Scramble

by Travis Starnes

You Can Never Outrun the PastWhen fifteen-year-old Blake awakens with vivid memories of a life he's never lived, he discovers he possesses knowledge of future events that could change everything. Armed with these insights Blake must navigate the treacherous waters of high school while grappling with an impossible question. How do you use knowledge of the future responsibly?

As he attempts to help his friends Li and Eduardo achieve their dreams while building his own path to a football scholarship, Blake discovers that changing the future comes with unexpected consequences and that some problems can't be solved with foreknowledge alone. His mother's deteriorating health, his brother's increasingly dangerous behavior, and the complex dynamics of teenage relationships prove that the future is far more fragile than he imagined.

In the second half of his freshman years. Blake must learn that true leadership isn't about having all the answers, it's about making the right choices when the stakes are the highest.

Genres: Time Travel

511 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 16, 2025

About the author

Travis writes science fiction, fantasy, and thriller novels (and the occasional coming-of-age story), with the hope of transporting and enthralling readers. Publishing novels since 2015, Travis’s passion is creating worlds and characters that live and breathe, and experiencing the joy of those stories with his readers.

When not writing, Travis enjoys connecting with readers and other writers, managing the popular Complete Marvel Reading Order website, where he works on his other passion for comics and graphic novels, and spending time with his family.

Reviews

[Daniel Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so riveted by the first book that I immediately broke my hard fast rule to not read two books from the same author in a row to keep myself from just reading everything by an author and then having nothing to read because I only found one new author and now I read all of their books.

I also read it quicker than I intended because I could not put this thing down. He keeps surprising me with how things work and do not work out for our protagonist.

I should add, if you have not read book 1 go back read it, do not start here you need to read these in order. I am also going to mention something that is a spoiler of sorts for book 1 so please stop reading here if you have not yet read book 1.

I was so impressed with the idea of a time travel book where the person has not accepted that they traveled in time. By this book he has accepted that his "dream life" was somehow real, but he has not fully accepted that he is in fact living his high school years over. I also loved how he learned pretty quickly that he was not as great of a player as he had in his own mind. In other books where a person has lived, died and is now repeating, they usually get more than one try but I do not think that is going to happen with this series.

I am not going to start reading book 3. I am getting old and my eyes do not re-adjust as rapidly after reading for hours and this series is so riveting that I have to make sure that I am in for the night when I start reading because I know that I wont be putting it down which means it takes longer to read but I might just stay in tomorrow just so I can spend the day reading, waiting on book 4 is going to be brutal though!

[Rolando R Lazo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read

I found this a very entertaining story. The games are detailed, MC's problems off the field are realistic, and thenot-getting-rich-quuck more believable than other rags-to-riches stories I've read.

[Dragos Macelaru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

What would you do, given the chance to re-live your life?
Very well written story about the hard work needed to succeed, even when you know the obstacles that will come your way.
Looking forward to the next book in the series!

[Brian C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series

I haven’t ever read Starnes before but started the first book in the series. Loved it have now finished the second and ready to start the 3rd. Great story, great characters definitely recommend reading. Nice job Travis Starnes!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story

Really enjoyed it. Look forward to the next book. I hope it won’t be too long with all the series you’re writing. 😊 Thank you!

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

Nice to read something that is just not all action and drama! Next book please!!!! The story is very satisfying. Read it!