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Talking To The Moon
After bringing us the international bestsellers The Mystic Saga, Dominion, Vestige, The Ani Maxima Files, and Saving Brooksie, Scott McElhaney returns with yet another inspiring stand-alone tale. This time he's bringing us to the 1950's. At the sight of his abusive father lying wounded in the driveway; 16 year-old Sean finds himself at his mother’s side being urged to flee. He doesn’t recall what happened, but he reluctantly obeys. Later at a friend’s house, Sean is presented with a place to hide out where no one could ever come searching for him - a safe-house within his own neighborhood, yet fifty years in the past. 1958 welcomes Sean with its trusting neighbors, rock and roll records, sturdy, fast cars without insurance or airbags, and even a spot on the high school football team. Best of all, 1958 welcomes him with a beautiful girl named Clara. Sean is captured by all that his heart could ever desire in this life. As far as he’s concerned, nothing could ever make him return to the life he abandoned… unfortunately, a decision like that may not be his alone to make. Scott McElhaney is the 2008 winner of the Christian Choice Book Award for his first novel "Mommy's Choice" and his international sensation The Mystic Saga has secured his place firmly in the science fiction realm. Now he is making most of his novels available to Kindle readers at the very accessible price of only 99 cents. Scott has sold more than 250,000 copies of his books to Kindle readers across the world. EDITORIAL "McElhaney's story telling is deft, well-paced, and with an ear for conversation" ~ Beacon Journal Book Review "[McElhaney] slipped in under the radar and firmly established himself as a fresh new voice in science fiction before anyone had a chance to react. By then it was too late and nearly every sci-fi fan who owned a Kindle had already discovered this unknown and was actively searching him out." ~Associated Content Given 5.0 out of 5 stars over 100 times on Amazon from various readers of the Mystic Saga!
132 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 6, 2011
10 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Scott McElhaney
73 books63 followersScott's first novel, Mommy's Choice, was originally published in paperback under the pseudonym Scott Curtis. In under a year on the bookshelves, that novel won the National Christian Choice Book Award for romantic suspense. When Scott moved to a different publisher and started making his novels available to Kindle readers, he returned to his real name and reduced the prices to the absolute minimum allowed by Amazon.
Scott McElhaney currently resides in Ohio with his wife and two sons. He's a Desert Shield veteran of the US Navy, having served on the USS South Carolina CGN-37. Although his books didn't become available to Kindle readers until December 2011, over 250,000 digital copies have been purchased to date and he still maintains a position in the top 100 worldwide in the "Sci-fi Space Opera" category.
Scott McElhaney currently resides in Ohio with his wife and two sons. He's a Desert Shield veteran of the US Navy, having served on the USS South Carolina CGN-37. Although his books didn't become available to Kindle readers until December 2011, over 250,000 digital copies have been purchased to date and he still maintains a position in the top 100 worldwide in the "Sci-fi Space Opera" category.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 11, 2020
I admit that the only reason I read this book right now is b/c it was the oldest unread ebook on my Kindle - from 2012! I have to say I'm mostly sorry I wasted my time on it.
It had one of my favorite plot devices - time travel - so I should have loved it. Sean is a teenager in 2008 w/ very adult problems: his dad drinks too much and beats his family, including his wife, when he gets home from the bar. In fact, dad was responsible for Sean's sister's death two years earlier. Sean goes to Jen's grave to "talk to the moon" and to her when life gets overwhelming. Sean has a big problem w/ "blacking out" when he gets angry, and he can become very violent himself then. He "blacks out" after witnessing the aftereffects on his mom of a multiple-marital-rape episode on his mom and thinks he's killed his dad. The rape is not overly graphic, but enough to make me wonder where/what this book is supposed to be. Sean runs to his friend's house, where the friend's dad helps him "escape" by hooking him up in his über-secret time-travel machine.
Sean "wakes up" in a field that looks eerily familiar. He walks through a yard he recognizes but then nearly gets run over by a 50's-era vehicle. When he lands in the ditch, the owner of the yard runs up and rescues him. Thus Sean meets Rita Johnson, a kind Christian woman married to an army officer who takes him into her home and cooks up a story for his sudden appearance in her yard - he's her nephew and he's come to stay w/ her for a while. It turns out that Sean has landed in 1958! Rita enrolls him in the local high school - Sean's actual school in the present - where he promptly falls in love w/ a blue-eyed girl. Their feelings are extremely intense, and we keep hearing how Sean has to control himself w/ everything he has to keep from going "too far" w/ this girl that he has just met.
