Title: Timesnatched: Pole Star
Author: B.D. Boyle
Genre: Science Fiction/Time Travel
Book Blurb:
“Timesnatching isn’t exactly rocket science,” said the Commander.
Jack looked up and frowned. “It is where I come from.” The Timesnatcher has kidnapped three teens from the past—Jack and Annabelle, with Nicolas Wycliffe—the inventor of time travel. When the trio refuses to join an evil dictator, they face certain extermination. But, the Coalition of Liberty intervenes with a dynamic rescue to Pole Star, Coalition headquarters, where Annabelle discovers the deep and hidden talents for which she was kidnapped. But, the Timesnatcher strikes again and has impossibly intertwined the teens’ time trails into the fabric of the past, present and future. It will take the wits of all three young people to unravel the intricate time paradox; but, with Nicolas’s inventions at hand to bend time and space, they might just pull it off.
Excerpt:
As Jack and Annie entered through the doorway, loud music greeted them. The place wasn’t completely full, but the conversation of the customers was lively. They stood in the entryway a moment scanning for the adult versions of themselves. Jack could see no one that even remotely resembled himself at age thirty-seven and there were at least three tables in the southeast corner that were vacant. There was no one to seat them, so they discreetly moved to the very corner table by the window.
“This isn’t working according to plan,” whispered Annie.
“I know.”
Just then, Garcia and Eli entered the doorway and took seats at the counter. Garcia spied Jack and frowned. Jack raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.
A waiter approached Jack and Annie’s table and they ordered two lemonades. Jack fidgeted as the waiter walked away.
“Eight people are about to die,” said Jack under his breath.
“I know. I feel sick about it, but you heard what my father said.”
“I’m trying to think what harm could come of saving eight people from being blown to smithereens.”
“Jack, let it go.”
Jack said nothing.
“There may be dire consequences for changing too much.”
“Dire consequences for who? Me? I get squashed out of existence by Garcia for disobeying orders. Meanwhile, eight people get to go home to their families.”
“Jack—look,” said Annie. She gasped as she stared at the entryway to the restaurant.
A couple had come through the double glass doors of the café. The man was tall and well built; he wore a light summer blazer of blue with a white shirt. He was handsome, clean shaven and his thick black hair was combed straight back. The woman was slim and attractive in a pale yellow summer dress that fell gracefully to her ankles. She looked relaxed and happy, her hand confidently in the crook of the man’s arm. It was Com One and Annabelle Dibble of the future.
Jack and Annie glanced at each other. Annie could scarcely breathe as she took in the scene.
The couple walked into the entryway and began looking for a table. As Com One scanned the room, his eyes drifted toward the two teenagers in the corner. For a moment, young Jack thought the man’s gaze fell on him. He wasn’t sure and his heart froze. Then, in the time it takes to blink, the man and woman were gone. Jack looked at Garcia who motioned for them to get up and leave. No one in the restaurant seemed to have detected a thing out of place.
“Let’s go—we’ll get some lemonade back at the base,” said Jack. He rose to leave and helped Annie with her chair. Jack looked at the counter and saw that Garcia was already starting for the doorway. Then, in a vision of sheer horror, Jack saw the explosion that would take place in a matter of moments. Men and women were carrying their children through broken furniture and glass and bodies lay strewn around the room. Everyone was screaming and crying and pleading for help. And, then, the vision disappeared and Jack found himself staring down into Annie’s face. “Annie, I—”
Just then an Israeli soldier entered the restaurant and yelled, “Everyone exit immediately! Single file—out—now!”
The doorway soon became congested with customers. Jack grabbed Annie’s hand. “Stay with me,” he said as they headed for the back of the restaurant. “Back to the freezers!” he shouted. He ran with Annie beside him behind the counters into the kitchen area, searching for a large walk-in freezer he had seen in the vision. When he found it, he ran to the door and gave a huge pull. The heavy doors gave way and customers and employees began filing in. Then, to his surprise, Eli was by his side.
“You’re supposed to be with Garcia!” shouted Jack.
“My direct orders were to see to your safety, Flint.”
“Well, let’s get in here, then!” Jack shoved Annie into the front corner as several others joined them. When it seemed that no one else was coming, Jack and Eli pulled the doors closed and latched them. Five seconds later, the concussion of the explosion rocked the freezer, shaking the contents of the shelves to the floor. Annie clung to Jack, burying her face in his arm and cried out. Then, all was silent.
Red emergency lights lit the interior of the freezer. Everyone was visibly shaken but no one seemed hurt. Jack grabbed the door handle to open it when a sharp voice shouted.
“You will stay where you are!”
When Jack turned, his heart lurched. Before him stood the skinny figure of the man in the long, blue coat, the man Dibble called Finke, the timesnatcher. He had his arm gripped tightly around Annie’s neck and he was arrogantly displaying a gold chronometer in his hand. “You won’t mind if I borrow Miss Dibble for a few moments, will you? General Graff wasn’t finished with her.” His thumb went up to push the tiny dial to activate the time machine . At that precise moment, Eli dove at the man, aiming for his hand. But, it was too late. Finke had pushed the dial and Jack stood petrified as he watched Finke, Eli, and Annie disappear into time.
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If money were no object and we weren’t in a pandemic, where would you go for a Spring Break vacation and why?
I would definitely go on a Caribbean cruise to get warm. In Idaho where I live, we get nine months of winter and it is snowing as I write this. I would soak up the sunshine on the beach as I sipped my diet Coke.
Why is your featured book a must-read this spring?
Timesnatched: Pole Star is a fun way to escape into a world of imagination. Teens kidnapped for their future talents is the underlying theme and you’ll watch as these young people pool their talents and wits and run circles around the powers that be.
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Open internationally
Runs April 1 – 30, 2021.
Drawing will be held on May 3, 2021.
Author Biography:
Thirty years ago, I was whisked away with my husband on a 20-year U.S. Air Force adventure, traveling all over the planet and bringing eight children into the world. Our travels took us to Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and many countries in between. Raising a large family and traveling on Uncle Sam’s dime made for a rather home-spun education for me. I don’t have a college degree, but I can describe Frankenstein’s Castle and the dizzying depths of a Norwegian fjord. Attending a Japanese child’s funeral was not only sobering but an experience wrought with symbolism and imagery I never would have expected. My husband and I have strolled along the Champs Elys’ees in Paris, dirt roads in the Philippines, and cobblestone pathways in the little German village we called home for three years. From the lofty view at the top of the Eiffel Tower to the lowliest home in an Okinawan village, there was much for me to learn in that twenty-year course-of-study that I call my higher education.
During my lifetime, I dabbled with writing like some people do with painting—just enough to get my toes a little wet. I always put it on the back burner because I let my busy life as a wife and mother take precedence. I regret that I didn’t reserve a portion of my days and develop some of the ideas that were floating around in my head. (I give excellent advice on this subject whenever I encounter someone who might be following in my footsteps.)
In 2013, I self-published “Timesnatched: Pole Star.” The same year, I published “The Return of Thomas Gunn.” I published book two of the trilogy, “Timesnatched: Southern Cross” in 2015 and in 2020, I published book three, “Timesnatched: Starbourne.”
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