Review by KellyS_888 -- Containment Breach

KellyS_888 · Post by **KellyS_888** » 13 Feb 2020, 10:41

[Following is a volunteer review of "Containment Breach" by Wm. A. Yandell.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Containment Breach by WM. A. Yendell is a science-fiction novel starring Walt Smithton, a scientist who specializes in the creation of new life forms. His work follows that of Demetrius Zayack, another such scientist whose creations (known simply as “the Creatures”) have evolved into homicidal threats to public safety. The government has been able to contain the Creatures so far (as well as prevent news of their existence from reaching the ears of the general population and causing mass hysteria). But every minute, the Creatures become closer to escaping. Once that happens, they will wipe out the entire human race.

Smithton and his team are basically kidnapped by the government, taken into space, and ordered to figure out a way to destroy the Creatures. Smithton knows that once the government takes control of someone’s life this way, it is inevitable that the abducted person and his or her family will “disappear” in order to prevent society’s discovery of classified information. After all, that’s what happened to Zayack. And while Smithton is worried about the Creatures and the strong possibility that he and his friends will never return to their lives and loved ones, his greatest fear seems to be that the government will discover his secret project, his own revolutionary creation…

And to complicate matters further, one of the government agents on their ship has his own secret—a sick and deadly hidden agenda.

Will Smithton and his team be successful? And if they are, will they ever be allowed to return to their families and their lives? Will Smithton be able to protect his beloved secret creation from the hands of the government—hands that seem to ruin everything they touch?

I really liked this story. Yendell created a compelling narrative and an engaging protagonist. There’s great chemistry between Smithton and his team, and their banter is often legitimately funny. Yendell shows great skill in the art of building suspense and intrigue. He designs the mystery like a pro, slowly revealing bits of information and surprises, little by little.

However, reading this book has taught me that a person can be a great storyteller without being a great writer.

The errors in this manuscript were abundant and distracting. As a reviewer for Online Book Club, part of my job is to note any typos or mistakes. This is the first time my list of errors was seven pages long. There were so many punctuation mistakes (missing commas, unnecessary commas, punctuating questions with a period, etc.). There were spelling errors, missing words, redundancy errors, grammatical issues, incomplete sentences, and run-on sentences. Some of the sentences were afflicted with such awkward structure and/or wording that they barely made sense. Here’s an example of this problem from page 188: “With our sounding like the open restart is the right thing to do, could cause them to pull Steve away for some more questioning.” Here’s another example from page 57: “Actually, this is not at all what I wanted, but she is a truly good friend of Jan’s and by her actions alone, she is a truly good friend.” I strongly suggest that Yendell obtain the services of a good editor, as well as enroll in some writing classes so he can get a better handle on proper sentence structure and learn how to clearly transform his great stories into written words.

Before I give my final verdict, I would like to advise that there are some pretty horrific descriptions of the government’s violence towards the hostage scientists and their family members (including rape) that may be difficult for more sensitive readers. Those scenes were difficult for me, to be honest. Obviously, there are also descriptions of the Creatures’ violence and homicide. There is some mild adult language that might offend parents of younger readers.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 4. I must say, I truly looked forward to the part of each day that I devoted to reading this book. However, Yendell needs some training if he is to become as great at writing as he is at storytelling. The potential is there, so I hope he takes my advice. I look forward to his next book.

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Containment Breach
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xoxoAnushka · Post by **xoxoAnushka** » 14 Feb 2020, 11:53

It too dissapointing that the book contains a lot of error despite of its great plot. Nice review!

KellyS_888 · Post by **KellyS_888** » 14 Feb 2020, 20:38

Thank you!

Chipochashe · Post by **Chipochashe** » 05 Mar 2020, 07:47

Thanks for the review. I hope he has taken care of the errors. I would no be able to stomach graphic details of rape. Thank you for the heads-up.

mary-annef · Post by **mary-annef** » 05 Mar 2020, 08:42

A list of errors seven pages long! I will definitely give this one a skip - hope the author appreciates your efforts and takes time to make the corrections necessary. Thanks for the great review.

KellyS_888 · Post by **KellyS_888** » 06 Mar 2020, 10:10

@Chipochase: you're welcome! And yes, the rape scene was hard for me to stomach, too. Thanks for reading the review!

@mary-annef: Yes, I hope so too lol. You're welcome and thanks for reading