Hamartia is a personal error in a protagonist’s personality, which brings about his tragic downfall in a tragedy. This defect in a hero’s personality is also known as a “tragic flaw.”

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

In the not so distant future, people are dying and disappearing in droves. A mysterious disease called Metagenesis has emerged and it is incurable. Metagenesis happens when your would detaches from your body. Grace and Marc’s son 9-year-old son is dying from this disease, and they couldn’t be more desperate to fix it. And then Grace is offered a chance to do just that – she can travel back in time and take part in a secret (illegal) clinical trial. She can save her son.

Of course, if she saves her son, she kills her husband. And she just might trigger something even worse.

What follows is a pulse-pounding, page-turning intrigue. When I say page-turning I mean it. I gobbled this down in 2 sittings (the only reason it wasn’t one is I was visiting my in-laws and sort of figured it would be rude if I spent the entire day buried in the book). I mean, I kept thinking – I need to go and workout after this chapter – and then I read just ONE more….

I’d rate this a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m not much of a sci-if junkie, and this is one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had in the genre in a long time.

I was intrigued by the description of this book, but was also a bit hesitant. I sometimes struggle with sci-fi books. Especially if they involve time travel. For one thing, I get confused on the timelines. More importantly I find that there are often conflicting storylines or that the authors spends so much time on the scientific details and explanations that they forget to really draw out the characters.

I had none of these problems with this book. Yes, there are times where the time travel is confusing, but it is well compensated for with the characters and plot. There are difficult subjects being dealt with – divorce, the death of a child, suicide, love, and choices that can affect all of humanity (Literally). They’re also dealing with this in the midst of time travel, mysterious stalkers, and gunshots.

These subjects are woven skillfully into the fabric of the sci-fi texture of the novel. The characters are very well drawn and compelling. Their conflict is real, and they’re nowhere near perfect. Their motivations make sense.

It also made me think quite a bit about the concept of souls. There is a lot of discussion around soul mates and what a soul is made of. I don’t have anything profound that I came up with while reading the book or writing this review, but it is an interesting concept.

The only reason that I couldn’t give the book a 5 out of 5 is that there are some issues with the time travel that are unexplained and confusing. Also, at times the prose gets a bit heavy-handed. But as I said earlier, these were just blips and it certainly didn’t stop me from turning page after page. I was fascinated and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.

If you haven’t read this yet, and have any interest in sci-if, I recommend this fast-paced thriller. If you have read it, what did you think? Leave me a comment below, and don’t forget to follow my blog!