I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Lane Betrayal
by John A. Heldt
Series: Time Box #1
Series Rating:
on February 29, 2020
Genres: Time Travel Romantic Suspense Sci-Fi
Pages: 306
Format: Kindle
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: The Fair , Sea Spray, The Refuge, Crown City
From the author of the critically acclaimed Northwest Passage, American Journey, and Carson Chronicles series comes the first book in the Time Box saga.
Virginia physicist Mark Lane has a problem. Weeks after privately creating two time machines, he learns his corporate partner wants to use the portable devices for nefarious purposes. Rather than give him the chance to do so, Mark takes the time boxes and escapes to the relative safety of 1865.
For Mark, wife Mary, and their children, the adventure is a chance to grow. Mary runs a business. Jeremy, 19, and Ashley, 12, befriend escaped slaves. Laura, 22, finds her place as a nurse. Jordan, 25, falls for a beautiful widow. All hope to find peace in the past.
Billionaire Robert Devereaux has other ideas. Shortly after Mark's betrayal, he sends an assassin to 1865 to retrieve his property and set matters straight.
Filled with romance, suspense, and history, THE LANE BETRAYAL follows a modern American family as it tries to find security and contentment in the final weeks of the Civil War.
The Lane Betrayal by John A. Heldt is the first in a new series where this time, it’s more science fiction than the usual time travel that Mr. Heldt has given us previously.
Can the Lane family keep themselves safe in 1865?
The Lane Family
The Lane family consists of Mark, Mary, Jordan, Laura, Jeremy, and Ashley. Mark is the developer and the whole reason the Time Boxes exist, and he wants to keep the past the same, so he took his inventions with him to stop his business partner and friend, Robert Devereaux, from using them for his vendetta. Mary is Mark’s wife and the one that has done a lot to make sure that the family has what they need to make the jump to 1865 successful. Jordan and the other kids had to decide to follow their dad into the past to keep themselves alive.
What I like about the Lane family is that despite the kids being of different ages and the big age gap between Jeremy and Ashley, they are looking out for the others. Each one is also very different in personalities and how their history up to this point has shaped them. However, will they let those experiences control them?
Ashley is twelve, and the only one whose personality will be shaped by the time jumps. Jeremy is still learning some things, but I don’t think it will affect as much. Laura does a lot of figuring out how she will help the family. But will these new experiences change her? Jordan has a military background to help defend the family against whoever Robert sends to get the time boxes back. The parents each have their specialties to support how the family deals with being part of history.
Robert Devereaux
Robert Devereaux is a complex man who has a few sides that he will show to certain people. To the public and the people that work for him, Robert is this successful man who is very charismatic and has just been shunned and humiliated by his business partner. Now to Robert’s friends, he shows his true colors by letting them see that he wants to change the world to what he wants it to be. The world, Robert’s way, wouldn’t be fair. As he wants to change certain things from happening and those closest to him know this.
Robert is an evil man who knows how to cover it up very well. Will his hitman get the time boxes back to him so that he can do his evil deeds? Or will it end badly for him? Those are the two questions that I will be looking for answers to in future installments.
Five Stars
The Lane Betrayal by John A. Heldt has a whole different method of time travel method, and the entire reason why is also different. The Lanes’ motivation is to keep their lives. Mr. Heldt has done a fantastic job on this one, and I can’t wait to read the upcoming books for this series come. The Lanes’ have captured my attention and hope for their survival and possibly for them to somehow go back home.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Lane Betrayal by John A. Heldt.
Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
About John A. Heldt
John A. Heldt is the author of the critically acclaimed Northwest Passage and American Journey series. The former reference librarian and award-winning sportswriter has loved getting subjects and verbs to agree since writing book reports on baseball heroes in grade school. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Iowa, Heldt is an avid fisherman, sports fan, home brewer, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction.
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