Time's Enemy (Saturn Society) [Kindle Edition]

Time travel can be tricky, especially when you don't know what you're doing as evidenced by one of Time's Enemy's main character, Tony Solomon. First, he falls from a Mayan pyramid and for all practical purposes, dies. Yet, somehow, he is brought back, only to slip into time and literally lose his head as a Mayan sacrifice. As soon as he dies, he's snapped back to the present. Far more confused and now sporting a very thick scar around his neck! And no one seems to notice that time has altered or remade itself.

Now, if discovering you can travel backwards in time isn't nerve-wracking enough, enter The Saturn Society, the educator/protector of time travelers through time. They will protect you, provide you safe haven as you travel, but there's a catch to membership. They also will hunt you down as an enemy of time if you break their rules.

Which, of course, Tony is determined to break.

Time's Enemy by Jennette Marie Powell is a fascinating read. Though time travel romance, and time travel novels in general have been around for a long time, Ms. Powell manages to bring to the genre a fresh face and an adventure that I find inventive. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Sheri L. McGathy, author of Promises and other fantasy works

Although I had never read a time-travel novel before, I had seen the movie, "Inception". Time's Enemy is every bit as gripping a story. Fast-paced, exciting, and well-grounded in history, it's a real page-turner! The author's research is impeccable, and since I live in Dayton, Ohio, the story's setting, I was impressed with that. It's good to know that a follow-up, Time's Fugitive, is on the way!

Time travel romance usually goes like this: a man or woman, through some mechanism, magic or device, travels back in time or into the future. Once they get there, they usually stay there for the duration of the book, learning to deal with their new circumstances and falling in love with someone from that time period along the way.

TIME'S ENEMY is not your typical time travel romance. It takes this general premise and gives it a science fiction edge, taking the reader on a page turning journey. Put it this way, if you take THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, mix in THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE and sprinkle it with SOMEWHERE IN TIME, you'll get this amazing book.

Time Travel Paradox
Powell uses this principle with deft skill and it's the thing that makes this story shine. Any change in history, no matter how minor, can have dire consequences in the present/future. Every time Tony goes back in time, he does something (often unintentional) to alter history and when he returns, his present is altered because of it. It's when he goes back in time to deliberately change the past that the Saturn Society steps in. He broke the rules and he must be stopped. Now he finds himself on the run, in the present and the past.

Not Your Typical Romance
Most romances have the hero and heroine meet within the first couple of chapters of the book. Not so here. The romance between Tony and Charlotte doesn't even get started until the middle of the book. That's a long time to wait in romance-land, but experiencing Tony's journey getting there was well worth it. I love how the author portrays his confusion and desperation when he starts time traveling. He doesn't understand what's happening, he's scared and disoriented, and has no control over where and when he goes (at least in the beginning).

Not Perfect, but Close
As I said before, I thought this was a page turner of a book. But it's not without its flaws. There are a few points in the middle where the pacing drags in comparison to the fast paced beginning and ending; one chapter makes use of short, choppy scene breaks which bothered me; and the author has an affinity for using parentheses throughout the narrative, which was a bit jarring. I use them a lot myself (as you can tell), just not in my fiction writing. But these flaws were minor, and didn't diminish the enjoyment of the book.

What Makes This A Perfect Indie Book
I'm pretty sure I know why this book didn't sell to the NY Big 6. It's a mix of romance, sci-fi, and paranormal fiction. I'm guessing editors and agents loved it, but just didn't know how to market it. Like many indie books, this one didn't fit in the tidy NY box, but it's definitely one you don't want to miss.