LEAP; Book 2 in the Breakthrough Series by Michael C. Grumley

Narrated by Megan Wolf

An Unexpected Excursion into the Jungle

Listeners to the first book in this series will, like me, expect to find an extension of the storyline involving first contact with the alien, but human, race discovered on the bottom of the ocean. To my surprise, and increasing puzzlement, there is only the most incidental indirect reference to this other race for the great bulk of this book. For a while I thought that Grumley was going for a variation on a theme sort of effort; you know, the same characters in a similar situation but with a different result. But no, this is indeed a true sequel. It seems that Grumley has a much larger story to tell and the stage is still being set for that tale. In the meantime, I found Leap to have another strong plot and the characters, the same group from Breakthrough for the most part, are more engaging, due in part to the familiarity I had from recently listening to their exploits in the earlier book. Seeing as these are Grumley’s first two novels he has shown me that he already has a fine grasp on the Science Fiction genre, able to interest the listener with nerdy gadget science and also write believable characters that the follower can begin to care about. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Megan Wolfe is a pleasant narrator for the series. She gives a yeoman’s effort in relaying the words on the page to my ear. I encourage her to step outside her comfort zone and stretch her creative legs by inserting more emotion to the character lines. I get the feeling that she is holding back, not wanting to put her own stamp on the story with a performance that is too energetic. Let it loose the listeners will thank you, or at least I will.

P.S. If you are a fan of Michael C. Grumley you owe it to yourself to go to his website (address given in Grumley’s author comment recorded at the end of Breakthrough) and request a free download of the e-book version of his short story “Genesis,” being a prequel to the entire series. It relays the beginning of the attempt to communicate with the intelligent animal species, a theme that is central to all of Grumlay’s work to date.