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Sickness in Time
THE MOST DANGEROUS OPERATION -- In 2038, the human race is in a death spiral, and most people do not even know it yet. Technology that was supposed to make us better and stronger instead is birthing a strange and terrible plague we may not be able to stop.
When the young daughter of Josh Scribner, a wealthy tech entrepreneur, starts to succumb to the illness, he dedicates his fortune in a desperate effort to save her life. Working with a friend and celebrated physicist, Josh develops the ability to send objects back through time. Their goal . . to recruit an agent in the past who might change our fatal path. In our present day, a broken and traumatized Air Force veteran finds a strange message in the woods, drawing her into an adventure spanning decades. All humanity is at stake, as she and her small group of friends become the unlikely heroes taking up the secret fight against our future doom.
MF Thomas and Nicholas Thurkettle, authors of the acclaimed sci-fi thriller Seeing by Moonlight>/i>, are back with this time-twisting adventure that asks if our own destiny can be healed.
When the young daughter of Josh Scribner, a wealthy tech entrepreneur, starts to succumb to the illness, he dedicates his fortune in a desperate effort to save her life. Working with a friend and celebrated physicist, Josh develops the ability to send objects back through time. Their goal . . to recruit an agent in the past who might change our fatal path. In our present day, a broken and traumatized Air Force veteran finds a strange message in the woods, drawing her into an adventure spanning decades. All humanity is at stake, as she and her small group of friends become the unlikely heroes taking up the secret fight against our future doom.
MF Thomas and Nicholas Thurkettle, authors of the acclaimed sci-fi thriller Seeing by Moonlight>/i>, are back with this time-twisting adventure that asks if our own destiny can be healed.
- GenresScience Fiction
302 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2016
2 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
M.F. Thomas
3 books23 followersMF Thomas has lived and worked in more than 20 countries, including a few years in Central America. While he is happy to be home in the United States, he can still be found in an airport most every week.
He co-authored two sci-fi thrillers with Nicholas Thurkettle: Seeing by Moonlight in 2013 and A Sickness in Time in 2016. In addition to print and digital options, both books have serialized audio versions found on every podcast platform. MF Thomas is also the executive producer of the independent horror movie, A Ghost Waits, released in 2019. His fourth book, Spirals, is expected in 2020.
He co-authored two sci-fi thrillers with Nicholas Thurkettle: Seeing by Moonlight in 2013 and A Sickness in Time in 2016. In addition to print and digital options, both books have serialized audio versions found on every podcast platform. MF Thomas is also the executive producer of the independent horror movie, A Ghost Waits, released in 2019. His fourth book, Spirals, is expected in 2020.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 28, 2017
A Sickness in Time is a complex tale of future technology, viruses (computer and human) and an original form of time travel. I loved it!
The technological arguments were innovative and at times hard to follow but there were plenty of events that were very believable. I particularly liked the intermingling of electronic reasoning with human thought and the resulting mix of computer and human viruses. We also had the usual mind boggling situations where actions across time could affect past events.
For me the relationship between author and reader is personal so I am always a bit wary of novels written by two people. I don’t know how the task was shared on this occasion but the arrangement worked.
The characters were convincing and I enjoyed the story of the mature Josh doing his best to make good the evil that his inventions had unwittingly created. However, for me the real relationship of the book was that between Maria and Lia, their support for each other, their dependence on each other, and their undeniable yet unspoken love for one another.
Most of the storylines came together at the end with a few nice little twists. I am not sure if all loose ends were tied but, time permitting, I would willingly read the book again to check.
MF Thomas and Nicholas Thurkettle have produced a fascinating science fiction story and I am pleased to give it five stars.
Reviewed by Clive on www.whisperingstories.com
The technological arguments were innovative and at times hard to follow but there were plenty of events that were very believable. I particularly liked the intermingling of electronic reasoning with human thought and the resulting mix of computer and human viruses. We also had the usual mind boggling situations where actions across time could affect past events.
