Amazon Christopher J. Holcroft Category:  Action/Thriller Publisher: Infinity Publishing ISBN-10:  1495821374 Type: Fiction Pages: 350 Copyright: March 2018 ISBN-13: 9781495821370 Time Voyager sees a ferry deckhand suffering nightmares undergo past life regression. He then helps three families come together with lives changed forever.  Connor McBride wors in the present day as a deckhand on the Manly Ferries in Sydney. He must take a journey to the past to solve his recurring nightmares. Connor finds he was a Royal Australian Navy sailor who was best mates with a young man who desperately wanted to repair family relations and introduce his pregnant wife to his parents - two generations ago. The problem is Connor's friend wants to give him a letter for his parents the night the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne sliced HMAS Voyager in half, killing more than 80 sailors on the destroyer. Can Connor solve the issue, or must he take a journey in time using past life regression to change a series of events for three families today? Excerpt The nightmare happened again. Connor was standing on the deck of the ship and something made him scared. It was night and he began to run inside the ship. His heart was pumping fast and he was in an awful hurry. There was an almighty jarring to the ship and the sounds of metal shearing, tearing and scraping, punctuating the air. The shrill noise was worse than someone running their fingernails down a classroom blackboard. Connor was thrown hard against a steel wall splitting open his forehead. Lights flashed on and off and suddenly water was filling the room. Sounds of men screaming, crying, and yelling began to echo throughout the ship. Connor felt something grab his leg and he looked down to see the face of a sailor he knew trying to hold onto him. The sailor looked directly at him with a face contorted in pain and awash with blood and foaming water. “Please post this for me …” the sailor said before his face rolled into the water and his grip loosened around Connor and he floated away. Connor breathed rapidly and shallowly. He sat up and began reaching out in mid-air before crying out loudly: “Who are you? Where are you from? What is it you want me to post and to whom?” Blain reached his son's bedroom door first, quickly followed by Ruth. He turned on the light and froze as he saw Connor with a vacant death stare, his mouth open and his arms reaching for something imaginary in space. “What the hell's going on son? Are you okay?” Blain asked as he rushed to Connor's side. Connor snapped out of his groggy state and took a few seconds to focus on his parents. His eyes blinked as he adjusted to the light and saw the worried looks on their faces and then blushed. “Sorry dad, mum, it happened again - that darned nightmare about being on some kind of sinking ship. I didn't mean to wake you.” Ruth held Connor's hand and gently rubbed his face. “It's okay, you're alive and safe,” Ruth said calmingly. “It was just a bad dream.” Blain took a different tact as he tried to assess the situation. “Do you want to get up for a while and talk about it or try and get back to sleep?” Connor thought for a few seconds and told his parents he was sorry for waking them. “I'll be fine now. I think we all just need some sleep.” Ruth nodded and kissed her son on the cheek before starting to move to the door. Blain also nodded and then smiled as he ran his hand along Connor's bed and joined Ruth before flicking off the light and exiting the room. Connor lay back down on his pillow and tried to analyse what had just happened. It was the same nightmare about a ship. He knew the sequence off by heart but it still sent shivers down his spine. Was it an omen or portent of what was to come in his nautical career? Was it something he had seen on TV that disturbed him and kept replaying in his mind? There was something about the sailor who grabbed him and died. He was Australian and had looked knowingly directly at him before he took his last breath. Connor knew him and the sailor trusted him. What ship were they on? Where was it and when? The questions kept playing out in Connor's mind as he tried to calm himself and allow sleep to take him. Four hours later Blain was on the wooden deck outside the living room drinking his morning coffee and reading the online newspaper on his tablet computer. Connor took out his coffee and toast and joined his father. Blain stopped reading and looked directly at his son. “Feeling okay?” “Yeah, thanks. Sorry for waking you and mum.” “It's okay. We heard you screaming out and weren't sure if there were intruders in your room or you were having a nightmare.” “Dad it is so real. It's like I could lift an imaginary veil and suddenly be on that ship. Something pretty bad happened to it and I keep getting caught in the one scene. It's weird.” “I think maybe you need to consider whether you should seek some sort of professional help, you know, maybe a psychologist or someone who can assist you analyse what's happening.” “I've thought about it. Darren and I will be going to Darling Harbour today to have a look around so maybe that will help. He says there's an old warship and submarine on display there so we're going to clamber all over them.” “Good, at least you'll get a feel if one of them is the sort of ship in your nightmare or something else. Who knows maybe you watched one too many episodes of Patrol Boat when it was on TV.” “That was a good show but I can't remember an episode that had my nightmare details in it. We'll see in a few hours.” Blain and Connor enjoyed sitting on the deck in the sun together. It was their way of sharing time as father and son. They may not have spoken much to each other as they each read articles on their computer tablets but they were in the same space. Darren arrived half an hour after Connor finished his breakfast and grimaced when he saw his best friend. “Shit mate, are you okay?” “Yeah; why?” “You look like you haven't slept for a few days.” “I sort of had a rough night. Tell you about it on the way.” The pair drove off in Darren's car. Connor filled in his mate about the nightmare and became slightly agitated as he went over the details. “So, what you're saying is this was the same nightmare you told me about at the pub?” “Yeah but it leaves me grasping to answer imaginary questions.” “Like what?” “Like what ship am I on? What happened to me? When did the event take place? Is this dent in my forehead a leftover from whatever happened to the ship? For all, I know it could be a scene from World War Two or something. Maybe I was alive then and I've reincarnated or something. I just want to know so I can be rid of it.” Darren listened carefully as he drove and calmly put his left hand on Connor's shoulder. “Hopefully today we'll bring things to a head as we look around some of the old ships. Who knows maybe you were an Admiral, some other high-ranking officer or a mere sailor in another life who went down with the ship and all that crap. Hell, I may have to salute you!” Both laughed as they made their way into Darling Harbour which is a small inlet near the centre of Sydney. It is surrounded by a giant pedestrian and recreational area that overlooks where dragon boat racing and other special events are held regularly both on the water and adjacent walkways. The State Government spent millions of dollars upgrading the area that was once populated by old wharves, factories and warehouses from the time Australia was a British colony in the 1700s and 1800s. The site now houses all things nautical including a maritime museum; a lighthouse, a former ferry that used to steam between Sydney’s Circular Quay and Manly, a former Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Onslow and a former destroyer called HMAS Vampire. “Where the hell are we going to park?” Connor said as their car approached the Maritime Museum area. The museum’s car park was full but a car pulled out of a parking spot adjacent. “Mate, we’re in luck, there’s a spot. Someone’s looking after us today.” The two friends parked, fed the hungry parking meters, and walked across the road where a throng of people had gathered. “What gives with the crowd?” Darren asked a woman who was reading a tourist brochure on Darling Harbour. “The next tours of the submarine and destroyer are about to start,” she said. “They seem pretty popular.” “Thanks. It all makes sense as it’s not every day you can inspect former warships I suppose.” The woman nodded and laughed as she went back to reading her brochure. “Well there you go – an instant crowd – just add us. Ta daa!” Connor laughed as the crowd started surging through the entry area and into a vast, cathedral-like area that looked after large groups until tour guides broke them into smaller parties to visit the various exhibits. Connor could just see part of the bow of the destroyer and some of its superstructure above the crowd. A cold feeling swept over him as he craned his neck to see more of the ship. “Come on mate, let’s see the submarine first, that should be a real hoot,” Darren said. “Ahh, do you mind if we see the destroyer first mate?” “How, come?” “The moment I saw the bow with the huge D11 numbering I started getting this weird feeling all over my body. It was almost like this is the ship I was meant to see.” “Okay, the Vampire it is, my young Captain.”

