Reviewed by: Pete Barber
Genre: Techno-thriller
Approximate word count: 75,000 – 80,000 words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
Smashwords store
Author:
The author lives in Nevada. Towards Yesterday was his
debut novel. He has two other works in print.
Description:
The trial
of an experimental military communications device causes a time slip with disastrous
consequences for millions of humans who are taken back twenty-five years in
time.
Appraisal:
I did not
enjoy this book for three main reasons.
Firstly,
poor mechanics: The story was overwritten, especially during the action scenes
where the pacing slows to a crawl because of the mass of details and
adjectives. The point of view switched around anytime more than one character
was present, Large chunks of back story were dropped into the text at
inopportune times and often with no connection to the story. A professional
edit would have pointed up the craft issues and improved this work
significantly.
Secondly,
the event that formed the basis of the story—the Slip—was described in
retrospect. “Everything Changed” was the only explanation I received, and then
I was taken on a tour of all the chaos, damage, and destruction this
unexplained change had caused. I found this most unsatisfying because I wasn’t
permitted to participate in the fundamental reason for the story being written.
And
finally, the solution to the problem was filled with Deus ex Machina. One
scientist points to some figures on a screen and calls over another interested
party who declares, “How could I have been so stupid?” It drove me nuts!
Format/Typo Issues:
Too few to
be a problem.
Rating: ** Two stars
1 comment:
Interesting review, Pete. I hope the author can learn from your diagnosis of the problems and either fix this book, or write another which is more satisfying for the reader.
Post a Comment