Just Finished Reading: The Breakthrough by Daphne Du Maurier (FP: 1966) [58pp] 

It wasn’t a request he could easily turn down. Stephen Saunders enjoyed his job and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise is position at the firm. Plus, it wasn’t all that onerous when you thought about it – a three-month assignment as an electronics engineer at an isolated research facility – it might even be interesting. Before he left, he’d discussed the (temporary) move with some friends. They’d heard of the director of the research lab – one James MacLean – and not all of it was positive. He was late on a government project and had apparently left his previous position under some kind of cloud. He was, one said, a known maverick and to be avoided. But he’d agreed to it now, there was no going back. On arrival a few days later Saunders was surprised, and not a little disappointed, to find the facility manned by a total of four people including the director. It quickly became obvious that the supposed government research was very much on the ‘back-burner’ and that MacLean was doing his own research with obsessive focus. He was, he said, on the verge of a breakthrough, something that would knock the whole scientific community off its feet. MacLean was looking into the process of death and in particular the bodily changes that occurred at the very moment of demise. But he needed an electronics expert to handle the bespoke machinery that would record everything... They already had a volunteer. One of the team had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. They only had to wait. It wouldn’t be long until they pushed scientific endeavour to breaking point. 

Dated as it was, this was an intriguing little tale from an author I’d heard a lot about but was new to me. Despite having a very 60’s ‘feel’ to it, this short tale of suspense had the right mix of realism and mystery/horror that gave it a definite edge. I’ve only recently discovered (in the last year or so) that the author penned ‘The Birds’ filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1963. This is one of my all-time favourite movies and I can see how the same mix of the mysterious and mundane worked its magic there too. This was an interesting example of a borderline scientific mystery/horror story (although much more creepy than horrific) that certainly made me want to read more by this author. The Penguin Modern Classics collection is definitely functioning as I’d hoped it would. More to come. Recommended.