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Title: Alternate
Series: —–
Author: Ernie Luis
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 206
Format: Kindle digital edition
| Synopsis: |
Time Travel Exists. And there is a company self-tasked with keeping the Time Line on track. But when one man is sent back in the past to stop a rogue agent and sees his daughter saved, he will do whatever is necessary to keep her alive this time.
Unfortunately for Grey, he is a newcomer and a pawn in a much larger game that will determine if Humanity has a future, or not.
| My Thoughts: |
Whoooowheeee!!!! This was one wild ride. We follow several viewpoints throughout the story but Grey is the main character and the death of his daughter is THE defining moment in his life. It is the point around which everything, past, present and future, revolves for Grey. That aspect came through beautifully. His love for Hanna, even to the point of giving her up to her alternate “him” so that his alternate wouldn’t have to go through the pain of losing Hanna like Grey did, was perfect.
Even while that was the main story, the Real Story was about the man who invented Time Travel, Rickman, and his search for Redemption for allowing his friend to die in the first time travel incident. The book takes place in 2030, with 2020 being the second line and 2010 where everything starts. It gets messy and complicated and hit things just right for me. Rickman’s long game is to stop time travel altogether. I thought how the author dealt with alternates/paradoxes/etc was masterfully done and he’d obviously put some thought into how things might work.
Now, with all that praise, this book still lacked some polish and that special “something” that just makes a book great. I don’t have any complaints about the book except that it could have been better. This was Luis’s debut novel and while it showed, it also showed GREAT promise for any future writing. He does have several short stories under his belt, but I’ll be waiting for his next novel.
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
Time travel stories require delicate handling of the subject matter, so I’m glad to hear that this one worked so well, despite your mention of the lack of that “little something” that would have made the book great. This being a debut novel, I think allowances can be made, and the fact that the *promise* is there, means a great deal.
Thanks for sharing!
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It always gives me hope whenever I read a book like this because it means that there ARE still people out there who can write and not just churn out dreck.
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This sounds very promising, even if it did lack polish!! 🙂
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Ohhh, time travel. So many possibilities. The wilder, the better! Glad to hear it has potential. Maybe the author’s future books will be able to deliver something even more mind-blowing!
– Lashaan
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