THROWBACK

A fledgling time traveler learns that changing the past—or even just visiting—can have…disturbing consequences.

In a tale that twists its way to an unexpectedly light ending after a string of wrenching incidents, young New Yorker Corey Fletcher discovers that, like his beloved grandfather and a small community of others, he can travel in time. Better yet, Corey just might be one of the legendarily rare Throwbacks who can actually alter the fixed past…albeit at a cost of unpredictable changes up the line. Nevertheless, he recklessly slips back to 2001 to watch Papou Gus repeatedly fail to steer his wife away from her job in the World Trade Center, then tries his hand at it—and finds himself temporarily stranded in Lower Manhattan in 1917. Lerangis gives Corey two redoubtable female foils. In 1917, “Quinn Roper” has disguised herself as a cowboy, causing Corey to reflect, rather clumsily, on changing attitudes toward gender assumptions and presentation. In the 21st century, fellow time traveler Leila also gives the 9/11 rescue a go. The author crafts a white default cast but ably evokes the stews of old New York’s Bowery and, while leaving his biracial protagonist’s Puerto Rican mom in the background, does slip in markers for Corey’s Greek American ancestry.

A trilogy opener with all the makings of a grand tale…in time.