Beyond the Mist

Being a fan of time travel novels I expected to treat myself to "Beyond the Mist". Felt a bit let down because reading Lake Lanier Mysteries, #1 is a must of which I had not experienced. Present day travel back to US's most epic time September 11, 2001. Leaving the love of his life Piper behind; Nick Cramer stealthily prompts a trip back to 2001 to overt the death of a friend that has haunted him for years. Interesting plot of a lake that with the help of a time machine holds a portal to the past. Events Nick alters in the past has tragic repercussions to his friends in the present. "A copy of this book was supplied by The Wild Rose Press, Inc via Netgalley with no requirements of a review. Comments here are my honest opinion."

Very well written interesting book. Great story line. I have always enjoyed time travel. This book brings out many different emotions in the reader. My first read by this author but I will look for others.

I liked the story and characters but would have enjoyed the book better had I read book 1 first.

- - Received copy through NetGalley - -
L

**Review on https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ **
Can saving the life of a single person alter the future so dramatically? That is the question that Beyond the Mist asks- can a man desperate to escape the trauma of his past cause irrevocable changes to the future of his friends by saving the life of a woman from his past- a woman who has more secrets than Nick knows? And the girl who loves him in the present will do whatever she can do to bring him home alive without damaging the world further.​

​Book 2 literally picks up where book 1 ends, with Lacey recuperating in the hospital ​after getting back from her time travel jaunt and 3 day coma and all her friends and family coming to terms with what really happened- and that time travel is for realsies. I highly recommend that you read the first book in the series Beneath the Lake before Beyond the Mist because you will be 100% lost without.




​I was really confused as to Nick's motivation- he meets Piper and feels an intense ​overwhelming connection to her thinking she might be his soulmate which in turn spurs him to go back to 2001 and save his girlfriend Carly from dying during the terrorist attack at the World Trade Center (how would saving your old pregnant girlfriend mean you get to be together with your soulmate?). And on top of that, he feels obligated to Lacey and Rob- so he takes advantage of his friends kindness and money to go back in time for his own selfish reasons and alter the past for his own gain, which in turn may hurt the future. Yeah, I don't understand him at all (I am not Team Nick, in case you didn't pick that up). I liked the idea of him going back in time (...and maybe elsewhere in time...) and all the drama around the terrorist attack, but I am not getting Nick as a person- he is suppose to be smart, yet he continually makes strange errors and I wanted to shake him.

I will say that Piper is such a kind competent person, with a big heart and a moral compass that always points true. Hands down, she was my favorite character in the story and I am so glad that she got the chance to have a chance to be a main character and have her story told. I hope there is more to come and that she will be a part of it.

The love that Piper and Nick experience for each other is intense and easily transmitted though the pages- the reader can feel the bond the two formed from the short time they were together. While there was a lot of mystery, science fiction, and danger that made up the plot of the book, the underlying core of the story is the romance and connection between Piper and Nick.




The narrator did a good job of creating voices and distinct character for each person in the story. She enunciated clearly and I was able to lose myself in her reading. I will admit that I have gotten in the habit of listening to my audiobooks not at normal speed and I listened to this one at 1.5x the speed (maybe I would not have not enjoyed the audiobook at a slower narration speed?). I would listen to Amy bring more stories to life in the future.

Beyond the Mist was full of action, time travel, and tons of twists. I found that I actually liked this story more than the first book just since it kept me guessing and on my toes. I am interested to see what will happen next in this time travel world. Each book adds more character to get invested in and I am curious to see who will show next.

​I am voluntarily reviewing a complimentary copy of this book.