Gate Six
Gate Six is Book One of The Shear, a science fiction noir thriller of about 93,500 words. A burnt-out detective and a failing threader search a drowning city for a missing physicist, and follow her route into the space between worlds.
- Series
- The Shear, Book One
- Length
- About 93,500 words
- Formats
- Kindle and paperback
- Status
- Forthcoming
About the book
Calder is a city that should have drowned a century ago. The rich live up in the Lift. Everyone else lives in the Sump, where the water comes in through the floors and the franchise, Morrow-Kade, owns the rain.
Twelve years ago Dr Maren Halloran opened a door into another Calder. Now she is missing, CivicGuard has closed the file from above, and her estranged daughter Ines, a threader whose hands are starting to shake, has hired the one detective in the Sump who walked away from the badge.
Tomas Rook counts things. Steps, exits, lies. He counted the night the floodgates shut and the Sump drowned, and he has never stopped counting since.
With a talking navigator Maren left behind, an old threader who taught Ines everything, and a franchise that wants the file to stay closed, Rook and Ines follow Maren's last route through the Shear, the space between worlds. It ends where every secret in Calder ends: at gate six.
Gate Six is the first book of The Shear: a noir thriller about a city that stays dry, and the bill someone else is paying.
Read the opening, free
The first two chapters of a Detective Rook story, set in Calder before Gate Six, are free to read on this site. No sign-up needed.
“I would describe that plan as theoretically survivable.”
The places in the book are on the world pages: the Sump, the wall and its gates and the Shear.
Questions readers ask
What is Gate Six about?
Gate Six is a science fiction noir novel by Ellis Halden. In the drowning city of Calder, a burnt-out detective who counts everything searches for a missing physicist and follows her route into the space between worlds.
What kind of book is it?
A sci-fi noir detective thriller with a multiverse hook: hard, fast action and dry humour. It is a complete story that opens a planned trilogy.
Can I read some first?
Yes. A free Detective Rook story, set before the book, has its first two chapters on this site.
Is there a cliffhanger?
No. The main story is complete; a thread is left open for the series.
Which formats?
Kindle ebook and paperback, on Amazon.
Where does it sit in the series?
It is Book One of The Shear. Book Two is High Water.
Reading order
- Gate SixBook One. Start here.Forthcoming
- High WaterBook Two. In editing.
- Drafting: done
- Now: Editing
- Cover
- Pre-order
- Out