Friday 5 April 2013

TimeWarp, Inc. - Book Review


TimeWarp, Inc.
by Cotton E. Davis


What is it about:
When historian Gwen Hoffman first meets time traveler Mike Garvin, an ex-Special Forces weapons sergeant back from ancient Gaul where he was embedded as a centurion in Julius Caesar's elite 10th Legion, she is more than a little put off. Scarred and dangerous-looking, the man appears more thug than time traveler. Yet he is the person TimeWarp, Inc. is sending back in time to protect Jeshua bar Yosef (Christ) from twenty-first century assassins; the man Gwen was assigned to prepare for life in first-century Galilee. Gwen, of course, has no idea she and Garvin will become lovers. Nor does she realize she herself will end up in Roman Palestine, where she will not only meet Jesus but face danger alongside Mike in the adventure of a lifetime...

What did I think of it:
This was a nice read with some things that bugged me.

The time travelling was done really well I must say. Davis really thought about how it should work and made a believable time travel system. I liked Mike and the scenes with Mike in Gaul were really cool and intriguing.

Gwen however...
I really get tired of the trope where a woman isn't sexy because she's wearing glasses and no make-up, but as soon as she loses the glasses and puts on some lipstick she turns into a babe. And yes: that's what happens with Gwen. I will confess I contemplated putting the book down when for the third time it was mentioned how unsexy glasses-wearing Gwen was.

But I decided to read on and when Mike and Gwen meet the story gets back on track.

From there on out it's an interesting and suspenseful story. I must confess I had expected the story would focus more on Jesus, but instead it keeps its focus on Gwen and Mike and I think that's actually a good thing. I had feared it would become too religious, but (apart from some minor lecturing) that isn't the case luckily enough. Instead it's an enjoyable time travel adventure that is mostly straight forwards, but has a nice twist at the end.

All in all I liked this story and might pick up something else by Davis if the premise of the story sounds intriguing.

Why should you read it:
It's a nice Time Travel adventure.


Buy it here

4 comments:

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

This might sound weird coming from me, but I really don't like it when books get preachy. A few years ago, I got into the great MG series The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence--and nearly quit it in the middle of the first book when it seemed that the great first-century protagonists were likely going to convert to Christianity. (Mild spoiler: That doesn't actually happen! At least not as far as I've read. Phew!) Although I personally think that would be a great outcome for the characters as people, I hate it when a good story is revealed to be a vehicle for something else--especially something preachy.

Sullivan McPig said...

@Enbrethiliel: I know exactly what you mean. Any book with a message clearly stamped all over the story annoys me, no matter what that message is.

Aurian said...

That does offend me, as I have been wearing glasses since the age of 12.

Sullivan McPig said...

@Aurian: my owner wears glasses as well, so she hates untrue tropes like this too.