Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
When Jimmy Haverill, an assistant lecturer at Hampton University, met the man with the absurd name of Dr. Dumpkenhoffer, who was, moreover, head of the newly-founded Parapsychology Research Department, he was quite unaware that the meeting was to divert the whole course of his life. It was, after all, rather difficult to take such a man - and such a Department - at all seriously. Haverill's involvement in the good Doctor's experiments - if such they could be called - was so casual that it was manifestly ridiculous to imagine the role Haverill was playing as having been preordained. For he had no way of knowing, nor could he tell from any previous experience since he had not any, that his own growing fascination with the world he was uncovering was a terrible threat that could trap him into a vortex from which he would not want to escape.
Is Breakthrough appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 13 and up.
This cerebral 1960s speculative fiction explores parapsychology experiments with psychological tension but no graphic content. The danger is existential—a protagonist becoming trapped by his fascination with otherworldly experiences.
What to know going in
This book has no graphic violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include mental manipulation and possession.
Publisher ages reflect reading level; our rating reflects content maturity — they can differ.
Who'll love this
Teens interested in psychology, the paranormal, and mind-bending stories about exploring unknown dimensions of reality will find this intriguing.