The Jolt

by Alex Woolf

'I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun reading a mystery/romance story.' Reader review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Time fractures. Two lives collide.

On a train journey, two strangers, Susie and Ryan, strike up a conversation. Soon afterwards, a mysterious jolt shakes the carriage and both of them black out. When they wake up, it’s still the same train—but somehow, twelve months have passed.

When Susie returns home, she finds evidence of a man sharing her flat and her bed. Ryan, just as bewildered, turns up at her door to discover he’s now her live-in lover. Susie’s friends and family have welcomed Ryan into their lives. The problem is, neither of them remembers falling in love.

As Susie and Ryan grow closer, they must ask what exactly happened to them on the train? Where have they been for the last twelve months? And if the Jolt brought them together, could it just as easily take everything away again?

Join Susie and Ryan on a journey through time, where every decision reveals a deeper mystery, and every moment challenges what they thought they knew—about their past, their future, and each other.

What readers are saying about The

'A highly intriguing book that you can’t put down until you finally understand what is happening.' Reader review

'An emotional roller-coaster in which attraction and suspicion fight in [the characters'] minds, leading to a frightening resolution.' Reader review

'The plot was intriguing, and the author ratcheted up the tension masterfully throughout the whole novel. Many times I thought that I understood what was happening, only to find myself lost again with another twist and turn.' Reader review

'This book had me gripped from the first page. The female protagonist was intriguing and flawed, yet you were rooting for her throughout.' Reader review

'I loved The Jolt and found it almost impossible to put down!' Reader review

'This is a page turner from the start and the reader is in for a rollercoaster ride.' Reader review

'The characters ... are completely believable, and their inner thoughts, emotions, and reactions feel completely natural.' Reader review

'The icing on the cake was the attention to detail in the descriptions of their surroundings, to the extent that I felt I was actually there, observing the events described.' Reader review

'If you are looking for a contemporary romance novel flavored with a touch of magical realism and time travel, The Jolt by Alex Woolf is a great pick.' Reader review

'I loved how, through the personal struggles of both Ryan and Susie, Woolf displays the multifaceted nature of relationships, rubbishing the notion that relationships are all happy and fun.' Reader review

'Alex Woolf’s The Jolt is a fast-paced and compelling read' Reader review

'There are many pleasing descriptions, sharp observations and deft touches of humour. The will-they, won't they romcom strand and the growing chemistry between our lead pair is absorbing.' Reader review

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 2026

About the author

Alex Woolf is a prolific, award-winning author of books for adults and children. In his non-fiction he has written on subjects as diverse as sharks, robots, asteroids, flying reptiles and chocolate. His novels span a range of genres, including crime, mystery, science fiction, historical fiction, steampunk and horror.

Alex is a regular author for Fiction Express, online publishers of interactive stories for schools. Fiction Express is read by more than 150,000 students from 20 countries. Two of his stories have won reader awards. In 2021, he won the prestigious ASE award for his non-fiction book Think Like a Scientist. His horror novel, Soul Shadows, was shortlisted for the Falkirk Red Book Award. Bestselling crime author Peter James described his novel Aldo Moon as “a real delight, witty, ghostly and at times deliciously ghastly”.

Reviews

[Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unpredictable, Unputdownable, Unbelievably Good



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💜❤️💚🩷
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😋😀😍☺️😎

Book Review: The Jolt: A Time Slip Romance

Author: Alex Woolf
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Characters and Plot Dynamics

Susie boards a train to Pottersfield with one mission: apologize to her former best friend Phoebe and hope that a peace offering of chocolate might be enough to mend the damage she caused months earlier. Her guilt is heavy, but her optimism is stubborn, at least until she starts oversharing with a stranger who promptly moves seats to escape her chatter.

Then Ryan sits down. Charming, handsome, and seemingly interested, he listens as Susie rambles about a homeless woman who gifted her a supposedly magical crystal. But Susie’s habit of blurting out whatever crosses her mind quickly sabotages the moment. She comments on not picking up after himself, his shirt stain, even his hair. Ryan flees to another train car long before his stop, leaving Susie deflated and convinced the day is doomed.

From Ryan’s perspective, Susie is infuriatingly perceptive, too perceptive. Her comments about his hygiene, his job, and his wasted potential hit uncomfortably close to home. His girlfriend Megan would never say such things, even if Susie wasn’t wrong. But before either of them can fully process their irritation, the train barrels into a curve at the wrong speed. A violent jolt, a flash of force, and both of them lose consciousness.

When they wake, nothing is the same. A full year has passed, one they lived but cannot remember. And now they must piece together the lives they apparently built without any memory of doing so.

