by Graham Storrs
- Narrator: E.J. Newman
- Publisher: eMergent Publishing
- Proof-listener: Susan Claybrook
- Length: 9:11:32
- Genre: Time travel, Science Fiction
- My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0
Product DescriptionReview: Imagine a brick thrown into a lake and the ripples that roll out to reach the shore. The center of the lake, where the brick went in and made a splash, will smooth itself back out but the edge of the ripple, when it meets the shore, may cause erosion or damage. This is how the TimeSplash works. The idea is to launch or “lob” the traveler, known as the “brick” back into the time stream. Once in the past the brick acts on some person in the past, maybe even killing his own grandmother. The more distant the lob into the past, and the more important the person acted upon, the greater the ripple effect.
Jumping back in time used to be fun... until people started dying. In the year 2050, London is on the verge of destruction. A thrill-seeker calling himself Sniper is about to jump back in time to create a time paradox. It's called timesplashing. It is exciting, dangerous, and the people who do it love every moment. Best of all, it doesn't change a thing - except in the present. When the acausal backwash from the splash hits the present, all hell breaks loose. Make a big enough timesplash, far enough back, and it can devastate a whole city. Once, timesplashing was an extreme sport and an excuse for a big party. Then Sniper took it too far. People started dying. Sandra and Jay are two people whose lives were shattered in a timesplash that went badly wrong in 2047. Now, each in their own way, they are hunting the timesplashers. And if they don't find them, millions could die.
In 2047 an arrogant and famous Brick named Sniper, with a few friends, takes a 65 year trip into the past. They kill the grandmother of one of the travelers and the actions in the past cause earthquake type damage killing people and causing extensive damage. This trip changed the lives of those involved and turned the TimeSplash phenomenon into an illegal activity.
Two survivors take different paths. Patti (as in “Hearst”/ real name Sandra) was Sniper’s 15 year old “bitch” (girlfriend). She tried to get out of the launch but Sniper wouldn’t let her. By the time she returned she hated Sniper and was afraid he would kill her if she ever disclosed the truth of the jump. After spending several years in an institution Sandra escapes in order to hunt down Sniper before he can kill her individually or through another big TimeSpash.
Luke (as in “Skywalker”/real name Jay) was a 17 year old in the audience with a buddy who was whacked out. The power went out during the backsplash and his buddy died. Jay quickly grew out of the teen “fun” mode into a serious young man. Now Jay is a “time cop” set on hunting down TimeSplash gangs before they can destroy other cities.
Sandra and Jay cross paths and ultimately team up as they chase down clues trying to catch Sniper before the next launch. Sniper’s new target is Vladamir Lenin in 1902 while he is visiting in London. Will they be able to stop Sniper before his actions boomerang and destroy current day London?
The action is very fast paced and you quickly are caught up in the suspense. The protagonists are young and the narrator’s voice picks up that youthful factor. The narration was more in the nature of a reading as she did not really try to change voices to different characters. Initially I had to pay attention to distinguish the characters but once I had everyone in place, I enjoyed the audio as an easy way to listen to this story.
If you like time travel distortions, which I definitely do, you should try this book. I really enjoyed the story and was only disappointed by an ending that could have been a little bit stronger in wrapping up details.
I would be interested in more books by this author and more audiobooks from Iambik.
Thank you to Audiobook Jukebox and Iambik Audiobooks for this book to listen to and review.
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