It begins in Seattle, in 1913, when Dorothy runs away from the marriage her con-artist mother has inveigled her into. Her flight leads her to a time traveler, from New Seattle, 2077. Ash is on a mission to find his mentor, the professor who figured out time travel technology, and who disappeared. leaving his team of young people gathered from different times without guidance and purpose. Dorothy stows away in his ship, and Ash inadvertently takes her back to his own time, to a city devastated by earthquakes and inundated by tidal waves.
It's a city living in fear of a vicious gang, whose co-leader, Roman, was once one of the professor's brightest students. But Roman wanted time travel to be used to save his city and its people before it was destroyed, and the professor refused to believe this was possible (for good reasons).
When Dorothy goes exploring by herself, and is kidnapped by Roman, she's caught in the greatest long-con of her life. But who is its mastermind, Roman, or someone else entirely? And why did the professor disappear, and where has he gone? And can Dorothy find a place for herself with Ash and the other members of the professor's team, earning their respect for her skills, and not just being admired for her pretty face? A trip back to a military base in the 1980s gives her the chance to do just that; but whose hands is she playing into? Will she be on the side of the destroyers, or the saviors (and is saving anything she cares about actually possible?)
Dorothy is a fascinating character. She's badly damaged by her horrible mother, who's used her as a beautiful pawn in various scams her whole life. Even though Dorothy is a point of view character, I was never sure I liked or trusted her, but it's clear that it's not her fault she's the way she is. She's been taught never to trust anyone, and no one has given her any reason to trust them...until she meets Ash. Ash, a young World War II pilot, is less complicated, but still appealing in his loyalty to his comrades.
And then everything goes bang at the end, leaving one tremendously anxious for the next book. Don't be me, and look at the end of the first book half way through to make sure it comes out all right in the end, because it isn't the end! Fortunately book two, Twisted Fates, comes out reasonably soon, in February of 2020 (but don't read the blurb for that yet, because spoilers).
It's good fun time travel through technology, with lots of different jumps through time and tangled timelines, that manages not to be too confusing. An interesting twist is that time travelers start to get glimpses of their future lives...used to good effect to ratchet up the tensions of their present lives....
400 pages in just over two hours? That's a recommendation right there. Sound like an interesting book. Thanks for telling me about it.
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