4.5 stars. Review to come. ( )

It was ok. Wasn't very original. ( )

Well-developed characters and a crisply-moving plot make this time-travel tale an engaging, rewarding read. If you grant Chen the future-reality of time-travel, the underlying mechanisms of controlling access and managing those who would change history for their own benefit are well-thought-out and logical.

Chen doesn’t go for the standby plotline here – no one is trying to prevent Lincoln’s assassination or create a fatal “accident” for an adolescent Hitler. The plot revolves around Kin Stewart, a “time-cop”, if you will, whose job is to go backward in the Alpha timeline of his universe and apprehend or eliminate the meddlers who are mostly attempting to enrich their 22nd-century selves by jiggering 21st-century business deals. When he is injured in one of these attempts, the device meant to return him to his own timeline is damaged, and he’s stuck in 1996 with no way home.

The meat of the story gets rolling 18 years later, when another agent from Temporal Control (where only 14 days have passed in the Alpha timeline) shows up to collect him. The problem is, Kin has built a life in his new here-and-now, which includes a wife and daughter, and going “home” means leaving them behind, forever. His struggles to deal with living in two mutually incompatible realities and his attempts to make things right both with the daughter he feels he abandoned and the responsibilities of his Alpha timeline life lead him to make decisions which will endanger both.

The characters are all nicely done, and Chen keeps the time-loop anomalies to a minimum while still predicating multiple futures for Kin’s 21st-century family, each one based on how or whether he is able to reach back through time to influence events.

The success of the story’s conclusion will depend on the reader’s ability to wrap their mind around some of the odder possibilities of time travel. This reader found it a unique and wonderful sleight-of-hand that utilized nuggets buried early in the text. Nicely done, Mr. Chen! ( )

Years ago, while on a top secret mission time traveling from the year 2142 into the past, Kin became stranded in 1996. Though he waited and waited for rescue, apparently none was forthcoming, so he resigned himself to his situation and attempted to live as normal a life as he could, establishing for himself a career, marrying, and having a child. Now, eighteen years later, someone finally arrives to retrieve him, but his heart breaks as he must leave his family behind against his will.

This story was immediately riveting, and the writing was excellent. There are a lot of things for the reader to ponder — philosophical, moral, existential, and otherwise. Not sure why this book isn't more popular. I really enjoyed it and will be recommending it to my 14yo daughter as well. ( )