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20 Minutes #0.5
20 Minutes Earlier
The short prequel to 20 Minutes On The Tube, following the fates of 4 characters in London before they go underground.
Fast paced, edgy and humorous this is a teaser novella and the gateway to the beginning of the 20 Minute Series.
Fast paced, edgy and humorous this is a teaser novella and the gateway to the beginning of the 20 Minute Series.
34 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 14, 2020
81 people are currently reading
477 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Hurst
89 books3,981 followersDaniel Hurst is an Amazon #1 bestselling author of fast paced psychological thrillers. His most popular titles include Til Death Do Us Part, The Passenger and The Doctor's Wife, the latter title reaching #1 on the Amazon UK Kindle store in February 2023. A regular KDP Select All Star since he became a full-time author in 2021, Daniel prides himself on writing fast, releasing stories often and engaging with his readers.
You can visit him at www.danielhurstbooks.com, where you can also download a copy of his FREE thriller 'Just One Second.'
You can visit him at www.danielhurstbooks.com, where you can also download a copy of his FREE thriller 'Just One Second.'
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
May 20, 2023
4.5 ⭐ I enjoyed this prequel to the 20 Minute, 20-book series, by Daniel Hurst, who is one of my favorite suspense authors. This novella introduces four main characters who are all getting reading to board a tube train in the UK. Looking forward to the rest of the series!
May 28, 2022
After reading the first book in this series, I came to the last page and it had a link to reading the prequel for free. As I enjoyed this book, I thought why not and set to reading it. The prequel is a nice quick read and features 4 of the main characters. This series is a parallel universe/parallel storyline where the book is set around the same theme of what can happen in 20 minutes. In this book, we have Jelena - the Serbian who ended up in a human sex trafficking ring, Harry - the young lad who is keen to finally meet his dad, Bodgan - another Serbian who we learn knows Jelena and sadly working a cleaning job to meet ends meet and April who is getting ready for a date just after her gym. I was surprised that April ended up in this prequel as her story to me wasn't that interesting. I probably would have chosen Harry's dad as he ended up embezzling the company, going on benders and then he is one of the momentous points of the first book as he jumped in front of the underground train or the wife Anke who has had enough of her husband cheating on her or even Grant who knows he is gay but now his wife is pregnant but is it his baby or Anke's husbands? I would suggest in this case, due to potential spoilers that the prequel gives and a bit of confusion in some parts - reading Book #1 20 Minutes on the Tube before moving to the prequel - 20 minutes Earlier.
January 9, 2023
Sooo...right now, I am not so sure, what to write about this little novella - but there are plenty more novellas to find out what this is all about.
I imagine this series must be like a soap opera (just not as cheesy as an actual one), because after starting the 2nd novella in a row, the same characters appear with their individual stories.
Now if this is the case, then it is actually brilliant.
I consider this novella some sort of a introduction, since we get to know the individuals...
After all, I think this can go either way - so far I am intrigued.
I do like the concept of reading these short novellas in between other books.
So for now I am giving this first novella in the series a 3 star rating and hope, this is getting better with every novella that follows.
So stay tuned...
April 8, 2025
Entertaining fantasy listening 😄👀
This kindle novella is free from Amazon
A short story of people from other European countries working in London. This is the beginning of a series. 😕
I would recommend this novella and author to readers of fantasy world 🌐 novels 😏🤔 2025 👒😆
This kindle novella is free from Amazon
A short story of people from other European countries working in London. This is the beginning of a series. 😕
I would recommend this novella and author to readers of fantasy world 🌐 novels 😏🤔 2025 👒😆
August 14, 2025
This is a novella and prequel to the 20 Minute series by Daniel Hurst. It is an introduction to four characters from 20 Minutes on the Tube. I enjoyed finding out what those four characters were doing before boarding the London tube in the next book.
March 21, 2020
20 Minutes Earlier is a novella and prequel in the 20 Minutes series. I enjoyed finding out what several characters were doing before boarding the London Tube in the second book. Thanks to Daniel Hurst for my digital copy of his book.
April 29, 2020
An interesting introduction to 4 of the characters from 20 Minutes on the Tube. My only complaint is that the book was too short - I would have liked more characters in this prequel. That being said, it is still a good read. I look forward to reading more in this series. Recommended.
September 19, 2022
Prequel to "20 minutes on a Tube" tells what happened to 4 characters before the events in '20 minutes on the tube'. This doesn’t add much to what we already know.
