British author Damian Knight weaves a fascinating modern day read with facets of paranormal-fantasy, time travel, intriguing thriller, and comfy romance in his The Pages of Time series. The self-eponymous title is book 1 in the series, tracing the journey of teenager Sam Rayner, who, at the start, is an average high school student. A series of events that come into his life, while he is a teenager, ignite a paranormal ability in him, which allows him to travel through time, offering a new twist on H. G. Wells iconic novel Time Machine.
Knight has the reader enter into Sam's life just as his parents move from England to America over his mother's promotion at the bank where she works. This is the first event that upends Sam's life followed by several more events that sees him bullied in his new high school, beaten by the boyfriend of a girl he befriends at school, and peaked by being on a flight back to England with his parents that is blown up by a terrorist. His father is killed while he and his mother are in a coma.
When Sam wakes up in a hospital, he is informed that he has suffered a severe brain injury that his doctor cannot predict how Sam will be affected by the head trauma. The effect is revealed to the reader as an ability for Sam to see events happen before they actually happen. To see tragedies before they unfold.
Dr. Lara McHayden enters the story, a scientist who is experimenting with brain injuries and psychic abilities through her Tempus Project when she learns about Sam's case. She recruits him for her research, testing a drug she has concocted. Luring Sam into her research with the illusion that he could change the time line that caused the tragic plane crash and be able to bring his father back to life.
Interspersing Sam's tale with the back-stories of secondary characters, Knight interweaves their plot into Sam's plight. This gives the read greater depth and broadens the reader's perception of the patterns of good and evil and provides insight into Sam's own character and maturity.
Knight deftly blends intrigue and suspense with romance and introspection. The narration is well articulated and written in third person, which places the reader in the role of spectator, as the plot progresses steadily to a gravely tragic outcome, only to use time travel to upend that conclusion.
The reader needs to have patience as Knight skips between the storyline of Sam and the tertiary characters, who are vital to the plot. The reader also needs to accept the story as it takes unbelievable turns like when Sam is shot up and bleeding profusely, yet, he lives. Knight does keep the reader wondering where he will take the story from here, making the reader galvanized to the pages.
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