Memory's Gate

“I was in the bathtub and I couldn’t figure out how I got in there, because I knew I had already gone to bed. Mom, a hand grabbed my throat, just like before. I think I was in that other time again.” Her mother frowned. “Oh honey.” “I fought back and somehow got away over the edge of the tub. When I came out everything was dark. Then I heard it – the wheelchair. And I saw him. Mr. Betterman, the man from the center that I told you about at dinner. He sounded so, so sinister. It was awful.”

Book: Memory’s Gate by Paul McCusker, Zondervan Publishers, 2009

Genre: Sci-fi/Adventure

Target Audience: Girls and Boys 12-18

Subjects: Time Travel

Summary: Elizabeth is already terrified and it’s only day one of her new job at the retirement center. A strange old man who makes her feel uncomfortable said “I know who you are” and on the second day called her Sarah, the name of her time twin. When people start disappearing from the retirement center, Elizabeth, her boyfriend Jeff, and his uncle Malcom are certain it is connected to time travel. The question is whether or not they can figure out what is happening and stop it before more people are gone. The sheriff, who’s own father is missing but doesn’t believe a word of the time travel theory, is certainly no help. The retirement center supervisor is no help. The young, handsome intern is no where to be found. The only people who know what’s going on aren’t going to say a word.

Notes: This book was originally published in 1996 by Chariot Victor Publishing under the same title. It is book 3 in the Time Thrillers (current series name) or Time Twists (original series name) series. The town Elizabeth, Jeff and Malcom are from is right on a fault line and people randomly disappear only to show up again claiming to be someone else.  They have a “time twin” and when they wind up in those fault lines, they switch places with their “time twin”. In this book, Elizabeth, who has experienced this, is terrified of going back to the wrong time again. A resident at the retirement center is still in his incorrect place in time – having switched thirty years ago and never gotten back. The lesson is that God has everything under control and nothing happens without a purpose. Because of that we don’t have to give in to fear. The focus isn’t on the lesson though. It reads like an adventure story with a fantasy/sci-fi element thrown in. The focus is on the continuous action.

Recommendation Scale: 3/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Romans 8:38-39 – For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.