For me the relationship between author and reader is personal so I am always a bit wary of novels written by two people. I don’t know how the task was shared on this occasion but the arrangement worked.
The characters were convincing and I enjoyed the story of the mature Josh doing his best to make good the evil that his inventions had unwittingly created. However, for me the real relationship of the book was that between Maria and Lia, their support for each other, their dependence on each other, and their undeniable yet unspoken love for one another.
Most of the storylines came together at the end with a few nice little twists. I am not sure if all loose ends were tied but, time permitting, I would willingly read the book again to check.
MF Thomas and Nicholas Thurkettle have produced a fascinating science fiction story and I am pleased to give it five stars.
Reviewed by Clive on www.whisperingstories.com
August 12, 2017
I really liked it. It's one of those stores that sticks with you after you finished. At times I found some of it a little bit hard to follow then again, this is time travel and the future we're talking about, so no one really has it figured out. I found a very compelling, quite a page-turner with a pleasant and surprising ending.
January 21, 2023
It's not Connie Willis.
Two story lines, taking place a few decades apart. Two primary characters in each period, plus a few supporting characters. A fairly well thought-out (and novel in fiction, I think) idea about time travel that would be both tricky and fairly limited in its abilities. And some really clever playing around with the consequences of doing it, as experienced by the people (sort of the people) (isn't that the point) who did it (do it?) (will do it?). The book surprised me. Characters? Maria, early time line, fairly well drawn. Most of the characters, though, not that nuanced -- types, I think you'd say. But if you are reading this book, you didn't come here for the character sketches.
Would I read again? No. But very few books make that cut, because life is short, and we don't get a redo. Am I glad I read it? Well, it took only two days, and the reading was compulsively fast, so I consider a fine investment of those hours. Would I recommend it? Sure, to someone who was a junkie for fiction about time travel, because it has some interesting ideas, and it isn't bad. Sure, to someone in an airport bookstore choosing between this and yet another Dan Brown book about Robert Langdon.
Make of that what you will.
Two story lines, taking place a few decades apart. Two primary characters in each period, plus a few supporting characters. A fairly well thought-out (and novel in fiction, I think) idea about time travel that would be both tricky and fairly limited in its abilities. And some really clever playing around with the consequences of doing it, as experienced by the people (sort of the people) (isn't that the point) who did it (do it?) (will do it?). The book surprised me. Characters? Maria, early time line, fairly well drawn. Most of the characters, though, not that nuanced -- types, I think you'd say. But if you are reading this book, you didn't come here for the character sketches.
Would I read again? No. But very few books make that cut, because life is short, and we don't get a redo. Am I glad I read it? Well, it took only two days, and the reading was compulsively fast, so I consider a fine investment of those hours. Would I recommend it? Sure, to someone who was a junkie for fiction about time travel, because it has some interesting ideas, and it isn't bad. Sure, to someone in an airport bookstore choosing between this and yet another Dan Brown book about Robert Langdon.
Make of that what you will.
November 1, 2016
A Sickness in Time, by MF Thomas and Nicholas Thurkettle, is set in two time periods: one in the present day and one in 2039. It is a time travel plot with carefully defined limitations around what can be sent and how far back. The constraints are, of course, what makes the plot interesting. There can be no free-for-all in which the timeline gets increasingly muddied, but the various characters have to plan out very precisely what they intend to do. And the nearness of the two time periods—under twenty years—is very intriguing. There is no grandfather paradox here: the overlaps are much more immediate.
But before you reach the time travel elements of this story, and running along in parallel with it, is a plot dealing with the crossover between human and artificial intelligence. In this case, the artificial part takes the form of augments to human capability, rather than alternatives. The book's title refers to the discovery that the augments have a shadow side, the extent of which is largely unknown. They are not the unequivocal benefit first assumed, though puzzling out what the problems are takes a lot of time.
