One Way by Jeff Lane

Barry Griffith doesn’t know it yet, but tonight is the night fate has chosen to be the night of his death… his murder. At a gas station in the middle of nowhere, late at night, his wife Jenny appears… no car… no coat and looking older than when he saw her last. That’s because this is not the woman he received a good-bye kiss from this morning. This woman has been a widow for over four years and has made an impossible journey back in time to try to stop her husband’s murder. Will they be able to escape the killers or does fate only have one plan… one possible outcome… ONE WAY? (taken from Amazon)

                     Thank you to the author for providing me with this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was a mixed bag for me. I’ve read time travel books before, but never one that centered around preventing the murder of your spouse, and most definitely not one that was this action packed. This was an emotionally charged thriller, that started quickly and kept on going at a heart pounding pace. However, there were a few things that just didn’t work for me.

I went back and forth on how I felt about the characters of Jenny and Barry. I can’t put my finger on it, but there was something that really bugged me about Jenny. I’ve been thinking it over and I honestly don’t know what. Barry was a bit of a jerk, but I loved that he didn’t suddenly become Rambo while on the run from a deadly threat. He got very lucky, which was much more interesting. I really liked the grief counselor, Dr. Van Der Vehn; he was an fascinating mix of sympathy and selfish professional mania.

There were a few writing choices that I found a bit jarring. The beginning chapters of the book had several sentences foreshadowing future events, worded similarly to “little did they know that the shadow of death hung over…” which isn’t a literary choice that I love.

The other writing issue that I had with this book is one that probably would be completely unnoticed by many people: the use of the word “seizure” instead of spasm or convulsion. There is one example in particular: “There were cords standing out in her neck, and she was shaking like she might go into a seizure at any moment.” The thing is, I have grand mal epilepsy,  and seizures being used as descriptors when the author is discussing stress or fear really rubs me the wrong way. This is just one of my pet peeves, but I wish different wording was chosen.

I did like how the issue of a set path vs. changing your fate was explored. It was fascinating seeing it as the theme in a game of cat- and- mouse.  Incidentally, this has been adapted into a movie, and Jeff Lane also wrote the screenplay. Talk about wearing multiple hats!

While I didn’t love this book, I found it a solid addition to the thriller genre, one with a one-of-a-kind twist.

Have you read this? What did you think?