June 26, 2020
Preparing for the day in the life of strangers. What are they going to do? Where are they going? Don't you ever look around and wonder? Everyone has their own life, maybe demons, lies, secrets, battles...
It was a pleasure to leave my reality and live the lives of these people.
It was a pleasure to leave my reality and live the lives of these people.
December 25, 2022
I really enjoyed 20 Minutes Earlier prequel to 20 Minutes On The Tube by Daniel Hurst.
The short stories entail four commuters - Jelena, Harry, April and Bogdan.
Jelena Markovic had paid smugglers to bring her on a lorry from Siberia to a better future future in the UK. Sadly this would not be the case as Jelena was destined to become a sex slave, imprisoned in a room without any windows not knowing whether it was day or night and suffered physical and mental abuse. She was also suffering from malnutrition. Her captors would inform her that if she did not perform her family would suffer the consequences back in Siberia. Hope is the only thing left for Jelena and she dreams of escaping. Maybe there will be a chance if her captors make one mistake and she can make a run for freedom. She named one of her two captors Volkov which was from a Serbian children's series, the character of Volkov was a villaineous warlock and her other captor she named she named Zao which meant wicked in Serbian. Will Jelena's dream of escape come true?
Harry Baxter who is twelve lives with his Mother who works from home and has never set eyes on his Father. He envies all his school friends who have both parents. One morning instead of going into school as usual he plays truant in order to meet his long lost Father. Harry found a message with a photograph on his Father's phone which mentioned her ex Craig Miller so he googled him on the internet and obtained his Father's work address. Harry is so excited at the prospect of meeting his Father today but will he want to see him or not was going through Harry's mind.
April Adams met her next date from an app on-line. She thought she would change things round and arranged an early morning date instead of an evening one as it was a week-day and she did not want to have a hangover she had even put in a pilates class before she set off on her date. Is there more than meets the eye when she meets him, April may never know.
Bogdan Petovic left Serbia to come to UK for a better life but because of an accident at his work place in Siberia he could no longer stay there. He ends up being an office cleaner in a trendy advertising company. He led a lonely existence as his fellow co-workers all spoke in different languages and worked unsocial hours too which did not help. All he did was travel to and fro to work via the tube and he hoped that his journey will be uneventful.
The short stories entail four commuters - Jelena, Harry, April and Bogdan.
Jelena Markovic had paid smugglers to bring her on a lorry from Siberia to a better future future in the UK. Sadly this would not be the case as Jelena was destined to become a sex slave, imprisoned in a room without any windows not knowing whether it was day or night and suffered physical and mental abuse. She was also suffering from malnutrition. Her captors would inform her that if she did not perform her family would suffer the consequences back in Siberia. Hope is the only thing left for Jelena and she dreams of escaping. Maybe there will be a chance if her captors make one mistake and she can make a run for freedom. She named one of her two captors Volkov which was from a Serbian children's series, the character of Volkov was a villaineous warlock and her other captor she named she named Zao which meant wicked in Serbian. Will Jelena's dream of escape come true?
Harry Baxter who is twelve lives with his Mother who works from home and has never set eyes on his Father. He envies all his school friends who have both parents. One morning instead of going into school as usual he plays truant in order to meet his long lost Father. Harry found a message with a photograph on his Father's phone which mentioned her ex Craig Miller so he googled him on the internet and obtained his Father's work address. Harry is so excited at the prospect of meeting his Father today but will he want to see him or not was going through Harry's mind.
April Adams met her next date from an app on-line. She thought she would change things round and arranged an early morning date instead of an evening one as it was a week-day and she did not want to have a hangover she had even put in a pilates class before she set off on her date. Is there more than meets the eye when she meets him, April may never know.
Bogdan Petovic left Serbia to come to UK for a better life but because of an accident at his work place in Siberia he could no longer stay there. He ends up being an office cleaner in a trendy advertising company. He led a lonely existence as his fellow co-workers all spoke in different languages and worked unsocial hours too which did not help. All he did was travel to and fro to work via the tube and he hoped that his journey will be uneventful.
May 2, 2022
This prequel features 4 characters from the 20 Minute series allowing us a sneak peek as they prepared to enter the tube.
Jelena is obviously a very important character in this series. Having only read the first out of twenty books and her short story, it's obvious that her role as a trafficking victim has an heavy imprint on more than one character. As an advocate of Human Trafficking Awareness, I can attest to the far reach the nefarious industry has on society. Trafficking is in every community big and small. If there is poverty, drug use, sporting events, a demand for cheap labor, seafood, the list literally goes on that enables and/or promotes trafficking to continue to thrive.