Sean finally admits his secret to Clara and they bury a small, cell-phone looking device, in the parking lot of a restaurant that is still going in the present. Sean never wants to return to the future. Well, we know there's going to be a complication and there is. Sean is in the past for two weeks (he thinks) but suddenly yanked back to the present, where he has to prove that he was actually in the past, and not just in a virtual-reality device, as he is told.
There are so many holes in this plot that suspending disbelief - as one has to do in time-travel books - just does not work. The explanation for his time traveling is awkwardly handled, and barely plausible. And the happily-ever-after ending just made my jaw drop b/c of its ridiculousness. But my MAJOR complaint is that this book is very overtly Christian w/ fully-quoted Bible texts and a conversion episode for Sean. It's fine that Rita is a Christian woman and takes Sean to church w/ her, but w/ the very-adult marital rape episode and the violence at the beginning of the book, the Bible texts just really didn't fit in well w/ the story, IMHO. Please do not get the impression that I do not like overtly-Christian books, b/c if I know that going in, and the Christianity is integral to the plot: fine. It just does not work in this story to me.
So, if you don't care about ginormous plot holes, enjoy this VERY "Back-to-the-Future" book. With Sean's return to 1958; the emphasis on the music of the era (which I DID enjoy!); his meeting an attractive girl - the salute to the movie is very overt. I even pictured Michael J. Fox and Lea Thompson in my head while reading it!
I rounded up to two stars on my rating, b/c many of the scenes are really very gripping so the author can write suspensefully at least. I'm sorry that I just CAN'T rate this book any higher, no matter all the other reviews.
It had one of my favorite plot devices - time travel - so I should have loved it. Sean is a teenager in 2008 w/ very adult problems: his dad drinks too much and beats his family, including his wife, when he gets home from the bar. In fact, dad was responsible for Sean's sister's death two years earlier. Sean goes to Jen's grave to "talk to the moon" and to her when life gets overwhelming. Sean has a big problem w/ "blacking out" when he gets angry, and he can become very violent himself then. He "blacks out" after witnessing the aftereffects on his mom of a multiple-marital-rape episode on his mom and thinks he's killed his dad. The rape is not overly graphic, but enough to make me wonder where/what this book is supposed to be. Sean runs to his friend's house, where the friend's dad helps him "escape" by hooking him up in his über-secret time-travel machine.
Sean "wakes up" in a field that looks eerily familiar. He walks through a yard he recognizes but then nearly gets run over by a 50's-era vehicle. When he lands in the ditch, the owner of the yard runs up and rescues him. Thus Sean meets Rita Johnson, a kind Christian woman married to an army officer who takes him into her home and cooks up a story for his sudden appearance in her yard - he's her nephew and he's come to stay w/ her for a while. It turns out that Sean has landed in 1958! Rita enrolls him in the local high school - Sean's actual school in the present - where he promptly falls in love w/ a blue-eyed girl. Their feelings are extremely intense, and we keep hearing how Sean has to control himself w/ everything he has to keep from going "too far" w/ this girl that he has just met.
Sean finally admits his secret to Clara and they bury a small, cell-phone looking device, in the parking lot of a restaurant that is still going in the present. Sean never wants to return to the future. Well, we know there's going to be a complication and there is. Sean is in the past for two weeks (he thinks) but suddenly yanked back to the present, where he has to prove that he was actually in the past, and not just in a virtual-reality device, as he is told.
There are so many holes in this plot that suspending disbelief - as one has to do in time-travel books - just does not work. The explanation for his time traveling is awkwardly handled, and barely plausible. And the happily-ever-after ending just made my jaw drop b/c of its ridiculousness. But my MAJOR complaint is that this book is very overtly Christian w/ fully-quoted Bible texts and a conversion episode for Sean. It's fine that Rita is a Christian woman and takes Sean to church w/ her, but w/ the very-adult marital rape episode and the violence at the beginning of the book, the Bible texts just really didn't fit in well w/ the story, IMHO. Please do not get the impression that I do not like overtly-Christian books, b/c if I know that going in, and the Christianity is integral to the plot: fine. It just does not work in this story to me.
So, if you don't care about ginormous plot holes, enjoy this VERY "Back-to-the-Future" book. With Sean's return to 1958; the emphasis on the music of the era (which I DID enjoy!); his meeting an attractive girl - the salute to the movie is very overt. I even pictured Michael J. Fox and Lea Thompson in my head while reading it!