A Tale Of Discovery And Action
An interesting concept is presented to a young man, giving him the chance to explore what appears to be memories, yet in a time he couldn’t have known.

With the support of others he discovers a tale that is both exciting and harrowing at the same time, giving him strength and insight into his life today. What happens when your life crosses paths with another and becomes one?

Past lives is a topic rarely given any credence in many circles, but this book gives the reader a tale that makes you wonder….

Written with courage and compassion for the young man, this thought provoking book allows all to take a second look at those moments and feelings of déjà vu wrapped in a tale of discovery and action, inviting the reader to question …

Liane Curry
Penshurst, NSW
Australia


A Feeling Of Satisfaction
Sitting reading Time Voyager on a lazy Sunday afternoon I found myself unable to put down the story. I sat in my comfy chair to keep on reading the story of Connor McBride and his voyage into the past. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read sparking questions about previous lives and incarnations and the impact they can have on current lives.
A few hours later I surfaced to realise the sun had set while I had been lost in the world of Time Voyager and Connor McBride. Recognising the hero of our story Connor McBride held the key to the futures of three unrelated families just led to wanting to keep reading until the book was finished.
My family was ignored while I went along for the journey with Connor. A feeling of satisfaction enveloped me at the end of a lazy afternoon of time well spent completely enjoying the experience of the book called Time Voyager.

Nerida Pride
Richmond, NSW
Australia