Harry's chapter provided us more insight into his relationship with his mom. Her protective nature and their easy banter, as well as his hopes for how the meeting with his dad will go.
I was surprised that the author chose April for this prequel. She didn't particularly stand out to me in the main book. Other than a coffee date I'm not sure how she factors in. But I'm going to have faith that there is a reason why the author wants us to learn more about her. I'm going to be honest I don't like her. Anyone that hates on Star Wars is not for me. *shrugs*
Last is a look at Bogdan. At first, his chapter didn't really stand out but towards the end it all came together and just made me love him even more.
Every little nugget of info is a treat with this series.
Jelena is obviously a very important character in this series. Having only read the first out of twenty books and her short story, it's obvious that her role as a trafficking victim has an heavy imprint on more than one character. As an advocate of Human Trafficking Awareness, I can attest to the far reach the nefarious industry has on society. Trafficking is in every community big and small. If there is poverty, drug use, sporting events, a demand for cheap labor, seafood, the list literally goes on that enables and/or promotes trafficking to continue to thrive.
Harry's chapter provided us more insight into his relationship with his mom. Her protective nature and their easy banter, as well as his hopes for how the meeting with his dad will go.
I was surprised that the author chose April for this prequel. She didn't particularly stand out to me in the main book. Other than a coffee date I'm not sure how she factors in. But I'm going to have faith that there is a reason why the author wants us to learn more about her. I'm going to be honest I don't like her. Anyone that hates on Star Wars is not for me. *shrugs*
Last is a look at Bogdan. At first, his chapter didn't really stand out but towards the end it all came together and just made me love him even more.
Every little nugget of info is a treat with this series.
February 23, 2025
I've had this series on my kindle forever and thought it was about time to delved into them, beginning with this short prequel to the first book.
It follows the fate (or impending therein) of four characters before they go underground. We meet Jelena, Harry, April and Bogdan as they are about to board the London Tube train.
Jelena - a Serbian who paid to come to the UK for a better life and instead was thrust into a sex trafficking ring upon arrival.
Harry - a 12 year old lad who is keen to meet the father he never knew, skipping out of school dressed in his zebra-like uniform, and secretly hoping his dad is a keen West Ham supporter as he is. So far, I like him best. He exudes a cheekiness that is endearing. That, and he's a West Ham supporter, which has been my dad's lifelong team.
April - pushing herself at an early morning pilates class before heading off for a date, arranged through a dating app. Not wanting to endure a hangover the following morning, she opted for a morning date. But instead must contend with the sweaty aftermath of pilates coupled with the steamy confines of the Tub.
Bogdan - left Serbia for a better life, as most Eastern European immigrants do. He had big dreams when coming to London but so far none of them have come to fruition and must content himself with being a night cleaner for an advertising company. His existence is a lonely one as his colleagues are all immigrants like him and, like him, are fluent in their native language but not English.
All of these people's lives will intersect in 20 minutes on the tube...
As in true Daniel Hurst style, we are immediately drawn into each of the stories and as soon as we finish this prequel we want to immediately dive into the first book in this series. At 35 pages, it took me just over an hour to read. This series is an interesting concept and I can't wait to find out what's in store for each of the characters.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
It follows the fate (or impending therein) of four characters before they go underground. We meet Jelena, Harry, April and Bogdan as they are about to board the London Tube train.
Jelena - a Serbian who paid to come to the UK for a better life and instead was thrust into a sex trafficking ring upon arrival.
Harry - a 12 year old lad who is keen to meet the father he never knew, skipping out of school dressed in his zebra-like uniform, and secretly hoping his dad is a keen West Ham supporter as he is. So far, I like him best. He exudes a cheekiness that is endearing. That, and he's a West Ham supporter, which has been my dad's lifelong team.
April - pushing herself at an early morning pilates class before heading off for a date, arranged through a dating app. Not wanting to endure a hangover the following morning, she opted for a morning date. But instead must contend with the sweaty aftermath of pilates coupled with the steamy confines of the Tub.
Bogdan - left Serbia for a better life, as most Eastern European immigrants do. He had big dreams when coming to London but so far none of them have come to fruition and must content himself with being a night cleaner for an advertising company. His existence is a lonely one as his colleagues are all immigrants like him and, like him, are fluent in their native language but not English.
All of these people's lives will intersect in 20 minutes on the tube...
As in true Daniel Hurst style, we are immediately drawn into each of the stories and as soon as we finish this prequel we want to immediately dive into the first book in this series. At 35 pages, it took me just over an hour to read. This series is an interesting concept and I can't wait to find out what's in store for each of the characters.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
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September 13, 2020So I guess this book is not on Amazon as I was not able to find it. I had received this book from the author's newsletter. If you read the first book in this series then you will know the characters mentioned. This is a short novella giving us insight into some of the characters that are in book one 20 minutes on the tube. Normally you would probably start with this book first but I would say read the first book then this one so you know who the characters are. This is just one of those novella's that you get a small taste of the story and then know you got to read more. Quick, simple, and to the point.
May 24, 2020
Prequel to 20 minutes on the tube by the same writer. It was an excellent book so was looking forward to seeing what this would add to it. Personally Im afraid nothing much is the answer! I didnt feel it added to the previous story. I read it ok, and it is well written but I think its probably a personal taste as to whether you like it or not. I will read anything by this author now but this is not one of is best in my opinion.
January 15, 2025
This is the short prequel to 20 Minutes On The Tube, the first book in the 20 Minutes series. It's just thirty-five pages long. We are introduced to the four main characters - Jalena, Harry, April and Bogdan as they are about to board the London tube train.
I think it took me less than 20 minutes to read this novella, but it sets you up to go on and read 20 Minutes on the Tube. It peaks your interest so much that you have to immediately pick up the book.
#KindleBook
I think it took me less than 20 minutes to read this novella, but it sets you up to go on and read 20 Minutes on the Tube. It peaks your interest so much that you have to immediately pick up the book.
#KindleBook
April 6, 2020
I really like how this followed each character as they prepare for they journey on the train (which is the next book). The characters have been developed enough that you want to find out what happens next. It is just a short story to set the scene for what comes next. Take a chance and try something new, you never know what little gems you will find. Fabulous book, thank you. Onto the next book!
April 5, 2023
As I have previously mentioned, I'm trying to get through all of Daniel Hurst's books and am so gratified to find that there are so many! Nevertheless, somehow I missed knowing he had this whole 20 minute series. Now I'm super excited! I'm so far behind on my arc reviewing that it will take me awhile to get through all of them, but I'm surely looking forward to it!
March 6, 2021
A good quick read and preview of 20 minutes on the Tube
Sufficiently well detailed preview , enough that I bought the next book , actually bought the whole series, I'm going to enjoy this !
Sufficiently well detailed preview , enough that I bought the next book , actually bought the whole series, I'm going to enjoy this !
May 14, 2021
This is a prequel to the enjoyable 20 Minutes on the Tube where we get to see 4 of the characters 20 minutes before. Really enjoyed reading more about the characters and looking forward to the next book.
January 13, 2023
As the prequel to the 20 Minutes series, this book was a quick satisfying look into the goings on of three characters from book one in the series. A bit better than book one, I am now looking forward to book two.
December 10, 2023
This novella was super confusing. The character introductions didn’t seem to go together. I guess I need to read the book that it is a prequel to in order to try and tie things in. However, each character does seem to have an interesting story.
January 1, 2024
Well, got me hooked! I will definitely look for the first novel. I hope it is as good as this prequel. I was already making predictions and guesses snot how the stories are connected. This will officially end my reading year of 2023!!! So many more to get to in the next year!!!
May 16, 2020
A novella and a prequel to 20 Minutes on the Tube. Centres on several characters from the main book and what happens to them before they go underground and get on the tube.
May 25, 2020
A nice quick read to inform you of the main characters before starting on 20 Minutes on the Tube
November 29, 2021
What a fantastic start
Well have enjoyed this very short prequel to the series and looking forward to meeting series fast of characters within the series
Well have enjoyed this very short prequel to the series and looking forward to meeting series fast of characters within the series
July 14, 2022
A very enjoyable read, with it being a prequel to book number 1 in the series some of the characters are introduced.
January 3, 2023
Enjoyable short read but maybe should have read the full novel 20 minutes on tube before this prequel
January 7, 2023
I need to pace myself with this series just so I can put off being sad when I finish them all! 😬
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 🌟 💫
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 🌟 💫
January 12, 2023
Great to have a bit more background to some of the characters. Sometimes it's nice to read a quick little book... 😊
March 15, 2024
Gives the reader a view of these 4 different people's morning before they went to the Tunnel.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews