By: Richard Doetsch
I honestly didn't think the author was going to be able to pull this off. When dealing with time travel, there are an enormous amount of loose ends flying around that need to be tied up, as well as an infinite number of things that can go wrong (both those that have already happened in the future, as well as those unseen ones that cropped up as a result of the trip back into time) that need to be rectified. It's a complicated process that needs to be handled delicately and thoroughly, and Richard Doetsch has done just that.
Our protagonist, Nick, is wrongfully arrested for the brutal murder of his beloved wife, Julia. He is given a never-in-a-lifetime miracle of time travel to go back and find Julia's real killer before the crime happens again. He is given a special watch to hang onto, as this watch seems to be the portal to make this time travel possible. As Nick begins his journey, he discovers clues along the way as to what really happened to cause his wife to be targeted by such a ruthless killer. Time travel being what it is, and the fact that what happens in the past will now create an alternate future, Nick finds himself messing things up on a spectacular scale, leaving a future that is far worse than the one he left. Each time he thinks he's going to "get it right this time", yet each subsequent trip back into time brings a new set of unexpected problems that mess up his future even more. After so many fabulous screw ups, I didn't think the author was ever going to be able to bring Nick out of this and leave some shred of plausibility to the story. Well, "plausibility" being a relative term here. Remember, we are talking about time travel, so nothing in this story is really "plausible" per se, but still..... And yet I was pleasantly surprised at how the author managed to pull it all together so well, *AND* manage to surprise me at the end with a twist that I totally wasn't expecting!
This book surprised me on a number of levels. The characters were very well written and the reader was able to really get into their heads and "see" what everyone was thinking, giving the reader insight into why each person behaved the way he/she did. The writing was fluid and graceful (well, as graceful as a story of murder could possible be!) and had an innumerable amount of plot twists and surprises that never failed to disappoint. With as many complications as this storyline initially presented, the author left not a single loose end. Everything was neatly tied up by the end of the book and the reader is left completely satisfied and happy about how it all turned out. Excellent book!
