avoid politics, this is not your book.