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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

The Unexpected Gift of Joseph Bridgeman by Nick Jones (Review)


This book is one of the best time travel novels I've read and reminded me a little of The Time Traveler's Wife, except this book made me laugh. And I mean laugh-out-loud belly laugh. I'd find myself bursting into spontaneous laughter at some of the scenes. It's been a long time since any book did that for me.

Book Details:

Book Title: The Unexpected Gift of Joseph Bridgeman: A Time Travel Adventure (The Downstream Diaries Book 1)
Author: Nick Jones
Category: Adult Fiction, 456 pages
Genre: Time Travel
Publisher: Createspace
Release date: May 2, 2017
Content Rating: PG-13 (for language, lots of f-words)


Book Description:

Meet Joseph Bridgeman, a reclusive insomniac with a weakness for ‘The Beatles’ on vinyl and a constant headache. When his annoying accountant suggests hypnotherapy might help him sleep, Joseph accidentally discovers he can time-travel and things get a little complicated.

With the help of Vinny, a local record shop owner, Mark, his old school friend, and Alexia Finch, his hypno-time-travel guru, Joe sets out to change the course of his life. He needs to get back to 1992, the year his world fell apart, the year that Amy, his sister, went missing. The only problem (apart from his clothes disappearing) is that the further back he goes the less time he gets to stay there. Can Joe master his new-found gift before time catches up with him?



My Review:
Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

I'm always looking for good time travel stories and this novel intrigued me from the book cover to the back cover blurb. I began reading it not knowing what to expect and began smiling as I dug into it. I love discovering Indie gems and this book turned out to be one. It's one of the best time travel novels I've read and reminded me a little of The Time Traveler's Wife, except this book made me laugh. And I mean laugh-out-loud belly laugh. I'd find myself bursting into spontaneous laughter at some of the scenes. It's been a long time since any book did that for me.

This is not the sci-fi kind of time travel. Joseph, is a regular guy. He's become a reclusive, having lost his business, living without purpose and affected by traumatic events in his past. The reader feels for him and the author slowly builds his character as we begin to piece together how Joseph got to the sad state he's in. When Joseph accidentally discovers he can time travel, he now tries to adjust to this new gift and the possibility that he can now travel back in time to find his little sister who disappeared at the fair when they were children.

This was not only a fun book to read but I found that the author created a brilliant plot with complex characters and emotional situations. Joseph is an anti-hero who has to overcome emotional barriers to take action in his life. He lives with guilt and remorse and this has nearly destroyed his life. He has to get past his reclusive lonely state and enlist the help of others. The author peels back the layers of his life through flashbacks. I loved the cultural references to the 90s interspersed through the book.

I couldn't help but like Joseph and the other characters too. The scenes between him and his sister were so endearing and touching. The author skillfully blends action, intrigue, time travel and comedy to bring us a unique and original story. I couldn't put this book down and read snippets of it every free moment I had! It was unpredictable, funny, sad, romantic and utterly satisfying to read. The only thing I would have preferred would be less f-words and bad language.

If you love time travel or just a very good story that propels you all the way to a great finish, pick this one up. It's one of the best books I've read this year.

Disclosure: Thanks to the author for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.


About the Author:


Nick Jones was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England in 1972. His debut novel ‘The Whisper of Stars’ was released in April 2014. He can usually be found in his garden studio, working on his latest mind-bending idea, surrounded by notes and scribbling on a large white board. He loves movies, kindness, gin and vinyl.

Connect with the author: Website

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