Beyond The Treeline by Mark A Ellis

 

 

                       From the back cover

'In the late 21st century, in an unstable world wracked by climate change, brilliant scientist Sean Freeman has the answer - longevity. He knows long life breeds responsibility, for each other and the world.

Working with genius physicist Jess, Sean is convinced he’s going to secure the future of humanity – and maybe find his soulmate in the process.
But there is more to this miracle science than he knows and is being allowed to know. Not least, there are others in the shadows who would see him fail, at any cost. When the answers come, and he learns of Earth’s true purpose, it will take him on an epic voyage of discovery where he will be faced with the ultimate ethical dilemma.'

                          My Thoughts 

As someone who enjoys Sci-Fi and thrillers this debut from Mark A Ellis really ticked the boxes for me.

Set just in the future, where climate change has ravaged the planet Sean is working on a project to lengthen the human lifespan in the hopes of making humanity wise up and take more responsibility for our Earth (whichis actually a really good idea and certainly made me think).

To help him on his way he is mysteriously introduced to fellow scientist Jess and together they hit all the right buttons (as it were) and the project takes off . . . But someone (or someone's!) doesn't want their science to work and will do whatever it takes to stop them. 

I'll be honest, a lot of the science I didn't quite get but it is written in a way that kinda makes sense and Mark makes it sound like he knows what he's talking about (my gripe with Sci-Fi is that sometimes authors try to blind you with science and that was certainly NOT the case here).

As for the characters, again, really well done (there were several times when Sean had me, head in hands, thinking (dude, no, don't do that before he gets himself in a kerfuffle). The chemistry between him and Jess worked really well.

And that, my friends, is about as much as I can tell you. There are twists aplenty, some I saw coming, some I didn't and I will not drop spoilers. 

Beyond The Treeline is a twisty little tale that kept pulling the rug out from under me, just when I thought I had it sussed I was proved wrong. 

As a novel this is excellent, as a debut novel . . . Top notch and certainly puts Mark A Ellis on the 'Ones To Watch' list - more please. 

4.5/5*