Timepiece And The Girl Who Went Astray was written by Oliver R. Simmonds and published by Appellation Press in 2021. You can purchase the book on Amazon/Kindle and you can visit the author on Facebook and on Amazon.
William Wells, a moneyless, American college dropout, now living in London, was directed, by his girlfriend Abigayle, to go to an old thrift store in Frying Pan Alley. When Will arrives he is fascinated by all of the old and interesting items within the shop. He is reminded of his and Abigayle's upcoming first anniversary and her love of old clocks and watches and soon he is shown an unusual and interesting but inexpensive time piece, produced by the proprietor of the shop. He decides to buy it but then something horrific happens. The shop owner is shot to death, after two men entered, just as Will was leaving. Will is now a witness to a murder and then he becomes a suspect and if that is not enough, Abby vanishes after holding the gifted watch that William gave her.
The story, now plotted as a murder mystery and a time travel tale, took me into the past, present and future. The author did a very good job in the opening pages of this book, where he hooked me with his descriptive abilities and the intrigue he created with good storytelling kept be glued to the pages throughout this story. You will love Timepiece- it has the appeal of Stephen King's Needful Things and the Back To The Future trilogy, all rolled into one.
In the story, some of the characters are afraid of traveling into the future. The author, however, shouldn't be afraid of the future. It's a great start to his writing career and Timepiece, if you decide to read it, is time well spent. I loved it!
I give Timepiece 4 out of 5 stars.
Oliver Simmonds is a scheduled guest on The Writers Lounge Blog Talk Radio Show #97 on September 6, 2021.