“The tempest” by Julie Cross follows nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer who has just discovered he can time travel by focusing on specific memories of the time and place he wants to go. What initially is fun and games—Jackson travels through time as his friend, MIT freshman Adam Silverman, times his progress and gives him a journal to keep track of his experiences—turns dangerous. One morning Jackson is sleeping over at Holly Flynn’s, his same age girlfriend’s dorm room, when two strangers burst through the door and tell Jackson to go with them. When Jackson refuses, thru fatally shoot Holly—as Jackson, still in shock, transports himself back two years to 2007. From 2007, Jackson views his life from a different perspective. He tracks down seventeen-year-old Holly—who doesn’t know him yet—at her gymnastics job, and befriends her, as well as her co-workers, feisty Jana, and girl-obsessed Toby. But when Jackson tries to return back to 2009, he finds himself trapped in 2007. Increasingly scared of his situation, Jackson tracks down the 2007 Adam—who hasn’t met him yet—and convinces him about everything that has happened to his life. With the help of Adam, Jackson goes back in time to years preceding 2007—and uncovers dangerous secrets concerning his father, his doctor, Agent Freeman, and the Enemies of Time. Meanwhile, he falls in love with 2007 Holly—terrified of what will happen to her two years from now. Ok, so now my impression of the story. I love the whole time traveling plot. The interesting thing about this story is that even though Jackson is able to travel to the past, he isn’t able to change anything in the future. This is in stark contrast to many other time-traveling stories. Secondly, a really strong area for this story is the love angle between Jackson and Holly. As a reader, you always wonder that if he had to choose: whose life would he save, his own or Holly’s? Lastly, a very strong aspect to the storyline is the mystery. Who is Jackson’s father? The pharmaceutical CEO that Jackson had always thought he was, or someone else? And who are those people around him? This was a pretty hard to put down story. Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable read. Should be interesting to see the movie based on this book when it comes out, as the story is very easy to visualize. Published by St. Martin’s Griffin. January 2012. 352 pages. List price $17.99