Highlights

• The premise is wonderfully original. Instead of a typical time jump or amnesia trope, the story blends paranormal mystery with character‑driven discovery. Susie and Ryan didn’t just lose a year, they lived it, changed during it, and now must confront the consequences of choices they don’t remember making.
• Watching them uncover the details of their missing year is addictive. The more they learn, the more they’re pulled into these unfamiliar versions of their own lives. Their initial instinct is to reclaim the past, but the present keeps tugging them forward in unexpected ways.
• I appreciated that neither character even considers telling friends or family about the missing year at the beginning. They know exactly how unbelievable it sounds, and that grounded reaction made the paranormal element feel even more compelling.
• The plot becomes increasingly unpredictable in the best way. Every reveal deepens the mystery and reshapes the emotional stakes. I genuinely had no idea where the story was heading, and that sense of discovery kept me fully invested.

Limitations

• There were moments I wished had unfolded differently, particularly Ryan moving out of Susie’s place and the fallout that followed. But even those choices ultimately strengthened the story’s unpredictability and emotional complexity. They felt intentional, not arbitrary.

Final Assessment

This book is a rare blend of originality, emotional depth, and narrative boldness. What begins as an awkward, almost comedic encounter between two strangers evolves into a layered exploration of identity, consequence, and the strange elasticity of time. Susie and Ryan are flawed in ways that feel deeply human and watching them navigate the aftermath of a year they can’t remember is both gripping and surprisingly moving.

The story’s unpredictability is its greatest strength. It refuses to follow familiar beats, instead trusting the reader to embrace the uncertainty right alongside the characters. By the end, I wasn’t just intrigued, I was genuinely invested in who Susie and Ryan were becoming, both separately and together.

Overall, this is a compelling, inventive, and emotionally resonant read that stands out for its originality and its willingness to take risks. It’s the kind of story that lingers long after the final page.

Quotes

“In the four and a bit hours since she left this flat to go to Pottersfield, some guy or guys she didn’t know had broken in, ordered and eaten pizza for two, done a load of laundry and installed their piano - just the thought of how this big instrument could have been manoeuvred up the narrow staircase boggled her mind.”

“What if we were living here in this flat, you and me, but we’ve forgotten it? Twelve months of memories wiped.”

‘Had she said any more outrageous things? There was no way of knowing what her mouth was capable of. It had behaved reasonably well with Ryan just now, apart from assaulting him with questions and commands when he first arrived, and she may have called him mad at one point, and corrected his grammar at another, but there were extenuating circumstances.”

“I thought you were better than this,” she added, and he sighed. Ah yes, that one. “You went for a trope as old as Adam and Eve. The temptress, the enchantress, the siren, the witch. When your life goes wrong, who do you blame? The woman. We’re in a fix, you and me, not of our own making, so what do we do? Do we help and support each other through it, or do we turn on each other? I really thought you were one of the good guys. It seems I was wrong.”

“Ryan was aware, as he was talking, that both Phoebe and Zac seemed to have lost muscle control in their lower jaws, and that their eyeballs seemed to be slowly pushing themselves out of their faces. Had he said too much? Probably.”

I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

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[Bharath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A set of charming characters, and a nice plot innovation. The setting offered more potential though.

Susie boards a train; on the way to see her friend Phoebe to apologise and resolve the rift in their friendship. She meets handsome Ryan on the train. They get talking. Ryan writes songs while she creates word puzzles for a living. Susie shows Ryan a crystal given to her by a homeless lady, who later died. They experience a jolt on the train (later revealed to be a derailment with no known loss of life). Susie gets off at Potterfield, does not see Ryan who was to get off at the same station. She finds her friend Phoebe not at her place and returns. Susie finds her house quite different - there are pizza boxes and men's clothes. Ryan finds the museum he was visiting to be closed. When he returns, he finds someone else has been staying at the place he had rented for the last 9 months. Ryan soon turns up at Susie’s place and they find that a year has passed since they took the train. Ryan somehow has broken up with his girlfriend Megan and moved in with Susie. Both turn to their friends – Phoebe & Zac to see if they can provide some answers.

I liked all the characters in the book – especially Susie and Ryan, who are a charming pair. They do waste a lot of pages beating around the bush though! The time slip offers some good possibilities for the story – what really happened in the year they missed? The book does capitalize on it, though there was more potential.

Overall, an easy feel-good story with a nice set of characters.

My rating: 3.75 / 5.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher AW Publishing and the author for a free electronic review copy.

[A.M. Loughrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex Woolf’s The Jolt is a fast-paced and compelling read with few distractions from the central mystery of how they lost their memory. Although the story begins along familiar lines where two strangers meet with conflicting personalities, it quickly takes an intriguing turn, which adds depth and emotional impact.

On a train journey, our two protagonists, Susie and Ryan, begin a casual conversation. Moments later, a mysterious jolt shakes the carriage and both of them lose consciousness. When they wake, they are still on the same train, but twelve months have somehow passed. When Susie returns home, she finds evidence of a man sharing her flat and her bed. Ryan, equally confused, arrives at her door to discover he is now her live-in partner.

The novel’s central idea, a time slip, which leaves the protagonists with no memory of a year of their lives, forms the heart of the story. Alex handles this concept with great skill, using Susie and Ryan’s shared confusion to draw readers into their disorientation and vulnerability.

Friends and family treat their relationship as completely normal, yet neither of them remembers falling in love. As Susie and Ryan grow closer, they are forced to confront the unsettling truth of what happened on the train, the mystery of where they have been for the past year, and the possibility the jolt, which brought them together, might yet tear them apart. Each recovered memory feels immediate and powerful, allowing the reader to experience Susie’s and Ryan’s emotional turmoil in a deeply personal way.

The tension builds steadily throughout, leading to a dramatic and satisfying climax by the river. The subtle use of the paranormal, centred on the mysterious green crystal, adds an intriguing dimension without overwhelming the human drama. The time-slip element and the suggestion the crystal’s effects echo experiences faced by women across history, provides a thoughtful and unexpected layer of meaning.

The characterisation is particularly strong. The ‘will they, won’t they’ dynamic between Susie and Ryan feels authentic and their contrasting personalities, such as his untidiness and her tendency to speak without thinking, make them both believable and relatable. Their relationship demonstrates how opposites can attract and in doing so, help each other to grow. Alex portrays love not as a simple or idealised emotion but as a complex, evolving bond shaped by personal struggles and self-discovery.

The attention to detail in the descriptions of setting and atmosphere makes each scene easy to visualise and adds to the novel’s immersive quality.

If you enjoy time-slip contemporary romance infused with paranormal elements, The Jolt is an excellent choice. It offers an emotional journey where attraction and suspicion constantly compete, leaving Susie and Ryan uncertain of their feelings and of the truth about their shared past.

[backy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Jolt (more accurately, jolts) by Alex Woolf is a breezy love story set in present-day England in which some very strange events, involving slips in time, happen to some of the main characters. Although the story breaks down in a few places, especially near the end, the dialogue and prose are engaging, frequently witty and humorous, and the attention to detail is impressive (if occasionally excessive, in my opinion). It’s a fun way to spend a couple of afternoons or evenings if you enjoy lighthearted stories in which no one dies (well, almost no one) and the characters don’t have to save the world … perhaps only themselves.

Besides the slip-ups in the plot, one thing troubled me: one of the main characters talks with a sibling about the possibility of having Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), a very serious condition that calls for professional help. But here, it's “... something that, with self-discipline and a little luck, could be kept at bay.”

Note: This book is recommended for Mature (18+) readers due to some expletives and adult themes.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea of a memory lapse is what drew me to this book. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about the main character, Susie, at first. She was annoying, seemed superficial, and just grated on me. But as the story went on, and I learned more about her and saw her interactions with other characters, she began to grow on me. She had a lot more depth than I first gave her credit for.

I enjoyed reading as she and Ryan navigated through their lives, trying to figure out where their lost time had gone and what had happened. In the end, the only thing that truly bugged me was the last names of the characters, which often seemed a too made up.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Aishah K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, this book is such a cool, original take on that whole "lost time" idea. I really loved following Susie and Ryan as they try to piece together a whole year they apparently lived but somehow can't remember, their dynamic is just so human and charming, even when they're totally confused. I have to say though, I was pretty sad it didn't have a dedication; I always look for those first because they’re like the "entry gate" to the story for me, and I care about them a lot, so it felt a bit empty without one. Even though some of the setting's potentail felt a bit missed and I wished it explored the world more, the unpredictability of this unique setup kept me kenly invested until the very last page.

[Gabi Maddocks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me gripped from the first page. The female protagonist was intriguing and flawed, yet you were rooting for her throughout.
Woolf created a universe almost like our own… just with a little more magic!
It’s fast-paced, with enough twists and turns to keep you interested - you here’s always a question you HAVE to know the answer to. The ending is satisfying and conclusive. Thoroughly recommend… in fact I might just pick it up again for a second read!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story. I enjoyed it. I love time travel stories, especially if romance is involved.
This is not a typical time travel as ones i've read. The author calls it a Time Slip romance. I'm not toally sure I undestand the concept of Time Slip, very differenct but I'm going to have to dig up some ore works labeled Time Slip, It took some crazy twists, but definitely kept my interest. Overall I really enjoyed it. The author has a previous work also referred to as Time Slip. I may have to dig up a cooy ofit. If you like Time Travel/ Slip stories, with some good romance, I recommend it1

[Diane Richmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book a fascinating read, with its many twists and turns. Did they exchange places with people pretending to be them, and were their substitutes kinder than them, or more deadly?

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.