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Written in Time Lib/E
The Old West Meets The Twilight Zone as a Gun-Owning 20th Century Family Travels Back in Time.
As a freelance writer, Jack Naile was used to getting an occasional letter from one of his readers, but when one of those readers sent him a clipping from a magazine, it would not only change his life, but could alter the course of history as well. The clipping had a photo, taken in Nevada in 1903, of a street scene, including a story with a sign, “Jack Naile—General Merchandise.”
Intrigued, Jack phoned the Nevada town’s historian and asked for more information. When the historian sent him a photo of the 19th century Jack Naile, what had seemed like an interesting coincidence immediately became much more bizarre. The four people in the photo, dressed in the style of the time, were unmistakably Jack, his wife, their grown son and teenage daughter. Jack decided he would have to take a trip to that town to investigate further. And if he and his family were somehow going to travel back in time, he was going to be prepared—and be well-armed.
As a freelance writer, Jack Naile was used to getting an occasional letter from one of his readers, but when one of those readers sent him a clipping from a magazine, it would not only change his life, but could alter the course of history as well. The clipping had a photo, taken in Nevada in 1903, of a street scene, including a story with a sign, “Jack Naile—General Merchandise.”
Intrigued, Jack phoned the Nevada town’s historian and asked for more information. When the historian sent him a photo of the 19th century Jack Naile, what had seemed like an interesting coincidence immediately became much more bizarre. The four people in the photo, dressed in the style of the time, were unmistakably Jack, his wife, their grown son and teenage daughter. Jack decided he would have to take a trip to that town to investigate further. And if he and his family were somehow going to travel back in time, he was going to be prepared—and be well-armed.
Audio CD
First published October 26, 2010
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About the author
Jerry Ahern
226 books73 followersJerry Ahern (born Jerome Morrell Ahern) was a science fiction and action novel author best known for his post apocalyptic survivalist series The Survivalist. The books in this series are heavy with descriptions of the weapons the protagonists use to survive and prosecute a seemingly never-ending war amongst the remnants of the superpowers from pre-apocalypse times.
Ahern was also a firearms writer, who published numerous articles in magazines such as Guns & Ammo, Handguns and Gun World.
Jerry Ahern passed away on July 24, 2012 after a long struggle with cancer.
Ahern also released books under pseudonym Axel Kilgore.
Ahern was also a firearms writer, who published numerous articles in magazines such as Guns & Ammo, Handguns and Gun World.
Jerry Ahern passed away on July 24, 2012 after a long struggle with cancer.
Ahern also released books under pseudonym Axel Kilgore.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 6, 2016
Such a promising premise. Too bad I couldn't get close to finishing it. First, I cringed through the unsophisticated writing style that seemed rushed and info-dumpish. But what really made me give up was the in-your-face "I'm a Republican" tone in the story. Guns, guns, and more guns. God blessing Ronald Reagan. A completely unnecessary and pointless talk about the election. Did Baen change their submission guidelines in the last few years to mandate that all their new authors have to hit you over the head with their conservative credentials?
January 27, 2017
This was a pretty good book that I almost didn't read because of some of the negative comments about his gun attitude and politics. Frankly, they must be anti-gun nuts, as I didn't think he stressed guns much at all. As for politics, I didn't even notice any thing. Overall the book had a good plot line, but didn't expand on what happened at the end and how history possibly changed. Understand why it wasn't done, but expected some comments. Several time people made dumb decisions that in real life they wouldn't have actually been that dumb. Although his gun shooting adventures were a little extreme. However I remember my dad and uncles keeping a silver dollar in the air by shooting it from their pistols until every one was out of bullets. I also remember my dad and uncles lighting matches stuck in a fence post and the matches were so far I couldn't even see them until the were lit. So I know the men that used guns in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming could shoot very well. So maybe they weren't that extreme after all. Overall a good book, not slow or boring at all as others indicated. I liked it.
November 16, 2011
I took a chance with this author because the subject seemed intriguing. This was a sloppy book. By that I mean, it was hard to keep up with the plot almost from start to finish. It seemed to be a small attempt to slam politics as they currently are. It was filled with gun control slights and scare tactics concerning the economy. This book seemed to be a thinly veiled attempt at pushing some gun rights agenda. I think if the author had paced it better, and spent less time on the politics, it would have made a better story.
May 10, 2012
Meh.
Had some potential, but the writing was ... well, amateurish. Transitions were awkward, the characters seemed one dimensional, and it really didn't flow. I expected to see a note about it being their debut novel, but instead they've written over 60 books? Really?
I don't have a problem with an author making his or her politics obvious, but really, don't keep bludgeoning me over the head with it. Over and over. Repetitively. Again. And Again.
Had some potential, but the writing was ... well, amateurish. Transitions were awkward, the characters seemed one dimensional, and it really didn't flow. I expected to see a note about it being their debut novel, but instead they've written over 60 books? Really?
I don't have a problem with an author making his or her politics obvious, but really, don't keep bludgeoning me over the head with it. Over and over. Repetitively. Again. And Again.
February 20, 2012
I have better things to do with my time then to spend any more of it with this book.
September 27, 2012
Gave it up, I agree with other comments on here, this is badly written and turgid. With all the glorification of guns etc, it seemed like a polemic for the NRA
July 10, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A lot of fun, suspense, action, history.... What more could you want?
November 7, 2010
Jack Naile and his wife, Ellen, are free lance writers of novels and gun magazine articles. Used to getting the occasional fan letter, the most recent one that came in the mail had an interesting clipping. From an old magazine, it was a 1904 street scene at the town of Atlas, Nevada.
Intrigued, Jack gets in touch with the sender, Atlas' town historian, for more information. Perhaps an old relative. What they get in a packet floors the Nailes. A family portrait of the Atlas Nailes, it's unmistakably Jack, Ellen, and their two grown children, Tom and Lizzy, down to Jack's hat modeled after the one worn by Richard Boone on Have Gun, Will Travel and the custom made holster and gun rig on his hip.
Hard as it was to believe, somehow, sometime, the family gets sent back into the past.
Research shows the Naile family was always at the forefront of new technology, starting a company called Horizon Industries, shepherding it successfully through the depression, investing wisely in stocks until it was one of the largest, richest in the world today.
So they start planning what to carry and always have with them. A Suburban SUV loaded with an extra set of wheels/tires, plans for a water wheel to provide electricity, a small generator, wiring, receptacles, and money. Some gold, but bulk was impractical because of weight, so diamonds went along also. And weapons, modern weapons in the style of armaments of the time. Or close enough to pass.
When it happened, it was a confluence of events: testing on a new invention, a thunderstorm, ball lightning, they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Nailes go about setting up their new life in the past. Nt a true time machine, the distance to the past is fixed at just under a hundred years. The conditions can be repeated, just not understood. As time passes in the present, the same passes in the past.
As usually happens, word gets out, because of greed, and a corporation with modern weaponry enters the past with less honorable intentions.
We get a novel that's part western, part science fiction. All the usual western tropes are here, gunfights, horse chases, a train and a helicopter battle(not giving anything away here, check the cover). Teddy Roosevelt and the Seventh cavalry get involved.
A lot of fun.
Intrigued, Jack gets in touch with the sender, Atlas' town historian, for more information. Perhaps an old relative. What they get in a packet floors the Nailes. A family portrait of the Atlas Nailes, it's unmistakably Jack, Ellen, and their two grown children, Tom and Lizzy, down to Jack's hat modeled after the one worn by Richard Boone on Have Gun, Will Travel and the custom made holster and gun rig on his hip.
Hard as it was to believe, somehow, sometime, the family gets sent back into the past.
Research shows the Naile family was always at the forefront of new technology, starting a company called Horizon Industries, shepherding it successfully through the depression, investing wisely in stocks until it was one of the largest, richest in the world today.
So they start planning what to carry and always have with them. A Suburban SUV loaded with an extra set of wheels/tires, plans for a water wheel to provide electricity, a small generator, wiring, receptacles, and money. Some gold, but bulk was impractical because of weight, so diamonds went along also. And weapons, modern weapons in the style of armaments of the time. Or close enough to pass.
When it happened, it was a confluence of events: testing on a new invention, a thunderstorm, ball lightning, they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Nailes go about setting up their new life in the past. Nt a true time machine, the distance to the past is fixed at just under a hundred years. The conditions can be repeated, just not understood. As time passes in the present, the same passes in the past.
As usually happens, word gets out, because of greed, and a corporation with modern weaponry enters the past with less honorable intentions.
We get a novel that's part western, part science fiction. All the usual western tropes are here, gunfights, horse chases, a train and a helicopter battle(not giving anything away here, check the cover). Teddy Roosevelt and the Seventh cavalry get involved.
A lot of fun.
July 19, 2016
I couldn't get through this one. I like to finish every book I start, but then I realized that life is too short to trudge through a book I don't enjoy. I received a large amount of random books from a friend, and the plot of this one sounded really interesting. I like books that take place in the past and time travel is (usually) pretty interesting, but I just couldn't with this one. The dialogue was so annoying to read. I don't think the author realizes that descriptions can be made by the narrator, and not each character speaking. It seemed juvenile and sloppy. I hadn't even gotten to the time traveling portion yet, and I was already sick of all the gun talk. The main character is very pro-gun "It is my constitutional right to bear arms, y'all!!" No thanks.
Also, why does Jack keep calling his wife "kid" or "kiddo"?
Also, why does Jack keep calling his wife "kid" or "kiddo"?
September 22, 2011
Ok. I admit I didn't finish this one. I got about a hundred and fifty pages in before I realized that it wasn't getting any better. The pacing is terrible, I feel the prologue kinda' destroys any mystery the authors could have built up, the dialogue is almost unreadable and without reasearching the authors I can already tell that at least one of them is a gun "enthusiast" because the book spends paragraphs describing them. This whole thing reads like the worst sort of author insert fan fiction, only the authors didn't at least do the reader the favor of setting the book in someone else's interesting universe.
January 27, 2020
Interesting idea. Needs more development and character depth. Additionally, less politics crammed down the reader's throat. I mean, politics are part of the story, but the author takes time away from the story to have the characters' inner narritave go on and on about politics. And frankly, anyone who finds Ayn Rand's works to be a philosophical comfort is immediately suspect to me. Ayn Rand's works are many things, but comforting is not one of them.
March 1, 2013
I love time travel books and that's about the most positive thing I can say about this one. I gave it 2 stars because I did read it to the end. At times it was entertaining, other times it was boring and then there were the times I was going back and forth between chapters trying to make sense out of what I just read. Basically it was a book written for fans of the Tea Party - God Guns & Patriots and more guns!
January 29, 2014
I really enjoyed this novel. This really has everything you want in a time travel adventure. In the novel, we time travel back to the year 1900. We get lots of good detail about life during that time, we get a brush with history as Teddy Roosevelt plays a critical part in the climax. We have evil doers from the future trying to sell weapons to the past. Everything you possibly want is here. To all my time travel buffs out there, this is worthwhile.
May 9, 2012
When a time-travel book has the phrase 'God Bless Ronald Reagan' within the first thousand words, I get itchy. When it follows up with 'check out the date on the inside jacket of this Ayn Rand novel', hives are not far off.
Right-wing masturbatory dreck can make an otherwise well-written book bad. This was not an otherwise well-written book. Avoid.
Right-wing masturbatory dreck can make an otherwise well-written book bad. This was not an otherwise well-written book. Avoid.
August 7, 2020
While I found the concept intriguing, the detailed descriptions of each and every gun and movie reference was boring and quite unnecessary to the story. I found myself skipping whole pages of this book.
May 22, 2015
I could not find a good place to stop reading this book. Steampunk meets Western adventure by means of time travel.
March 19, 2016
Needs the help of a good editor. Good idea but needs to work on the flow of the story.
November 2, 2019
Could not finish. I agree with other reviewers, this book needed a good editor.
September 19, 2021
Well, guns and yet more guns plus a heavy Republican bias, both of which I thoroughly dislike! I struggled through this book, speed reading through much of it just to work out what was going on. I found the sudden changes of point of view disconcerting, may be it was the lack of emphasis in the kindle version, while the dialogue was somewhat cliche and heavy handed. The idea behind the story was interesting, the execution much less so.
January 17, 2025
Started out good but by 47% it got boring, bad time travel science, and amateurish writing. It was a slog to finish so ended up speed listening and skimming. I am all for God, family, country and guns. I am a independent republican but this book was out there.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
September 2, 2020
Needless cursing interrupted an otherwise engaging flow.
January 24, 2015
Product Description
As a freelance writer, Jack Naile was used to getting an occasional letter from one of his readers, but when one of those readers sent him a clipping from a magazine, it would not only change his life, but could alter the course of history as well. The clipping had a photo, taken in Nevada in 1903, of a street scene, including a story with a sign, “Jack Naile—General Merchandise.”
Intrigued, Jack phoned the Nevada town’s historian and asked for more information. When the historian sent him a photo of the 19th century Jack Naile, what had seemed like an interesting coincidence immediately became much more bizarre. The four people in the photo, dressed in the style of the time, were unmistakably Jack, his wife, their grown son and teenage daughter. Jack decided he would have to take a trip to that town to investigate further. And if he and his family were somehow going to travel back in time, he was going to be prepared—and be well-armed.
About the AuthorJerry and Sharon Ahern have published over 80 novels in the categories of general fiction, science fiction, horror and adventure, with sales figures in excess of ten million copies. Their series “The Survivalist,” a post-holocaust science fiction adventure series, has continued for nearly three decades and is currently enjoying high sales in audio versions. Their story “Silent Pace” was nominated for a Horror Writers of America award. Jerry is a leading expert on holsters and concealed weapons and a frequent contributor to Guns & Ammo magazine. Sharon is also a magazine photographer, with her b&w and color photos internationally published.
May 8, 2011
Though marketed as science fiction, this is really more of what they used to label men's adventure a few years ago, a field in which Ahern excelled. The current volume has the sf time travel trope (including a fun appearence of Teddy Roosevelt), but I think would be a disappointment to the average science fiction fan. Lots of guns, fast action, some right-wing philosophy, and cigarettes on almost every page. The good guys are good, and the bad guys are very bad. It was fun but not very deep, and definitely a bit too long.
December 4, 2015
Good action story from a dependable pair
I haven't read anything of the Aherns in a long time but when Goodreads suggested this novel I knew I had to have it. The Aherns specialise in fast paced action novels with guns bullets and bad guys coming at you from every angle. This is another good read and the action never stops. If you like your heroes larger than life and your action bloody, then you can't go wrong with the Aherns.
I haven't read anything of the Aherns in a long time but when Goodreads suggested this novel I knew I had to have it. The Aherns specialise in fast paced action novels with guns bullets and bad guys coming at you from every angle. This is another good read and the action never stops. If you like your heroes larger than life and your action bloody, then you can't go wrong with the Aherns.
May 18, 2021
I enjoyed the book overall. Good characters, etc. Mixed feelings on the audiobook reader.
I also wondered why lead characters seemed to shoot people in the throat and head so much. Center mass......
I also wondered why lead characters seemed to shoot people in the throat and head so much. Center mass......
November 9, 2013
This was a mediocre shoot-em-up sci-fi time-transfer Western. It would have been much better escapist literature if it hadn't been so infested with foul language. I couldn't like the flat protagonists, or anyone else but Teddy Roosevelt.
July 21, 2012
hmm This book confused me a bit, it seemed to change along the way and I probably enjoyed the first half much more then the 2nd half. Overall it was ok.
December 20, 2012
a pretty good book
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews