Category: Fantasy Publisher: Tyche Books
Type: Fiction
Pages: 579
Copyright: June 28, 2018
Price: $5.99 (eBook)
Max experiences flashbacks of a life that isn’t his, from a time before he was born. Some of the memories are pleasant, some are . . . disturbing.
The complete Flashback Trilogy, a paranormal adventure series with time-travel and mad science.
Book 1: Flashback – Max sees a boy that no-one else can. He reveals to Max twenty-year-old secrets, secrets that someone will go to deadly lengths to keep concealed. To right a tragic wrong, Max must leap into his new friend’s past, not knowing how his actions will affect his own reality.
Book 2: Twisted Fate – When Max learns that Project Mindstorm has been revived, he and Julia embark on a seemingly impossible mission across multiple, shifting timelines. On the run and pursued at every turn by the powerful and ruthless Kane, Max and Julia engage in a desperate race against time to transform their own destinies.
Book 3: Parallel Destiny – The borders between realities are thinning, and Alastair Hammond’s experiments into the existence of parallel universes are dangerous and destructive. Marooned within a bewildering series of alternate timelines, Max and Julia are forced to save the very fabric of reality from Hammond’s deadly scheme.
Excerpt
Chapter One
Flashbacks
“Are the restraints tight enough?”
“Yes, of course they are. I told you, I know what I’m doing.”
“Now keep still, David, this won’t hurt a bit.”
The twisted smile on the doctor’s face told a far different story. Max struggled against the bonds securing him to the operating table as the old man’s hand moved closer. Max clearly saw the hypodermic, the needle now only inches from his eye. The younger man with the long blonde hair and pale blue eyes grinned, as Max emitted a scream that he was certain no one would ever hear.
“You okay, Max?” Jeff asked. “You don’t look so good.”
Max felt dizzy and disoriented, having to rest his hand on the taller headstone to steady himself.
Max and Jeff had gone to grab some pizza that afternoon. It was the start of summer vacation and Jeff had to stop and buy some flowers then meet his grandmother at Queen’s Park Cemetery. Jeff’s grandfather had passed away about six weeks earlier and his grandmother still liked to go to pay her respects and freshen the flowers beside the grave. The boys had just been chatting to Mrs. McNally and Max had stepped away to give the two family members a few moments of privacy.
He was standing by a tall elaborate headstone mounted on a marble pedestal, belonging to someone called Jonathan Dexter. There was a smaller headstone beside the pedestal. Before Max could read the name, his hand brushed the edge of the smaller gravestone. Disconnected, random images had suddenly flashed across his mind, culminating in the terrifying scene with the needle.
Professional Reviews
Flashback
“Flashback is a fascinating Young Adult book that pushes the boundaries of imagination: the Grail for every science fiction and fantasy reader. Shortly after its publication, Simon Rose’s Flashback was nominated for the 2016 Alberta Publishers’ Award in Young Adult. This book intertwines cold case and active murder case mysteries, high-level governmental military cover-ups, some supernatural or paranormal intervention, with some time travel. Flashback is progressive writing. It ignites a reader’s imagination to think “outside the box” for the creation of a better society: exploring the concept of teamwork, in building better futures together, that could not have been done singularly — the reality of winning teams today, business or personal.
The book starts off with a series of contact attempts by a teenage deceased named, David, who wanted some closure to his “cold case”, through teenage Max. When Max was able to finally accept the paranormal contact as real and not as a psychiatric episode, Max soon was able to teleport into David’s “world”, where Max’s sleuthing adventure begins. Eventually, Max’s mental abilities expanded to the point that he was able to assume the identity of David in David’s time period. The readers see how Max affects the futures of others, as well as his own timeline, with his time travel. At the same time, the readers see some of the “the Butterfly Effect” phenomena in action. That is, one small action at a critical point in time, that can alter the future in a big way.
The book explores the power of the mind to affect the fractals of a community from one self to other individuals, whereby changing societal outcomes. With such abilities, Rose reminds readers of the responsibilities and considerations that go with having such life-altering talents. This book is one of the few fictional works that can work at different dimensions of thinking, at the same time to successfully converge them to the central theme of humans helping humans because it is the right thing to do – past or present. Simon Rose masterfully takes his readers on a thrilling ride, with the innovative adventures presented, that is quite enjoyably memorable. Flashback is book one of the series.”
Opal Magazine, October 2018
Twisted Fate
“‘Julia was now suspended three feet off the ground, fighting for breath, as if an invisible hand was gripping her throat.’
Canadian author Simon Rose is an instructor for adults with the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University and offers a variety of in-person and online workshops for both children and adults. Not only doe he offer teaching and coaching for writers but he also is a successful author – especially for children’s and YA books. TWISTED FATE is book two in this Flashback series – a trilogy (so far) of time travel science fiction novels meant to stimulate the imagination of youngsters to explore not only literature but scientific possibilities that may just become realities in their lifetime.
