Thirty-Nine Sixty

by T.P. Johnson

An angry husband and father.

Mysterious strangers obstruct his path.

He strives to find his missing family before it is too late.

With three days to go until Christmas, Aedan O’Beirne is in his typical foul mood, which worsens after he learns Ciara, his wife, is pregnant with their second child. He hates Christmas. He does not want children. He loves Connor, their young son, but for Aedan one child is more than he ever wanted. For him, it seems a return to high energy life in Chicago’s Loop slips farther away with each child born.

Afraid he will lose his job, he speeds away from their suburban home to attend the most important meeting of his career. Once in the Loop, he finds himself surrounded by mysterious strangers who seem intent on preventing him from appearing at the firm’s largest gathering in its history.

After he pushes through one obstacle after another to save his job, his life takes a terrifying turn when he learns Ciara and Connor have disappeared. He sets out on a transforming and pain-filled race to find them. Alone, bloodied and bruised, he carves a path across the Loop and to the suburbs searching for his family. He knows he must locate them before the first stroke of Christmas, or he will lose his family forever.

Set against the background of Chicago’s beautiful urban landscape filled with historic towers and skyscrapers, THIRTY-NINE SIXTY, does not release the reader’s interest until the last page is complete.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2015

About the author

T. P. Johnson was born in Chicago. He worked for seventeen years as an Information Technology professional, with twelve of those years spent in Data Center Management, Infrastructure, and Design. He attended college in the Chicago area.

He writes techno-thrillers, science fiction, and science fantasy novels. Previously, he published his first novel titled, 39 SIXTY, which is the first book in his, THE PATH TO APIDAE, series. 39 SIXTY is available for purchase at online retailers.

In May, 2017, he released his latest novel, a science fantasy story titled, GABRIEL'S JOURNEY. The book is available at Amazon in Kindle and print formats. .

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aedan O’Beirne is an angry, selfish man. When he finds a pink heart-shaped note from his wife telling him that she’s pregnant with their second child, a child he thinks he does not want, he blows a gasket, and his day gets even worse from that moment on. He claims that he loves his wife Ciara and five-year-old son Connor, but he does not want his busy life complicated with more children.

He races to work, anxious to get to a terribly important meeting, but his commute is beset with obstacles. On his way, he meets several peculiar, unknown persons, whose interventions and offers of assistance he rudely brushes aside in his haste to get to his meeting. Later, he tries to get to his wife’s obstetric appointment, only to be unable to reach her by phone. He grows alarmed and goes to great lengths to try to find her. He continues to encounter the same strangers over and over. They will only tell him that moments are ticking away without telling him why. Aedan has a lifelong issue with time dating back to his grandfather’s funeral, and this event with his family causes him extreme consternation. He refuses their help, thinking that they are impeding his frantic search for his family. One roadblock after another has O’Beirne pulling out the pink heart over and over, wishing he could take back his thoughtless reaction of that morning.

About three-fourths of the book continues like that over the space of around three days. I was curious about what happened to Ciara and Connor, but I was quite frustrated with Aedan. His stubbornness and his temper really got under my skin. He reminded me of an modern-day version of Ebenezer Scrooge or George Bailey – two fictional curmudgeons who resisted unexplainable interventions in their lives until they had no other option available. When that point came for Aedan O’Beirne, I began to actually like him and to enjoy the story.

What does the title mean? What happened to Ciara and Connor O’Beirne? Is Aedan able to face his emotions and deal with whatever he must do to find them?

This is not merely a mystery but more of a parable with a moral. While I think that T.P. Johnson did a good job in telling the story, I was not as sympathetic to Aedan O’Beirne as I would have liked, even though I understood his faults. Still, as a debut novel, I think it is worthy start.

3-1/2 stars

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading THIRTY-NINE SIXTY. This book was fast paced and a quick read. Aedan O'Breine wakes up 3 days before Christmas to find a pink note from his wife informing him that she is pregnant with his second child. Aedan is a furious self-absorbed man. During the next 3 days, his life and attitude change. This novel made me think a lot about myself. This is evidently the 1st in a series of books. Can't wait for the next one!

[William Mehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would highly recommend. Very enjoyable reading and thought provoking. Hard to put down as their was a new twist on each page. I won this book on Goodreads and look forward to T P Johnsons next book.

[Leona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book but I did not like the ending. I was expecting more. I agree with a lot of the other reviewers that it was a very good read which kept my interest from chapter to chapter. I didn't like, however, the continuous use of the phrase, "come on" and the fact that the characters didn't use contractions when they spoke. I always find this unusual because most (if not all) people use contractions when they speak. As a lawyer, I never used contractions in my appellate brief writing, but I use contractions all the time when I'm writing on my (non-legal) website. Perhaps it's just a personal style.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book very difficult to finish because of the poor writing style. Every character was stilted, awkward, and wholly unbelievable. I can't see a single real person acting the way any character in this book acted. I kept reading to see if if would get any better/more plausible; it didn't.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Couldnt wait to see what happened next!!

[Wendy Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a quick read that keeps your attention and makes you want to keep reading to find out what will happen next. Many twists and turns, as well as the unexpected make it exciting!

[Maya]

I recieved an ARC free through goodreads.

To be edited when i finish the book-
I'm excited to read this and the blurb just sounds amazing.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't stand main character at first then slowly began to like him.

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is a record. I gave up after 4 1/2 pages due to writing like this:
“His left foot came upon a vintage glass Christmas tree ornament lying on the tile floor. He bore down on the tiny angel. The decorative piece shattered; glass shards carved painful cuts into his left arch. Pain consumed him as he took the weight off his foot. A slight scream escaped his mouth.”

That was the kitchen floor, by the way, where most people leave their vintage glass tree ornaments lying around.