3 Stars



What would you do if you could travel back in time? That is the question that James Brophy explores in Gethsemane Revisited. I had never heard of the book or the author but found myself drawn to this novel that has a familiar yet seemingly different premise. I was hopeful but uncertain when I first started this book looking for a thought-provoking and entertaining story.



It never seemed as if Jerome was destined for greatness. When he first experienced time travel as a child, his mother and the doctors thought he was having some sort of seizure. It happened a couple more times, time seeming to freeze, and then went away for years. When he had his first episode in years as a young adult, he realized what was happening. Time was not just freezing for him. It was freezing around him. He was effectively traveling through time. Now he just needed to figure out how to control it.



As he comes to figure out how to travel through time, Jerome finds that there are three absolute rules of time travel: 1. You cannot change the past 2. No one will remember you 3. You can never prove your story. Lacking the ability to change the world, Jerome instead decides to try to learn about the nature of humanity by meeting with some famous people from the past. As his adventures escalate, Jerome feels like he needs to tell someone of his journeys through time. Unfortunately, though, he soon finds that no one believes him. Even worse, he begins to suspect that traveling backward in time can have serious effects on his life. Jerome may not be able to change the past, but he learns that the past may be able to destroy his present.



Gethsemane Revisited starts a little slowly and Brophy develops Jerome as a character as well as some of the supporting cast before allowing the story to take flight. Once it does, however, I was immediately drawn in. The trip back to meet with Hitler and learn a little bit about what made the man behind the monster was a brilliant decision as it explored humanity from the perspective of one who seemed to lack any semblance of it. When Jerome decides to make his next visit to meet Jesus, and make the journey that gives the novel its name, it was the perfect juxtaposition to his visit with Hitler and I was immediately drawn into the story. I literally did not want to put the book down. It was not a thriller that rockets the reader along but one that makes the reader reflect on what it is to be human and I was hooked. I wanted to turn the page and learn what revelation was coming next but had to pace myself so that I could take in what was happening. This was very good stuff and I was about as excited about the story as I have been for a book in a long time.



Then the second half of the book came and everything just seemed to come to a screeching halt. After all the momentum of the first half and the excitement it generated, Gethsemane Revisited changes from Jerome looking into the nature of humanity to exploring his own mind and life. This could have been a great way to continue the story except that Jerome seemed to really wallow more in self-pity than to apply what he learned from the past to his own life. The novel just seemed to lose its urgency and really found myself not just growing uninterested in the story but also getting annoyed with Jerome. I almost hate to say it, but Gethsemane Revisited is a novel with a five star first half and a two star second half. I understand Brophy's decision to make the story more personal, but it really fell flat for me. As much as I wanted to read the first half of the novel, I struggled through making my way through the second half hoping that it would pay off in the end. This is really a novel of almost two different stories: the historical and the personal story of Jerome. The historical part of the novel shines but Jerome is unable to carry the story on his own once it is centered on him. I would still recommend this novel as the first half is very, very good. The second half, though, is mostly forgettable.



I would like to thank Troubador Publishing Ltd. and NetGalley for this review copy. Gethsemane Revisited is available now.