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Wrong Place Wrong Time

Review

Wrong Place Wrong Time

Although billed as a psychological thriller, Gillian McAllister’s WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME clearly utilizes both the laws of physics and the tenets of science fiction throughout, making for a spectacularly unique reading experience. The chapters are grounded in time and work their way backwards.

The action begins on Day Zero, or the evening of October 30th. It is also the night of Daylight Saving Time when the clocks roll back, providing an additional hour for all. This is why 17-year-old Todd Brotherhood is taking advantage of extending his curfew as his attorney mother, Jen, looks out the window waiting for him to come home.

"WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME is purely addictive reading and unlike anything I have ever experienced. It's a cleverly plotted novel that just begs to be read, discussed and admired."

Jen sees Todd hit their street, but just as he nears the house, he notices someone walking on the opposite side of the block. At this point, she witnesses her son do something that she never would have imagined. He pulls out a rather large knife from his bag, runs at the man and plunges it into him. Jen screams loud enough to wake up her husband, and they run outside to assess the horrific situation. All she knows is that the man her son stabbed was a complete stranger, appeared to be in his 40s and is very dead. Todd is now in police custody.

A distraught Jen wakes up the next morning and realizes that it is actually the day before the murder occurred. Once she gets used to this bizarre situation, she asks pointed questions of her typically mild-mannered and nerdy son to find out what might have caused him to kill someone.

The next time Jen awakens, it is yet another day into the past. It’s as if she keeps moving back to get more of an opportunity to figure out why Todd did what he did in order to somehow prevent it. Jen heads to her law office and confides in her best friend and coworker, Rakesh. She also goes online to research subjects like the Bootstrap Paradox, which involves going back in time to observe an event that you caused. To enter into a time loop, you would have to create a closed timelike curve. This is what she believes she is currently existing within.

Andy, Rakesh’s close friend and a renowned physicist, thinks that Jen will continue to travel through the time loop she has created until she reaches the inception of the crime and learns what made Todd commit it. Only at that moment will she actually prevent it from ever happening and complete the loop. Jen buys into this concept so fully that she even tries to send a timed email to her future self in an attempt to force the stoppage of the murder.

The time loop begins to move at a more rapid pace, jumping weeks, months and even years. However, the revelations and plot twists that continue along with each time jump keep the pace of this breathtaking narrative moving at the highest level possible.

WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME is purely addictive reading and unlike anything I have ever experienced. It's a cleverly plotted novel that just begs to be read, discussed and admired.

Reviewed by Ray Palen on August 12, 2022

Wrong Place Wrong Time
by Gillian McAllister