No Way Home by Christy Cooper-Burnett
ABOUT THE BOOK
Christine Stewart is a regular woman just doing her job when she gets stranded in history. When she gets up for the day, her plan is simple: go to work, travel back in time to the year 1867 in Oklahoma to deport a cyber-criminal, then head back to her time in 2070 Los Angeles and get ready to go on vacation with her son, Michael.
Then the system goes down and she–and dozens of other transporters around the world–are stranded in the past with minimal training and no supplies.
Just when she thinks things can’t get any more dangerous, she is cast further back in time and thousands of miles away.
As her goals shift from simply getting home to something much more dire to all of humanity, Christine must step outside of herself, work as part of a team, and ultimately make the choice between what it easy and what is right. Even if it costs her everything–including her one chance of ever getting home.
MY REVIEW
I was contacted by Ms. Cooper-Burnett to review her novel which will be published in July 2020. It is an intriguing book fitting for our time. A mission in another time and place to help prevent a cataclysmic pandemic in the future.
Christine Stewart wanted to be on vacation in Aruba with her son and his girlfriend, but due to extenuating circumstances at the Cyber Criminal Enforcement Agency (CCEA), she becomes stranded in 1867 Piedmont, Oklahoma while transporting a prisoner. It’s been 6 months since she came here with nothing but the clothes on her back and luckily a rancher took her in with no questions asked. She has also discovered another stranded transporter, Annabelle, who is living as a schoolteacher. After a band of Indians kidnap them, Christine runs and hides not knowing what becomes of Annabelle. When Christine’s transponder finally starts to show life, she makes the extremely tough decision to leave Annabelle and transport herself back home in 2070 Los Angeles, California. But due to a malfunction, she ends up in 1335 Cotswold, England, along with 6 other transporters who are dealing with The Black Death and even worse conditions than Oklahoma. How can they get back?
The story has a great concept and is eerily coincidental to our present circumstances in the world. The back story includes an intelligent and wealthy businessman, Jonathan Hoyt, who finds a life-and-death theory by a fourteenth-century astronomer’s writings and his link to planet alignments, gravitational pull, and weather which have a direct correlation to disease outbreaks. The astronomer’s writings aren’t complete, and Hoyt has found a way to get them…at the cost of innocent people’s lives.
The idea is good, but there was a minor thing I felt could be fixed such as the prologue which was not needed since it was unnecessarily repeated word for word later on in the book. The characters are well-developed and I especially liked Christine’s directness and no-nonsense manner which made her a hero in my opinion. Ethan, a transporter from England, is also a very likable character with a valuable military background that comes in very handy.
Overall, this is an engaging and fast-paced adventure about the past and future. If you think you would enjoy a character-driven time travel journey with a twist, give this book a try.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am a fiction author based in California with a degree in Administration of Justice. I retired early after spending most of my career in new home construction management, and now divide my time between northern and southern California. I live with my beagle mix Gertie, and have a grown son who inspires me to write.
Follow Christy on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.