Future Imperfect

by M. Scott Chambers

Sam Rahricht wakes up one morning to find that he has gone back in time thirty-one years to his childhood. Trapped in the body of a seven-year-old child and with only his unreliable memory to guide him, he must work to solve the murder that tore his family apart before it can happen again.

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

M. Scott Chambers is a lifelong fan of science fiction and horror. He writes a blog, The Backlist, and occasionally contributes to the Damnation Books blog. Future Imperfect is his first novel.

Ralphie (pictured) is the official Chambers mascot.

Reviews

[Derek Pennycuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very strong first novel. I know that can be both a blessing and a curse to an author (or any other artist really). It'll be interesting to see how Chambers' career proceeds from here.

The dialog is naturalistic and believable. The disjointed narrative is structured well enough to be easy to follow. And even with the jumping back and forth in time there's a clear unfolding of events that feed into each other. There is a sense of cause and effect, the plot isn't just a bunch of stuff that happens. And since regrets over past actions or failings is a major theme of the book it is important for the characters' actions to have consequences.

Speaking of the narrative structure and jumping around in time, that element of the book reminded me a lot of Gillian Flynn's Dark Places. Although I found this book more enjoyable. It doesn't rely on channeling 80s era Satanic Panic as a major plot device, which was a huge turn off from Dark Places for me. And even though Sam is a bit of an asshole, overall I found Chambers' characters more likable than Flynn's.

Some people may be turned off by the fact that the main character is gay, and, therefore the book deals with some "gay themes." But really the relationship drama isn't radically different just because it is happening among men. For me at least, it was easy to read with a sense of empathy for the emotional states of the characters rather than trying to live vicariously through them. This isn't a romance novel. And I don't think it should be pigeonholed into a "gay" sub-genre. It is capable of standing on its own and just happens to feature a gay protagonist.

For a good section of the book, the rather oddball time travel aspect isn't treated as a mystery in and of itself. Sam wakes up one morning with his 30 something brain, complete with memories, inside his 7 year old body back in 1982. Preventing the looming murder of his brother is the central plot. And as a reader I was willing to just go with the premise, science fantasy style. But eventually the time travel aspect gets more attention. The way this plays out reminded me of Lost. There's a big ticket mystery with strong sci-fi themes lurking in the background. But the characters have more immediate needs throughout the majority of the action. We'll see if Chambers can steer this story to a more satisfying conclusion than Lost fans got as he publishes future novels in the series. :)

[Anthonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this time travel mystery book. Excellent plot, well written characters, and great mystery. This is the time travel book for the new age. Loved reading it, This book is a must read for any and all that love mystery, danger, time travel, and choices.

[Stanley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quickly lost interest.

[Scott Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty bad fiction. Confused.

This is my first gay romance so perhaps I wasn't prepared, but I gave it a chance. The structure seemed confused and abrupt. The prose was just fair. The story's ending left me puzzled and dissatisfied.