Timeshare

Timeshare #1

by Joshua Dann

During a trip back in time to 1940 to bring a reluctant client back to the future, ex-LAPD cop John Surrey, an employee of Timeshare Unlimited, a time-travel agency, becomes embroiled with Althea, who leads him into a perilous scheme that could change the past, present, and future. Original.

Genres: Time Travel, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

249 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of Time and Again in many ways - the premise, the pacing and the prose. I particularly enjoyed how the potential paradoxes of time travel were handled. The mechanics were only briefly described, so like many time travel stories, this is very soft science fiction.

While some of the situations are a little unbelievable, they aren't so far fetched as to be impossible. I could readily imagine the Hollywood denizens described, even if I don't know which films they were or weren't a part of.

Joshua Dann has very few books published, and none in my local library. At first glance, the reviews for this book were fairly negative. I completely disagree - this book was not amazing, but I really liked it. I will seek out the sequel (which is unfortunately equally inaccessible).

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about time travel, romance, history and Hollywood. I first purchased this book when it came out and liked it more the second time I read it (this is the third time). The two sequels are quite good but don't quite compare. The book's protagonist, John Surrey, works for a travel agency that sends people into the past for vacations. He's the guy who goes back to get the vacationers who don't want to come back to the present (not violently, I might add - Surrey is a very decent guy). Surrey loves his job for a variety of reasons - he majored in history (and later became a police officer in Los Angeles). The book begins in Surrey's present of 2006 (the book itself was published in 1997 but its view of the early 21st Century isn't completely off - although author Joshua Dann doesn't seem to like a world where far far left ideas run the country - wonder what he thinks of where we are now thirty years after having written the book). Dann really nails the different eras Surrey visits. The Hollywood of 1940 is a hoot while also managing to be somewhat wistful (and Surrey actually does manage to change certain things in the past which is pretty cool and not often done in other time travel books). The woman he falls in love with, a young British actress in 1940 named Althea, is a character that many people reading the book will fall in love with as well - a strong, incredibly intelligent woman with what they used to call "a sparkling wit" is a terrific character whom you miss whenever she's not directly involved in the story. Surrey visits other times as well (his visit to the Whiskey a Go Go in 1966 where he meets Jim Morrison is like something out of a dream) and, again, Dann nails the time period perfectly. The book is told from Surrey's point of view and he makes one statement early on which stuck with me - how the real difference he sees in people from earlier decades is that they had hope - something we no longer have - is so damned true it hurt reading it. A wonderful "soft" science fiction book that ignores the "science" of how time travel works and instead concentrates on the historical periods visited and, most importantly, the characters involved.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a far cry from the care and craft taken by the time-travel greats like Poul Anderson or Robert Silverberg, but Joshua Dann creates a fun wish-fulfillment romp with blatant disregard for the brain-twisting paradoxes that usually create the tension in this waning genre. Who cares about the butterfly effect when you get a chance to mingle as equals with Bogie and the Duke, or listen to Jim Morrison lay some eerie back-stage prophecies on your stoned mind? Timeshare is entertaining as a story and Dann has a fine ear for dialogue.

[Kathi Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

I love love love time travel books but it is so darn difficult to find a good one in the era of self publishing. And I speak as an Indy author myself.
I stumbled on this book in a used book store and started reading in the aisle. I had to drag myself out of the story in order to get home. When I got home I purchased the kindle version as well as the print book.
If you like time travel books but prefer them to be well done and readable get this one. You're welcome.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written like a wish-fulfillment fanfic - the protagonist wins and is admired and celebrated in every situation and always cleverly defeats the bad guys. Fun for its depiction of 1940s Hollywood, but would have been a lot better if the protagonist was a more interesting (and less sexist) character who was less obviously an avatar for the author.

[Tawnos76 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed more like a day in the life and not a very interesting one. Does not make for a intro to a series and feels like if it were a series then it is the filler episode that can be missed easily and still keep up with the story.

[Anonymouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1997 book has not aged well. The her is an ex-cop and everything he does comes out rather ok, no matter what stretches the author has to make to make it so. It's a quick read without much substance.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, I'm actually surprised it was never made into a movie! Great plot, great idea.

[James Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun book to read. I would definitely recommend it.

[Andy W Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the premise of this novel, a travel agency which sells vacations in time to wealthy clients. Tour guide John Surrey, an ex-LAPD cop, becomes the first man to travel in time. His first assignment is to test the age old paradox, can time travel alter history. His goal - get a bit part in a 1940 s Hollywood movie. If he shows up on film in present day, history can be changed. Surrey s trip to 1940 Hollywood finds him socializing with John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart, while being embroiled in World War II espionage with the likes of James Bond author Ian Fleming and spy William Stephenson (a.k.a. Intrepid). John also manages to find time to make side trips to visit Jim Morrison and the Doors at the Whiskey A Go-Go circa 1966, 1957 Hollywood and a 1978 Disco in Hermosa Beach California. [return][return]Full Review Here - http://www.timetravelreviews.com/book...

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the sort of book I probably shouldn't admit to reading, but it only cost me 50 cents and a few hours of my life... It's an entertaining read, but it's extremely shallow. It is technically inconsistent. It doesn't address anything even remotely serious. It leaves a number of rather important issues without any conclusion...

Really it reads like an adolescent fantasy: some guy who loves old 50's movies, and thinks it would be cool to write a book about somehow being able to meet 50's movie stars and hook up with one of them...

...like I said, I probably shouldn't admit to the fact that I actually finished this book...

[Katrin]

I just signed back into my account in 2015. I don't remember this book, even after reading the synopsis. I can't even give it a rating. Does that suffice as a review?