Me on Tempest

Title: Tempest
Authors: Julie Cross
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (Macmillan imprint)

In 2009, Jackson Meyer is a normal guy. He's in college, he has a girlfriend, and he can travel back in time. Nothing big, though. Nothing changes when he makes these jumps. It's just for fun. But one day two strange men burst in on Jackson and Holly, and in the struggle, Holly is shot. Then Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but it's different this time. Now he's stuck, and he has to learn how to actually use his ability before the "Enemies of Time" appear to recruit him. Or kill him. Piecing together clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson has to decide how far he's willing to save Holly, and possibly the entire world.

First, I have to say how refreshing it is to find a book written in a male point of view that's convincing (see also Mindi Scott's Freefall and Marie Lu's Legend). Jackson sounds like a guy. He's totally freaking about about being chucked back to 2007, he's trying to work it out logically in a guy sort of way, and all he can focus on is getting back and finding Holly. Which is sweet.

The time travel is a little complicated, like time travel often is, but it's not packed with loads of science info dumping. Instead it's Jackson and his friend Adam's definition of time travel. So much like guys, winging it as they go along. So many questions, so much speculation. Less physics, more other areas of scientific fields, fairly easy to understand.

You spend most of the book rooting for Jackson, hoping he can figure out why he can travel through time, what his dad really does, and if he actually saves Holly in the end. His life has suddenly been turned all around and backwards, and he's trying desperately to put it all back together.

An interesting story, Tempest reminds me of a spy or action movie involving teenagers with some family drama and time travel mixed in. I'll admit, I think it loses some of the action and suspense with it being a book, but I can see how it would translate to the big screen (lots of actions scenes and special effects). This book will interest readers looking for more modern-day (in a way) suspense mixed in with their time travel plus some romance thrown in.

(I received an e-galley of this book through NetGalley from Macmillan.)