In THE TIME TOURISTS by Sharleen Nelson, Imogen Oliver is gifted with a unique ability: she can travel into the past, using only a photo. Imogen discovers her talent as a child, but only as a young woman does she fully understand and utilize her gift.
With this unusual power, Imogen is capable of traveling into the scene of any photograph. While there are rules to traveling through time—she can’t bring anything back with her, she can’t “meet” herself, and she can’t alter history—Imogen soon learns how a quick trip into the past can have resounding benefits in the present. In doing so, however, she can’t forget the most important rule of all: the photograph into which she travels must be kept absolutely safe at all times as it’s the portal through which she’ll return.
Imogen’s place in the world, like her ability, is unique. Her parents disappeared years before under mysterious circumstances and are presumed dead. When her grandmother passes away, Imogen finds herself utterly alone. Thankfully, she is resourceful and soon realizes her singular ability has a practical application in the real world. Imogen decides to capitalize on her talent, and maybe find some answers along the way. She opens an investigative business called Dead Relatives, Inc. Without disclosing her ability to travel into the past, Imogen offers customers her supreme skills at locating missing items and even loved ones, beginning with a girl who disappeared in the 1960s and a set of stereoscopic plates from 1912. With a life-altering talent like hers, it isn’t long before Imogen finds herself in trouble. She isn’t the only one who can travel backwards in time, and someone will do anything to keep Imogen from uncovering secrets that are better kept hidden. Will Imogen be able to help her clients—and herself—discover the secrets buried in the past?
THE TIME TOURISTS is a light-hearted time-travel adventure that blends multiple genres and keeps readers entertained. Novels of this kind can sometimes be overly complicated and confusing, but THE TIME TOURISTS never bogs readers down in convoluted timelines. While the opening to the novel is a bit slow, the pace soon accelerates toward the explosive conclusion, and readers will love Imogen Oliver, a spirited heroine with an unusual gift.
A tale that rips from past to present and back again, THE TIME TOURISTS offers readers adventure, mystery, romance—and time travel.
~Jennifer Noll for IndieReader