I rounded up to two stars on my rating, b/c many of the scenes are really very gripping so the author can write suspensefully at least. I'm sorry that I just CAN'T rate this book any higher, no matter all the other reviews.
May 13, 2015
I don't know if anyone will ever read this review but if so, it's bound to upset some people. Sorry about that.
I would have given this book a 5 star rating but for one simple thing. There is a huge amount of Christian religiosity throughout the book. While that might be a positive aspect for many people, it isn't for me. I am not a Christian and don't particularly have any interest in Christian themed material. If I had known that in advance I probably would have skipped this book altogether.
I bought this book because all the official blurbs I read at Amazon and at Goodreads.com described a time-travel based science fiction story, the sort of story I typically enjoy. What I didn't enjoy was the extent to which Christian prayer, church, characters determining whether or not to trust someone based on if they were Christian or not, dominated portions of the book. I felt that was unnecessary and it did nothing to advance the plot in this story.
I realize that religion is an important part of many people's lives and, in general, I think this is a positive thing. But when the religion of one group is thrust onto others who don't hold the same beliefs, then I have an issue. It doesn't matter which religion it is.
By not specifically drawing attention to the religious nature of parts of this story, the author has done a disservice to those who do not believe as he does. If a story contained unrestrained sexual activity, it would be appropriate to point that out and indicate that it might not be to everyone's taste. The reader could choose to buy or not buy that book. I feel the same amount of discretion should be applied in cases of over the top religiosity. Let the buyer know what is contained in the book.
I would have given this book a 5 star rating but for one simple thing. There is a huge amount of Christian religiosity throughout the book. While that might be a positive aspect for many people, it isn't for me. I am not a Christian and don't particularly have any interest in Christian themed material. If I had known that in advance I probably would have skipped this book altogether.
I bought this book because all the official blurbs I read at Amazon and at Goodreads.com described a time-travel based science fiction story, the sort of story I typically enjoy. What I didn't enjoy was the extent to which Christian prayer, church, characters determining whether or not to trust someone based on if they were Christian or not, dominated portions of the book. I felt that was unnecessary and it did nothing to advance the plot in this story.
I realize that religion is an important part of many people's lives and, in general, I think this is a positive thing. But when the religion of one group is thrust onto others who don't hold the same beliefs, then I have an issue. It doesn't matter which religion it is.
By not specifically drawing attention to the religious nature of parts of this story, the author has done a disservice to those who do not believe as he does. If a story contained unrestrained sexual activity, it would be appropriate to point that out and indicate that it might not be to everyone's taste. The reader could choose to buy or not buy that book. I feel the same amount of discretion should be applied in cases of over the top religiosity. Let the buyer know what is contained in the book.
September 18, 2017
I've never read a Scott McElhaney book before this one - I'm going to check out his other offerings I liked this one so much. If you are a fan of Nicholas Sparks, I can see some shadings of similarity in their writing styles.
McElhaney quickly grabs your interest in the main character and you feel sympathy for him as he is facing challenges at home with an abusive father. Mix in a bit of the "what if" aspects of time travel and young love, and you have an interesting story that I couldn't put down - I didn't, and stayed up too late last night to finish this one. I like the way he left part of the ending leaving the possibility of a sequel.
McElhaney quickly grabs your interest in the main character and you feel sympathy for him as he is facing challenges at home with an abusive father. Mix in a bit of the "what if" aspects of time travel and young love, and you have an interesting story that I couldn't put down - I didn't, and stayed up too late last night to finish this one. I like the way he left part of the ending leaving the possibility of a sequel.
December 27, 2017
The Moon
I just loved the concept of time travel. Add a little romance and the Fifties, and it becomes a hit. The singles provided at the end, made my husband smile and wanting a CD now. It should become a movie as many would enjoy it.
I just loved the concept of time travel. Add a little romance and the Fifties, and it becomes a hit. The singles provided at the end, made my husband smile and wanting a CD now. It should become a movie as many would enjoy it.
April 4, 2022
Excellent! Heart warming!
March 19, 2012
Found this book via Ereader News Today...finished it in one day! It could easily be a Young Adult novel. Time travel, teen love, domestic issues...all hold your attention and make for a nice story. Does have a heavy Christian influence in some parts. Would recommend.
July 29, 2012
This story kept me glued to my Kindle from start to finish. I loved the easy going dialogue, the images and the sensations. Time travel with a difference. A great read. Could really see this as a movie.
May 12, 2012
Finished this in less than a day. It was a bit too easy, a little preachy, but OK.
May 25, 2012
Easy read with imagination.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews