April 5, 2012

Tempest by Julie Cross


Publisher’s Summary: The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

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My Take: I didn’t have high expectations when I first started listening to the audio of Tempest. I’ve read mixed reviews about this one, so I just wasn’t sure if time travel would be my cup of tea. But, fortunately, as soon as I started listening, I was immediately drawn into the story.

I think that Adam (Jackson’s best friend) is my favorite character. He’s smart and a little quirky, and he’s the first person Jackson trusts to tell that he can jump back through time. Adam also helps document and test Jackson’s abilities to find out just exactly what he’s capable of doing. They know that his body doesn’t truly leave the present, it’s like just his mind goes back.

The part where the story really starts to pick up is when a bunch of strange men show up and attack Jackson and Holly (Jackson’s girlfriend) at Holly’s dorm. During the attack, something horrifying happens and, without really thinking about it, Jackson jumps back in time. But Jackson knows pretty much immediately that this jump is somehow different, and he quickly notices that he can’t return to his present time.

Stuck in the past, Jackson has to adjust to living in that past and trying to figure out how to get back to his present time.

While listening to Tempest, I was drawn into the mix of discovering who Jackson can trust, a cute romance, a bunch of action, and a crazy secret and huge mystery that must be solved…which leads to a huge twist of just what Jackson is actually stuck in the middle of. Tempest ends with an ultimate, crazy and unexpected decision Jackson makes that I TOTALLY did not see coming.
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5 comments:

Kristina said...

I have this one on my shelves waiting to be read, I hope I can get to it soon/eventually

Wendy Darling said...

That was a pretty interesting/shocking ending, wasn't it? I'm glad you ended up enjoying it!

Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

Book Flame said...

I've had my eye on this one for a while I think I have it sitting in my wishlist and will eventually get to it, I'm still a little up in the air about it.

Unknown said...

I've had Tempest on my shelf for a while. I'm really excited about reading it, just need the time. I love audiobooks, they're so convenient. But they are do darn expensive! Anyway... I'm really glad you ended up enjoying Tempest. A well done time travel story is do much fun. Great review, Mindy!

The Insouciant Sophisticate said...

I really liked Adam too and his methodical approach to documenting Jackson's abilities. Didn't like Jackson himself very much though nor was I a big fan of the time travel. I like books where they can go back centuries (or more) instead of just one's own life. It's much more exciting! Thanks for sharing about the audiobook-I usually don't like being read to so this is not one I would have picked up in that format.

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