Time Shift: Operation Babylonian

by Thomas Kehoe

What if America’s most advanced warship was sent back to 1941—not to stop World War II, but to guarantee it happens?

Time Shift is a genre-bending military thriller that launches the USS John C. Stennis—a nuclear-powered supercarrier and her 6,000-member crew—back to the week after Pearl Harbor as part of a desperate covert mission. Code-named Operation Babylonian, their objective is brutally use future knowledge and 21st-century technology to shape the coming war so that humanity survives it.

Captain Harsh Yoder must forge an alliance with Roosevelt, Churchill, and America’s 1942 high command, revealing technologies they can scarcely jet fighters, stealth aircraft, precision missiles, advanced medicine, and satellite-driven intelligence. But as the Allies plan radical new strategies, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union begin adapting as well—and the future starts slipping away.

While global powers maneuver, the crew faces their own unraveling. A mysterious cellular degeneration spreads through the ship. A Navy SEAL battles trauma and guilt. A priest confronts the cost of modern warfare. And Pete Peters, a time-displaced NSA analyst, risks everything to save a woman trapped in a violent 1940s marriage—altering both of their destinies in ways he cannot predict.

As the Stennis reshapes the battlefield, the world races toward a future far more volatile than the one they left behind.

Epic in scale, intimate in its characters, and relentless in momentum, Time Shift asks the ultimate If you could change history—should you? And what would it cost?

Genres: Time Travel

414 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2006

Reviews

[howard T. Whitehurst]

bad

So many incorrect facts that could have been prevented with more research. The two twists at the end were not bad.

[Jeffrey C. Layton]

A good read

I enjoyed this book. Interesting characters and good character development. I think the author did a good job of creating and explaining the origin of the time travel capabilities, but without any need to get into any of the classic arguments over linear time versus branched time, paradoxes, breaking time travel rules, etc. I appreciated that departure.

The author states at the end of the book that he had no outline or plan, he just wrote what came to him and it developed as it went. That is likely both one of the strengths of this story and one of the weakness. It kept you guessing what was going to happen next, but also I found myself a few times thinking the story was fractured and had some dead ends or that the author was trying to work out some issues of his own, and turns out that's exactly what he said he was doing. But for the most part, it worked with the story and I did find myself continuing to read much later than I should have when I had to work the next day.

I will say the editing needs work. There were a lot of typos, many that just running it thru a grammar checker would catch. I fault no author for having typos and wording issues as they write a good story. You should never let punctuation, sentence structure, spelling or grammar slow down the creative dump from brain to paper/computer. But after it's written, take the time to clean all that up.

Overall, this is a good story and the author is clearly very knowledgeable about history and did a great job of weaving that knowledge into the story. The way it ended felt like a teaser for a sequel. Hopefully that will be coming in the future, I would definitely read it.

[Timothy M. McCann]

Wellllllllllllllll:

The premise of this novel was interesting. (Sending a super dooper air craft carrier to the past.)

But the fact that the US Government could keep a secret for 30 years was a stretch.

Then the speed at which the time travelers affected the events of the day was even more of a stretch.

But the killer was when a guy from 2002 connives to meet his father in 1945 - stretched my little Gumby totally out of shape. (Note to author: it should have been his grandfather - cuz the math doesn't work.)

If this isn't bad enough - there is a sequel to this novel.

[Bill Glassen]

Interesting plot - but very dry at times

I was taken with the plot and story line of the book. It was well supported by historical references and description of actions.

However, the author often went into so much detail the book became more of a historical detail analysis vs a entertaining read.

[Perry Patrick]

Excellent storytelling, but the formatting errors hit me like speed bumps

[Richard Hooper]

Wow

Wow ! Best alternative history novel I've read in quite a while. Excellent character generations. Great story arcs and twists. More please.

[Kenneth J]

An intriguing story which at times becomes a little more detailed then what I prefer. Basically somewhat repetitive but given those issues it was very enjoyable throughout. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting the ending.
I almost makes me think there could be another book!