Member Reviews
I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. This book was a complete departure from what I would usually read but I am so glad I read it. It was a great story with some brilliant characters, I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
I was in the mood for some time travel and this book did great with that. I loved the book, the story line as well as the characters. This was not your ordinary time travel book. I loved how the Sci-fi merged with the historical aspects of the story. I am still not a big fan of first person narratives as some authors struggle to get it right but overall the book had a great flow. This book was fast paced and I read it in just under two days.
I would recommend this book to lovers of time travel.
I truly LOVED this book! Everything about it! This was a futuristic Sci-Fy book involving time travel as a means for dealing with criminals. I loved the fact that the author did not find it necessary to have an intense agenda in her writing. She just presented her highly imaginative works without any real political views or agendas weighing it down. I am impressed, and more than a little excited to have discovered Ms. Cooper-Burnett! I will be watching for her books going forward!
The in depth descriptions and character development were amazing. I truly felt like I was present in the pages of this book, and the experience was thrilling. The book was also well edited, so I did not have a lot of distractions trying to figure out what the author intended to present. Quality editing is very important to me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Black Rose Writing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I enjoy a good time travel story, and this one, with its premise of a future world which sends its criminals to exile in the past, had a lot of promise. I found it failed in execution, unfortunately. The portions set in the past were not at all evocative of the times they were set in; nor did the author’s version of 2070 evoke any feeling of the future. There were anachronisms and plot holes all over the timeline. And I found Christine to be unlikeable and irritating. A disappointing read.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.
No Way Home by Christy Cooper-Burnett is a historical time travel novel. Christine is a Transporter from the future who is escorting a prisoner back to 1867 Oklahoma when she is stranded in time. She struggles to survive while trying find her way back home.
There are lots of twists and turns in this book. The premise is strong, and the world building is fairly good. However, Christine visits two very different time periods, but not a lot of History or historical facts are presented. Most of the adventures could have taken place anywhere.
That being said, this is still a very good book with interesting characters and a solid premise. I hope there are more books written about this world, with a lot more attention paid to the details of the time periods they are in.
If you like time travel and historical novels, you will like this book.
I received a free copy of this book from Black Rose Writing via Netgalley. My review is voluntary.
You do NOT want to mess with Christine Stewart. You especially do not want to mess with this forty year-old divorcee’s past, present, future, or her son Michael. Ditto her plans to vacation in Aruba. But that's exactly what happens in this thoroughly rousing sci fi romp by Christy Cooper Burnett.
Transporter Christine Stewart is responsible for orienting and “transporting” cyber criminals into exile in the past. After completing her missions, Christine time travels via transponder back to her present in Los Angeles, 2070.
We meet Christine just after she’s dropped off her latest charge in 1867 Piedmont, Oklahoma. Only this time, her transponder malfunctions. She’s stranded in the past with no supplies. No food. No weapons. And no way home.
But don't underestimate Christine or her friends, especially fellow lost transponders Annabelle (Oklahoma) and Ethan (England). In the meantime, there's a lot going on within this expertly paced, high octane plot. Family. Friendship. Loss. Love. Loyalty. Betrayal. Survival. And more.
Meanwhile, software and IT geek Johnathan Hoyt of Hoyt Enterprises has discovered a correlation between extreme weather patterns and a catastrophic pandemic. The latter is due to hit Los Angeles hard in two years.
Hoyt thinks he’s found a way to stop the pandemic IF he can get his hands on the missing chapter of an ancient equation. He recruits two flunkies with major financial problems to go back in time to retrieve the missing chapter. Once deciphered, it can save the world.
There’s just one problem: sending Aidan and Thomas back to 1335 Cotswold, England threw the entire time travel system off, stranding transponders in an uneasy past, worldwide. Now no one can find anyone. And the pandemic clock is ticking.
Told mostly in the first person, the bulk of the story is alternately narrated by Christine and her twenty-one year old son, Michael. He’s part of a search and rescue team that jumps into the past trying to locate and extract Christine and other lost transponders. Think Seal Team 6 meets H.G. Wells.
This story is full of lively twists and turns. The author demonstrates a firm grasp of historical settings, local color, and a keen eye for details. Especially as it relates to data and records. Lots and lots of records. Ditto magnetic fields. Medieval castles and rabbit traps. “Sentence enhancers.” A flooded church. A gambling addict looking for a big pay day. “Cupid rhymes with stupid.” Oh yeah. It can also get pretty miserable in the woods without central heating or running water. You'll also find out why Medieval England is one harrowing place. If miscreants, bandits, cold and starvation don’t get you, the Plague will. Antibiotics and vaccines, anyone?
Highly enjoyable and galactically engaging, the action shifts seamlessly between 1867 Piedmont, OK and 1335 Cotswold, England. It features solid, three-dimensional characters, credible dialogue, and vivid settings. It culminates in a satisfying conclusion that neatly "tucks in the tail" of every character and story arc.
Indeed, No Way Home ranks high among Most Fun and Fascinating Fiction of 2020. It’ll pull you in at the Prologue and not let go until the final page. You won’t want to miss it!
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I really loved this book – it’s an enthralling story, haunting in its every detail, so beautifully written. The character development is quite exceptional – and the whole book had an unforgettable impact. Highly, highly recommended.'
Intriguing idea to send criminals back to the past, as opposed to off to Australia as was done in the past. Just get them out of the way. They are 'taken' back with transporters, people who confirm that all is well back then and the story teller, Christine, is one such person. Things go wrong on one transportation though and people are unable to get back, hence forced to live in whatever era they were in. 19th century middle America, 14th century England. Christine survived for 6 months in Oklahoma, and there is a certain amount of how this was achieved, ie historic context. It felt rather contrived at times and we had to have various archetypal characters. The techie stuff apparently started working and she thought she'd be able to get back to 21st century LA. Wrong. she ended in 14th century England round about the time of the Black Death. She met up with and joined a small group of other transporters, a mixed bunch of characters. Of course, there was a subplot involving old manuscripts that would change the world if taken forward to the 21st century and this is where it went flaky, as well as context for 14th century England. Potatoes? I think not. 'Cotswold' is not a place, The Cotswolds are - given the text I'd assumed the author had made up a town of that name but clearly not, it was the area, so please get that right. Overall the historic context was weak and not always as well researched as it should have been but my main gripe is the actual premise of sending prisoners back in time as a 'prime directive' is always not to change the future. You send a bunch of bad guys and gals back and think they'll not do anything to change the past even if we'll never know they're changed it? That's sort of considered with Sarah and Salem but something the 21st century leaders didn't grapple with at all. Thanks to NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
I really enjoyed this book in the beginning, really great ideas and plotline but then somewhere around 40% it started getting a little slow and hard to read. I couldn't figure out quite what it was missing but then I realised its missing exactly what I love from time travel stories, the past. I love time travel because I'm nostaligc for a time that I have never lived, I love seeing modern people deal with the old way of life and there just wasn't enough of this for me. Most of the scenes were in a house or a camp and there was just no rich world building atall. Not for me I'm afraid.
I haven't read a good time travel book for ages and was excited to spot this book.I have to say I loved it, the characters were really good, believable and I liked the main character and quite a few of the others.I read this book really fast and stayed up way too late because I was enjoying it so much.It was a great rip roaring adventure and I think anyone who likes this genre will enjoy it as much as I did, I hope so anyway.