This story really worked for me. I liked the interplay between the different periods and the gradual alteration of the future line in response to successive changes. It's hard to tie up all the loose ends once you invoke time travel, but the authors do a convincing job. Inevitably, well before the halfway mark, you find yourself wondering how the tangle is going to resolve. Without giving anything away, the resolution had a clever twist. Every reader will—like me—wonder if that was the best choice to make, but it has certainly been done creatively.
There are two pairs of main characters, one pair in each of the two periods. But the pairs are contrasting in several ways rather than parallel. The authors do a good job of exploiting these contrasts. I found all four of the protagonists very credible, and quite individual.
In short, A Sickness in Time is well thought out, well planned, and well executed. If you like science fiction which doesn't just tell a story, but probes the difficult interface between scientific, social and ethical areas, this could be the book for you. I certainly really enjoyed it.
This review was originally written for the New Podler review of Books, http://thenewpodlerreviews.blogspot.c...
But before you reach the time travel elements of this story, and running along in parallel with it, is a plot dealing with the crossover between human and artificial intelligence. In this case, the artificial part takes the form of augments to human capability, rather than alternatives. The book's title refers to the discovery that the augments have a shadow side, the extent of which is largely unknown. They are not the unequivocal benefit first assumed, though puzzling out what the problems are takes a lot of time.
This story really worked for me. I liked the interplay between the different periods and the gradual alteration of the future line in response to successive changes. It's hard to tie up all the loose ends once you invoke time travel, but the authors do a convincing job. Inevitably, well before the halfway mark, you find yourself wondering how the tangle is going to resolve. Without giving anything away, the resolution had a clever twist. Every reader will—like me—wonder if that was the best choice to make, but it has certainly been done creatively.
There are two pairs of main characters, one pair in each of the two periods. But the pairs are contrasting in several ways rather than parallel. The authors do a good job of exploiting these contrasts. I found all four of the protagonists very credible, and quite individual.
In short, A Sickness in Time is well thought out, well planned, and well executed. If you like science fiction which doesn't just tell a story, but probes the difficult interface between scientific, social and ethical areas, this could be the book for you. I certainly really enjoyed it.
This review was originally written for the New Podler review of Books, http://thenewpodlerreviews.blogspot.c...
February 16, 2017
address one of these things without the others. Not so with this book! I was very satisfied with how it all made sense. For example, it usually bothers me that no one addresses the issue that the Earth is constantly traveling in space, so that traveling in time would be exponentially more complicated than people usually consider, because you also have to account for where the Earth was when the time you want to go to happened. And then there are the inherent moral paradoxes. For example, if you change the past, don't you change your current self and become an entirely different person, someone who would probably not remember changing the past in your current "present"? I'm already sounding confusing, but somehow "A Sickness in Time" explained it all much better, and without sacrificing any pacing or plot or character development. This book not only tackles all of the moral and scientific issues beautifully, but it goes deep into some well thought-out characters, as well. And, the plot moves along at a good pace.
It's really a perfect book. I loved it. I will be purchasing other books by these authors.
It's really a perfect book. I loved it. I will be purchasing other books by these authors.
February 21, 2017
I was given a print copy of A Sickness In Time by M.F. Thomas and Nicholas Thurkettle (actually their publicist) for review.
To state right off; I like this book a lot.
A Sickness In Time is one of those books that spans a few genres. Here we have; time travel, technology, and corporate greed as the most prevalent. We also have friendship, loyalty, redemption, parental love and some deep philosophical discussion.
Thomas and Thurkettle do an admirable job of combining these disparate themes into a coherent, readable, and entertaining (most important to me) adventure. The possible consequences of time travel for personal reasons, no matter how philanthropic are explored in depth by two of the central characters. I was at first concerned that these discussions would slow the story or worse, bore me as a reader. They didn't, although I will admit that they were not the high point of the book for me. Though they may well be for more cerebral readers than I.
