Time's Deceit

by Stephen Winter

My name is Isabela Instanté and . . . Oh naïve future chrononauts—grab your Temporal Transit manuals and prepare to levitate! Isabela receives a family heirloom from her mother Claire for her 17th a Chronos, the time-travel device invented by a future dwelling father she’s never met. In her search for Roger Instanté, she finds an America beset by currency revaluations, subversive nests, and with freedoms and property rights at stake. From his penthouse atop the Alcatraz Casino, Roger enlists Isabela in his plans to rejigger this reality—crashing the Time Barrier, a kidnapping in antiquity, transporting emigrants from a desperate future who must then cope with their defiant younger selves . . . Before it’s over, Isabela’s quest will have expanded to include the entire world and her antagonist may turn out to be nothing less than Time itself.

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 18, 2014

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this story to be a little slow moving with all the theoretical and philosophical dialog. I also didn't find the characters to be very likeable. The story finally got interesting a little past midway when Bela and her cohorts went back in time to try to prevent the birth of the founder of a major oppressive Middle Eastern religion. I enjoyed that part as there was plenty of action and dark humor. I also didn't really like the vignette at the end regarding the origin of the three Claires. I felt like that part could easily be left out. The author did seem to have excellent spelling and grammar skills, so I give him that. And I did enjoy reading about the San Francisco Bay Area as I once lived there. I am also confident that there will be a great many readers who will greatly enjoy the book. I received this book as an advance readers copy from Voracious Readers Only.