Tempest by Julie Cross

Okay, so it's true. I can time-travel. But it's not as exciting as it sounds. I can't go back in time and kill Hitler. I can't go to the future and see who wins the World Series in 2038. So far, the most I've ever jumped is about six hours in the past. Some superhero, right?

I first heard about Tempest when I was preparing for LeakyCon 2012 and I was researching the different LeakyCon Lit panels I wanted to attend. Julie Cross was supposed to be a part of a discussion about how she was a female writer who chose to have her book told through the eyes of a male. (I could be wrong, but I'm about 99% sure that's what it was for.) I thought it sounded good then, but didn't get the chance to read it before I went. After that, I forgot about it until I spotted it on the library shelves a few weeks ago.

Jackson is a college sophomore who also happens to be a time-traveler. He can jump back in time, but not for very long or very far back, and nothing he does can change what has already happened. So far the power has proven useless except for gathering tidbits of information, until the day that armed men crash into his girlfriend's dorm room. It's on that day that he watches as his girlfriend takes a bullet to the chest and, involuntarily, he jumps back in time a full two years.

Unable to get back 2009, where Holly (his girlfriend) lays dying on her dorm room floor, Jackson feels like he is going to lose his mind. Not only is he wracked by guilt about leaving her behind, but he's also  managed to uncover certain information that points toward his father being a government agent. Unsure of who to trust or how to proceed, he seeks out the 2007 versions of his best friend and girlfriend, hoping they will somehow point him in the right direction.

However, as Jackson manages to uncover more information about who he is and who those men were that shot 2009 Holly, he realizes that he doesn't know who to trust. And worse, he learns he is putting everyone around him in grave danger simply by association. If he doesn't find a way to protect the people he loves, he could lose them all.

Time travel is a common theme in science fiction, but one that still manages to be difficult to pull off. Perhaps it's because the theme is so over-done that it can be hard to make it original. Perhaps it's because it has a tendency to err on the side of cheesy or un-realistic. However, Julie Cross somehow manages to pull off Jackson's version of time traveling with a level of originality and believability that definitely surprised me.

I would absolutely suggest this to science fiction fans who are looking for a new and complex take on a typically worn-out theme. And if you're not a sci-fi junkie? Well, there's still plenty of appeal in the rest of the story and Jackson is a wonderful protagonist that makes you want to learn more about who he is and how he manages to make it through all of the crazy that has somehow made its way into his life.

Rating:♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Holly fell to the ground and I wanted to shout, to drop down beside her, but the second the seeping red blood started to show through her robe, I jumped. This time I couldn't seem to control it. 
But right before everything turned black, I saw it. Her chest rose and then fell again. She was alive and I just left her there.