I think identifying any character as the "main" character would not be correct here. A Sickness In Time reads as more of an ensemble cast, if that makes any sense (I guess you'll have to read it to decide for yourself). I enjoyed the interplay between the cast and the different places they filled in the overall story. We have the duty bound, the anti-social, the establishment, anti-establishment, socially delayed, and the altruistic. That is probably not all but you get the idea.
I did like the pace of the story, it kept my attention, and there were twists and turns enough to keep me from trying to predict the story as I read.
Techie fans, adventure fans, time travel fans, intrigue fans will all find in A Sickness In Time by M.F. Thomas and Nicholas Thurkettle, a highly entertaining read. I encourage any fans of those genres to check this book out. Enjoy!
Mike
To state right off; I like this book a lot.
A Sickness In Time is one of those books that spans a few genres. Here we have; time travel, technology, and corporate greed as the most prevalent. We also have friendship, loyalty, redemption, parental love and some deep philosophical discussion.
Thomas and Thurkettle do an admirable job of combining these disparate themes into a coherent, readable, and entertaining (most important to me) adventure. The possible consequences of time travel for personal reasons, no matter how philanthropic are explored in depth by two of the central characters. I was at first concerned that these discussions would slow the story or worse, bore me as a reader. They didn't, although I will admit that they were not the high point of the book for me. Though they may well be for more cerebral readers than I.
I think identifying any character as the "main" character would not be correct here. A Sickness In Time reads as more of an ensemble cast, if that makes any sense (I guess you'll have to read it to decide for yourself). I enjoyed the interplay between the cast and the different places they filled in the overall story. We have the duty bound, the anti-social, the establishment, anti-establishment, socially delayed, and the altruistic. That is probably not all but you get the idea.
I did like the pace of the story, it kept my attention, and there were twists and turns enough to keep me from trying to predict the story as I read.
Techie fans, adventure fans, time travel fans, intrigue fans will all find in A Sickness In Time by M.F. Thomas and Nicholas Thurkettle, a highly entertaining read. I encourage any fans of those genres to check this book out. Enjoy!
Mike
June 5, 2017
It took a little bit to get into this book, a few chapters or so, but then once I got into it I didn't want to stop. It definitely kept my attention. I have recently found a love for time travel books and I've always liked suspenseful type books so A Sickness In Time fell into the 'My kind of book' category!
Each chapter went back and forth from future to present and you would think that it would make it confusing, but it didn't at all. Also, the science part of the story was very believable and not confusing for me! I know pretty much nothing about 'science things' so there have been several times when science fiction books were a little over my head. This book wasn't like that. I didn't feel lost or confused.
A Sickness In Time stayed at a pretty good pace and wasn't predictable. There were plot twists that made the story interesting and enjoyable. Well done, Thomas and Thurkettle! Thanks for a great book!
*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Each chapter went back and forth from future to present and you would think that it would make it confusing, but it didn't at all. Also, the science part of the story was very believable and not confusing for me! I know pretty much nothing about 'science things' so there have been several times when science fiction books were a little over my head. This book wasn't like that. I didn't feel lost or confused.
A Sickness In Time stayed at a pretty good pace and wasn't predictable. There were plot twists that made the story interesting and enjoyable. Well done, Thomas and Thurkettle! Thanks for a great book!
*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 16, 2016
This is science fiction, but it is also so much more. Time travel with a difference; it’s plausible. The protagonists are wonderful characters, flaws and all. And I love the depiction of the arch-villain who represents everything I hold to be bad in the world.
A great story, full of adventure, action and event, but also brimming with philosophy and scientific theory that’s readily accessible. The novel explores a number of themes, but selfish greed is the most potent element.
A moral tale with many twists and turns to reach a conclusion as surprising as it is inevitable. A compelling and very satisfying read.
A great story, full of adventure, action and event, but also brimming with philosophy and scientific theory that’s readily accessible. The novel explores a number of themes, but selfish greed is the most potent element.
A moral tale with many twists and turns to reach a conclusion as surprising as it is inevitable. A compelling and very satisfying read.
