THE 13TH HOUR

In this time-travel sequel, a man gets another chance to save his wife’s life.

Three years ago, Nick Quinn was given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to save his wife, Julia, from certain death, a nightmarish time-traveling experience that only he remembers. But now it happens again as he witnesses his beloved Julia—and many others—die after a horrific terrorist attack during the Fourth of July weekend celebrations. As the bodies pile up, a dying friend hands him the antique pocket watch that doubles as a time-traveling gadget, and Nick has a new shot at saving Julia and preventing a terrible disaster from happening. But just like before, the time-traveling rules are less than straightforward. Nick has only 12 hours to fix things, but in reverse and one hour at a time. There are no do-overs once the watch stops after the 12-hour period. As Nick desperately attempts to save Julia over and over again, hour after hour, events spiral out of control, and it soon becomes clear that there is more at stake than his wife’s life. There’s a sinister plot that could engender worldwide political consequences. Nick discovers that there is a second watch and another time traveler following in his tracks, but whether he is friend or foe remains to be seen. This stand-alone sequel to Doetsch’s The 13th Hour (2015) is a time-travel thriller told in reverse, starting with the final chapter and going backward. As the story progresses (or rather, regresses), the taut, well-conceived plot unravels and reforms with twisty surprises and elements of politics, revenge, and Machiavellian villainy. While the time-traveling mechanism remains entirely unexplained and Nick often comes across as a one-note character (“Please help me save my wife”), the story truly excels with its engaging, nonstop pursuit of the truth. No one can be trusted in this genuinely intriguing whodunit. The narrative hops between Nick and Julia as well as a few other characters whose importance to the story varies depending on the roles they ultimately play.  

A fun and compelling time-travel thriller.