With the aid of very fine cover art by Wiktoria Goc, Simon continues his beguiling new world with a shrewd sense of suspense: ‘“Max could feel his toes dragging on the rough concrete floor as he moved along the darkened corridor. Some of the overhead lights were broken and flickering. His arms were being supported across the shoulders of two other people. He felt distinctly drowsy but still noticed that the men on either side of him were wearing what appeared to be drab coloured military uniforms. They were speaking a language that Max couldn’t understand. Through half-closed eyes he saw a number of signs on the walls written in a strange alphabet. One of the men released Max as they reached a door. The man took a collection of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. As soon as it was open, the man led Max inside the dimly lit room and shoved him onto a filthy mattress that lay on the floor against the wall beneath a high, barred window. The man left, the door clanging shut behind him. As the key turned in the lock, Max struggled to his feet and staggered over to the battered and stained sink in the corner of the room. When he looked up and gazed into the cracked mirror he saw a girl’s face staring back at him. MAX SAT UP in bed, struggling to catch his breath. He looked around in panic before he realized that he was in his own room. It had just been a dream, although Max had no idea what it had been about. Once he’d recovered his composure he remembered that he’d been thinking about a whole range of issues before he’d fallen asleep. He’d been talking to his dad and grandmother the previous evening about his mother. Max’s thoughts had also drifted to the events of a few months earlier at the start of summer vacation. He’d accepted that his strange experience in the role of David Dexter was probably always going to remain somewhere deep in his subconscious. Although the timeline had been changed as a result of Max’s actions in the past, he still recalled everything that had happened. The psychic Deanna Hastings hadn’t been able to explain it and had said that Max might simply forget everything as time progressed or he might not. Max hadn’t been in contact with Deanna since they’d parted ways after saving the adult David from Kane at the Dexter family home but Deanna still often crossed Max’s mind.’
And so we continue the world of Max, well described in the book’s synopsis – ‘A tattered photograph. A lock of hair. Keepsakes of his mother have triggered strange dreams for Max, dreams of a dank prison cell and an oddly familiar teenaged girl. But it’s the disturbing vision of a train accident that convinces Max to investigate his mother’s death. During his investigation, Max discovers a connection with Julia, a classmate with dark secrets of her own. Her mother also died mysteriously and was linked to Project Mindstorm. When Max learns that the project has been revived, he and Julia embark on a seemingly impossible mission across multiple, shifting timelines. On the run and pursued at every turn by the powerful and ruthless Kane, Max and Julia engage in a desperate race against time to alter the fate of Max’s mother and transform their own destinies.’
A fine continuation for this series. Simon has the genre down pat.”
The San Francisco Review of Books, September 2018
Parallel Destiny
“Canadian author Simon Rose is an instructor for adults with the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University and offers a variety of in-person and online workshops for both children and adults. Not only doe he offer teaching and coaching for writers but he also is a successful author – especially for children’s and YA books. PARALLEL DESTINY is book three in this Flashback series – a trilogy (so far) of time travel science fiction novels meant to stimulate the imagination of youngsters to explore not only literature but scientific possibilities that may just become realities in their lifetime.
With the aid of very fine cover art by Wiktoria Goc, Simon continues his beguiling new world with a shrewd sense of suspense: ‘“Dr. Alastair Hammond approached the front door. He’d been here before and recognized both the exterior of the house and the surrounding neighbourhood. He cautiously walked past the blue luxury car on the driveway, daring to believe that this time he’d finally achieved his dream. This time, they’d be here and his long painful quest would be over. As he drew closer to the door, he didn’t hear any voices coming from inside the house but wasn’t overly concerned. The members of his family could be out somewhere for the moment. His hand was trembling as he reached for the door handle. He took a deep breath as he gently turned the handle and eased open the door. The room looked the same as it had done the last time he’d been here. The framed photographs displayed on the wall and on top of the oak cabinet also appeared to be identical to the ones he’d seen on his previous visit. Yet to his dismay, the photographs of him and his wife looked to have been taken several years earlier. His children were also shown at the age when they’d been tragically taken from him. No wonder there had been no voices inside the house. They weren’t here. He’d failed again. “DR. HAMMOND,” A voice whispered in his ear. He felt the familiar sensation of dizziness as the room began to shimmer and shift around him before the usual burst of light appeared and he was back in the laboratory at the clinic. He was lying on the bed, connected to a number of machines that had been closely monitoring his vital signs. His loyal assistant, Dr. Suzanne Bethany, was standing at the side of the bed as she carefully uncoupled some of the tubes and cables. “How was it this time?” she asked. Hammond exhaled. “It was the same as before, well almost. The car on the driveway was different and the house seemed that way at first too, but once I was inside, the photographs were the same as they were the other times.” He sat up on the bed as Bethany handed him a glass of water. She was in her mid-forties, tall and slim with dark brown hair cut in a bob. She had a habit of wearing her dark-framed glasses perched on the edge of her nose. She’d been with Hammond for many years, and unlike his former colleagues in the medical profession, she shared his vision and his firm belief in the existence of parallel realities.’
And so we continue the world of Max, well described in the book’s synopsis – ‘Max is haunted by a girl with green eyes. He ignores the odd visions, but then he meets the girl face to face. Her name is Julia, and she and Max knew each other once, in another world…and now she needs his help. The borders between realities are thinning, and Alastair Hammond’s experiments into the existence of parallel universes are dangerous and destructive. Marooned within a bewildering series of alternate timelines, Max and Julia are forced to fight for their own survival and to save the very fabric of reality from Hammond’s deadly scheme.’
A fine continuation for this series. Simon has the genre down pat!”
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