Eli Teague first meets Harry when Eli is only eight years old. Harry pulls up in a 1929 Model A coup that has been converted to run on water. Harry pulls up and takes Eli’s water bottle to fuel the car.
Eli meets Harry again when Eli is thirteen. This time Eli discovers that Harry is a girl, but she doesn’t seem to have changed much and is still driving the special Model A.
Eli isn’t able to shake the memory of Harry and when he meets her again when he’s 29 (and she still hasn’t changed), he follows her. But when he tries to protect her from some men who appear to be following her, he becomes caught up in a wild chase across the country and through time.
One of the things we’ve seen recently with author Peter Clines is that he isn’t afraid to challenge the reader (and himself) with our perceptions of reality. He also knows how to build a great deal of intrigue and excitement with a story and Paradox Bound builds well on all of these.
For me, the key to any story that has time travel is a logical set of rules – world building that makes as much sense as possible, given the already complicated parameters of the topic. And Clines makes this work. I was able to follow the way the time travel worked and was able accept it. It was one of the more creative methods I’ve come across.
I also really liked the villains in this book. They were truly frightening – and they also had a backstory that made sense within the context of the story.
The plot is thick with mystery and (intentional) confusion, keeping the reader guessing and eager to read on to the next chapter to see what happens next.
And as enjoyable a read as this was (and it definitely was), it’s what I consider to be a ‘typical’ best-seller chart book … it’s exciting and fun to read, but it won’t stay with you. Not too far in the future (or the past), you may look at the cover of the book and think “What was that one about?”
Looking for a good book? Paradox Bound is another exciting sci-fi mystery that includes time travel and terror, by Peter Clines. It’s a fun read that will keep you in the moment.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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Paradox Bound
author: Peter Clines
publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0553418335
hardcover, 373 pages
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