April 24, 2017
A Sickness in time is a book about present day and the future working together. It is a very gripping story that keeps you reading to find out what is going to happen next, only each time it is not at all what you would expect.
I really enjoyed reading this book and would certainly recommend it to others.
I really enjoyed reading this book and would certainly recommend it to others.
January 15, 2019
In 2039, A plague that attacks the brain is spreading across the globe, and wealthy tech entrepreneur Josh Scribner is convinced that the tech he developed to make the human race better is at fault. As more and more cases come in of the strange and deadly plague, Josh realizes that warning the public is the only choice, even if it ruins him.
But his warnings have come too late to save the human race. Until he joins forces with a close friend and celebrated physicist. Together they develop a system to send messages back in time and change the past, eradicating mankind's fatal future.
In 2015, Maria Kerrigan, a traumatized Air Force veteran, finds a strange message in the woods, plunging her into a gripping fight against a dark and determined evil foe to save mankind from certain doom.
Content:
Drug Content:
PG-13 - Most of the main characters drink, some to intoxication, and one is a recovering alcoholic who falls off the wagon into a destructive spiral. Brain-altering tech and mind-enhancing drugs are pandered in the future.
Violence:
PG - There is a scene where a man is tortured without any real physical harm, but with a brain implant. Discussion is made how an extended or increased level of this procedure has killed multiple people. A man is shot to death in his own home. A stalker kills a person with a rock. A person is strangled. Several are killed by remote control. Bruising and blood are mentioned, but none of the violence is graphic.
Language:
R - The D word occurs about 25 times, GD is there 3 times. The F bomb is dropped 4 times.
Adult Content:
PG-13 - Four of the main characters, although involved in platonic friendships, are repeatedly mistaken as gay couples. One of the main characters has several drunken sexual encounters, though the action occurs off-screen. Urination is mentioned a few times.
Christian content:
Nope. God doesn't really get discussed even in an offhanded way here, nor attendance at church. This is a great adventure story, with some overarching moral themes of self-sacrifice, the greater good, loyalty, duty, and persistence in the face of insurmountable odds. It takes a hard look also at mental health and the hubris mankind sometimes has in the violation of ethical standards for monetary gain and power. Good and evil were clearly delineated, save for certain minions led away by duplicity.
Final analysis:
Sickness in Time was an amazing adventure story. I found it an action-packed dystopian page-turner. The main characters were very real and raw. Character development and setting were excellent. The stakes were as high as they come, and the antagonist, though relatively two-dimensional, had his own dark stakes that were quite real. Though I could do without the language, I found the book gripping and couldn't put it down, losing sleep several nights. Not one I'd recommend for the kiddies, but it's a great adventure for the adult crowd. Five Stars!
But his warnings have come too late to save the human race. Until he joins forces with a close friend and celebrated physicist. Together they develop a system to send messages back in time and change the past, eradicating mankind's fatal future.
In 2015, Maria Kerrigan, a traumatized Air Force veteran, finds a strange message in the woods, plunging her into a gripping fight against a dark and determined evil foe to save mankind from certain doom.
Content:
Drug Content:
PG-13 - Most of the main characters drink, some to intoxication, and one is a recovering alcoholic who falls off the wagon into a destructive spiral. Brain-altering tech and mind-enhancing drugs are pandered in the future.
Violence:
PG - There is a scene where a man is tortured without any real physical harm, but with a brain implant. Discussion is made how an extended or increased level of this procedure has killed multiple people. A man is shot to death in his own home. A stalker kills a person with a rock. A person is strangled. Several are killed by remote control. Bruising and blood are mentioned, but none of the violence is graphic.
Language:
R - The D word occurs about 25 times, GD is there 3 times. The F bomb is dropped 4 times.
Adult Content:
PG-13 - Four of the main characters, although involved in platonic friendships, are repeatedly mistaken as gay couples. One of the main characters has several drunken sexual encounters, though the action occurs off-screen. Urination is mentioned a few times.
Christian content:
Nope. God doesn't really get discussed even in an offhanded way here, nor attendance at church. This is a great adventure story, with some overarching moral themes of self-sacrifice, the greater good, loyalty, duty, and persistence in the face of insurmountable odds. It takes a hard look also at mental health and the hubris mankind sometimes has in the violation of ethical standards for monetary gain and power. Good and evil were clearly delineated, save for certain minions led away by duplicity.
Final analysis:
Sickness in Time was an amazing adventure story. I found it an action-packed dystopian page-turner. The main characters were very real and raw. Character development and setting were excellent. The stakes were as high as they come, and the antagonist, though relatively two-dimensional, had his own dark stakes that were quite real. Though I could do without the language, I found the book gripping and couldn't put it down, losing sleep several nights. Not one I'd recommend for the kiddies, but it's a great adventure for the adult crowd. Five Stars!
February 3, 2020
I always seem to have trouble with time travel books and this is no exception! I liked the Maria and Lia story but more character development may have explained their quirkiness. I was lost on Josh and the Beetles most of the “time”! Pun intended. I may read it again and try to separate the stories a bit more.
November 7, 2017
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*
Entrepreneur Josh Scribner has made a fortune from an idea that may well be the beginning of the end of the human race. In the year 2038, an older Josh is desperate to make things right and in the process save the life of his daughter. To do this, Josh develops a way to send messages back in time and he and a close friend and colleague embark on a daring mission to change the past.
In present day whilst on a camping trip, ex-air force pilot Maria Kerrigan finds a strange marker buried in the ground. It comes with instructions to deliver the marker to scientist Dr Qualls. Despite her misgivings, Maria’s curiosity gets the better of her and upon delivering the object she and her friend Lia become drawn into a battle to save the human race.
I really enjoyed reading A Sickness in Time. The science behind the plot was very well thought-out and completely believable. The approach was so methodical and plausible that you could easily believe that it might just work. The main characters were developed, flawed - but not so much that they were unlikeable - and very relatable. They all worked well together and their differences complimented each other nicely. However, the standout character for me was Lia. Here was a character who had been through so much and despite her difficulties was able to provide much needed support to Maria as well as becoming an integral part of the team.
A Sickness in Time is a compelling read that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend and there is a nice twist to the end which I didn’t see coming!
Entrepreneur Josh Scribner has made a fortune from an idea that may well be the beginning of the end of the human race. In the year 2038, an older Josh is desperate to make things right and in the process save the life of his daughter. To do this, Josh develops a way to send messages back in time and he and a close friend and colleague embark on a daring mission to change the past.
In present day whilst on a camping trip, ex-air force pilot Maria Kerrigan finds a strange marker buried in the ground. It comes with instructions to deliver the marker to scientist Dr Qualls. Despite her misgivings, Maria’s curiosity gets the better of her and upon delivering the object she and her friend Lia become drawn into a battle to save the human race.
I really enjoyed reading A Sickness in Time. The science behind the plot was very well thought-out and completely believable. The approach was so methodical and plausible that you could easily believe that it might just work. The main characters were developed, flawed - but not so much that they were unlikeable - and very relatable. They all worked well together and their differences complimented each other nicely. However, the standout character for me was Lia. Here was a character who had been through so much and despite her difficulties was able to provide much needed support to Maria as well as becoming an integral part of the team.
A Sickness in Time is a compelling read that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend and there is a nice twist to the end which I didn’t see coming!
December 5, 2016
Very interesting tale. Generally, time travel is hard to keep track of and can become fairly tricky, but this book pulls it off and the story is very easy to follow. It was extremely well written and the only thing I noticed that was driving me a little nuts was the excessive scene breaks. There were 5 in the first chapter alone and they were used at the end of every chapter which is generally not needed.
The whole time I was reading this I just kept thinking that this book would make a great series/movie. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
The whole time I was reading this I just kept thinking that this book would make a great series/movie. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews