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Collision

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This is a fast action story that starts with a collision between a UFO and a US prototype spy plane at 150,000 feet on the edge of space. The spy plane is destroyed, but the UFO bounces off and flies across the Atlantic and appears to crash land on a beach in Northern England, only to disappear minutes after. MI6 are called upon to investigate and liaise with the CIA to find the missing UFO. The only clue is a mysterious cat women who was seen by a witness on the beach.

The following morning, a young woman wakes up in a service station after sleeping there over night. Memories of her escape the night before flood into her mind. Her only chance of returning home is to find a scientist who shares her field of research and persuade him to help her.

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2012

17 people are currently reading
266 people want to read

About the author

J.M.J. Williamson

7 books21 followers
I grew up in York, graduated in economics from Hull University, and then moved to London to make a career as a charted accountant working for one of the world's largest firms of chartered accountants.

I am now retired living in Bedfordshire and pursuing what I love most - writing. I love sci-fi movies and books, and I love writing. It was therefore not surprising that my first three novels would be sci- fi.

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5 stars
21 (51%)
4 stars
10 (24%)
3 stars
5 (12%)
2 stars
3 (7%)
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2 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Christie.
264 reviews16 followers
January 20, 2014
I was given the book Collision by John Williamson in exchange for an honest book review. I had Mr. Williamson in a forum for authors on www.goodreads.com. After a brief discussion regarding his book, I had agreed that I would be interested in seeing what he had penned. Prior to this encounter, I had not heard of anything by Mr. Williamson, so I was pretty excited to see what all he had to say.

This was a really quick read for me. I was able to finish this book in less than 24 hours. I don’t know if it was the fact that the topic just interested me or that I’m a fast reader, but I was able to whiz through this book pretty fast.

Collision is a sci-fi book with a twist of romance thrown in. At first, when I started the book, I didn’t know what to think. We have Ben Turner, a Senior Lecturer and a researcher of particle physics, who lives in 2011. He’s had a really awful past few months. The love of his life Cindy has taken off to South Africa and has fallen in love with someone else. He is struggling to get backing from the University for his research in particle physics. Then to top everything off, he’s now living with his sister.

Elle Masters, lives in 2046, is also working on particle physics and works on Tachyons particles. She has just gotten the job of a lifetime. She’s studying and trying to crack the actual code to access time travel. They have a machine built, but it’s the coding that has everyone stumped. Without the coding, the time travel process is too unpredictable.

It’s when Elle witnesses a murder that makes her run for her life. Finding the only place to hid, inside the time traveling machine, she panics. The murderer has seen her and is after her. Next thing she knows, the machine has been activated and she is off to some unknown location and time.
Ben is taking a run on the beach when he sees this flash of blue, then a craft in the air. Then it’s gone. Next thing he knows, he’s ambushed by military men taking him in to be questioned. Not knowing what he saw in the air, he is drilled, tested and drilled some more. Did he see a UFO? Was it an airplane? He has no clue, but the military wants to know what it was.

Elle finds that she has travelled to back to 2011. She’s not even born yet. She is now hiding on a beach and is watching some man being hauled in by a swarm of military men. Scared for her life, she has only her backpack and computer to get her away. Turning on her computer she is directed to find a man name Ben Turner, he will be able to help figure this all out.

In the confusion of all this, the murderer has also travelled back into time. Elle is on a quest to return to her on time. But while in the past, she encounters Ben and things take an unexpected turn. She makes friends and has to figure out what’s more important to her. Her decisions are not easy. Does she try and save her new found friends or continue in her quest to return back to her own time.

The author does a great job at making sure you’re not confused with so much back and forth. There is a lot of information thrown around but, everything is pretty clear cut and easy to follow. Unlike with some sci-fi time traveling and complicated math, this isn’t over your head.

What I loved about this story is how the characters start to meet and work together. With several characters in this story, the way they all intertwine is really great. You’re not left wondering, how is everyone actually going to fit together?

Another thing that I got excited about in this book was the math. I worked as an accountant and love math. So, when the author started talking about numbers, the nerd in my jumped up and down for joy. Now it’s nothing complex, just a bunch of equations that the characters are working on. But for that inner nerd in me, I love a good story that always incorporates math…WELL DONE MR. WILLIAMSON!

The story does have some sex written into it, but he handles it very tastefully. I don’t like reading erotic stories. But the way the author handled the sex scenes was very well done. Nothing was over the top or weird. It was written to where it wouldn’t offend anyone or cause embarrassment.

I’m so glad that I stumbled upon this author and his book. It was a great read that made my imagination wander. I enjoyed every minute!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
79 reviews4 followers
October 23, 2020
A great book about an "alien" spacecraft crashing into a billion dollar space craft. The craft then lands in the UK, in the middle of the night, on the beach surprising two men, one walking his dog and the other out running. One of them then sees a woman in a tight cat costume coming out of the craft. Then the government kidnaps the men to find out what they have seen. A sci-fi thriller about the woman's journey to fix her craft and find her way home, with 3 world powers after her, some willing to do whatever it takes to get access to her craft.
Profile Image for John T Henry.
13 reviews
January 4, 2019
Very interesting story. It started slowly and I wasn't sure I would enjoy it, but it started to pick up around chapter 5. The main characters and settings were vividly described and I felt like I had a clear picture of the narrative.
31 reviews
January 24, 2019
Really great book

Enjoyable novel. An action packed love story. wrapped in the guise of a sci-fi time travel story. I really enjoyed it.
15 reviews1 follower
February 14, 2019
A very good story

I rated this give stars because I liked the imagination that went into it. The characters were predictable, but entertsining.
68 reviews2 followers
October 22, 2020
Delightful

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a delightful UFO & time travel adventure with all the necessary ingredients to provide a satisfying read.
Profile Image for Rita Monticelli.
Author 20 books141 followers
June 12, 2015
Scroll down for the English version.

Troppa distanza in questi viaggi nel tempo

Non fatevi ingannare dal fatto che l’autore indichi che si tratta di “science fiction romance”. Addirittura questa informazione è riportata dentro il libro stesso. Questo non è un romanzo rosa di fantascienza, ma un romanzo di fantascienza con elementi romantici. Il motivo è semplice: la trama si reggerebbe da sola anche senza il coinvolgimento romantico fra i due protagonisti. Secondo me, questo è un punto a favore per il libro che ci presenta una storia di viaggi nel tempo molto interessante e ben strutturata. C’è azione, suspense, avventura, elementi fantascientifici, ma anche sentimento.
Personalmente non avrei battuto su quest’ultimo aspetto nel catalogare il libro, poiché è proprio qui che l’autore riesce meno a coinvolgere il lettore. Ho trovato molto difficile l’immedesimazione nei due personaggi principali. Il costante uso di verbi filtro e del raccontato (al posto del mostrato) mi ha dato l’impressione che qualcuno, un narratore esterno, mi stesse raccontando una storia, invece di avere a che fare con dei personaggi che me la mostrano. La sensazione di distanza è continua in tutto il romanzo e, sebbene la storia sia molto ben pensata, non è riuscita a prendermi, proprio per questo motivo.
Un’altra cosa che ho trovato abbastanza ridicola è il continuo uso di eufemismi per evitare le parolacce (per esempio il reiterato uso di “dam”, che vuol dire diga, al posto di “damn”, cioè dannazione, è assolutamente fastidioso). È assurdo, per esempio, che un’agente della CIA pronta a torturare le persone per avere informazioni (tra l’altro ho trovato questo personaggio talmente sopra le righe da essere grottesco e poco credibile) usi eufemismi. Ciò ha contribuito non poco a minare la sospensione dell’incredulità.
Per tutti questi motivi, non posso andare oltre le quattro stelle, ma si tratta comunque di un libro interessante.




Too much distance in these time travels

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the author indicates that it is “science fiction romance”. This information is even given inside the book. This is not a science fiction romance novel, but a science fiction novel with romantic elements. The reason is simple: the plot will hold up on its own even without the romantic involvement between the two protagonists. In my opinion, this is a plus for the book that presents a very interesting and well structured time travel story. There is action, suspense, adventure, science fiction elements, but also feelings.
Personally I wouldn’t have insisted on the latter in labelling the book, because it is here that the author fails to engage the reader. I found it very difficult to identify in the two main characters. The constant use of filter verbs and telling (instead of showing) gave me the impression that someone, an external narrator, was telling a story, instead of having to deal with characters showing it to me. The sense of distance is continuous throughout the novel, and although the story is very well thought out, it failed to engage me, just for this reason.
Another thing I found quite ridiculous is the continued use of euphemisms to avoid the foul language (for example, the repeated use of “dam” instead of “damn” is absolutely annoying). It is absurd, for example, that a CIA agent willing to torture people to get information (by the way I found this character so over the top as to be grotesque and implausible) uses euphemisms. This greatly contributed to undermining the suspension of disbelief.
For all these reasons, I cannot go beyond the four stars, but it is still a good book.
Profile Image for Pennie.
Author 62 books66 followers
March 4, 2015
A back drop to a science fiction romance in modern day era leaves a UFO colliding with a US spy plane at 150,000 feet. The UFO survived the crash and has gone down some where in England. No spoilers here.

The situation in 'Collision' grows complicated with an immense and complex thrill seeking adventure. It gives way to strong characters and constant action with a little romance thrown in for good measure. An inventive approach to intriguing events lace an epic journey into the unknown.
The plot is rich and thick with detail that is fully entrenched in non stop action.
So grab some coffee and sit back and enjoy this unexpected twist of events through scandal, governmental ploys, while a mysterious cat woman makes her appearance.
Profile Image for a cup of coffee and a fairytale.
54 reviews5 followers
January 2, 2014
i received this book in exchange for an honest review on amazon. so here is what i think.

i am not a great fan of sci-fi. the reason being the loop holes in the books that are often seen. i also find few of the concepts not interesting enough. this book, for a change has changed my perception of a sci-fi book. i loves the concept!! its very interesting. the lead character is very gripping. the writing is also very simple. you do not need to be a science geek to understand the book. romantic angle also adds the spice needed to the book. well thought out. i would recommend the book with four stars. looking forward to read more books by the author.
Profile Image for Jeana.
29 reviews18 followers
August 11, 2016
I was expecting this to be a more traditional sci-fi book, so I was a little disappointed when it turned out differently. I enjoyed the plot and most of the characters but I didn't ever fall in love with the story. It is an enjoyable read.
10 reviews
April 8, 2014
It Was an interesting read finished after two days the more interesting a book the faster I finish it a little bit of all the right things to keep it interesting.received free from goodreads
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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