A Matter of Time

By: Michael Bowler

Narrated by: Aaron Landon

What is your destiny?

This question haunts 20-year-old Jamie Collins. A junior at Santa Clara University in 1986, Jamie has friends, a professor who mentors him, and a promising future as a writer. Then the dreams begin - nightmarish visions that transport him to a time and place fifty years before he was born: Titanic's maiden voyage in 1912! With less than a week to go before the 74th anniversary of its sinking, Jamie discovers that his fate is inexplicably linked to that of the famous vessel. Somehow, the two timelines are overlapping, and when Titanic dies this time, Jamie will die along with it. The dreams reveal something evil stalking the ill-fated ship, something that expedites the collision which sinks her.

Jamie realizes that the only way to stop this evil and prevent his own death may be to prevent Titanic from sinking in the first place. But how? How can he stop that ship from sinking in 1912 when he hadn't even been born yet? And even if he can stop it - should he? What will be the effect on history if he succeeds? Jamie's quest to fulfill his destiny ties friends and family together in ways he could never have imagined.

A Matter of Time is an emotionally charged voyage into the value of friendship, the power of love, the impact of evil, and the vagaries of Fate.

A Matter of Time is a 2012 Reader's Favorite Silver Medal Winner.

©2012 Michael J Bowler (P)2014 Michael J Bowler

Wow!

When Jamie starts to have dreams about the Titanic and a vampire on board it, he isn’t sure what to think. His initial reaction is to ignore it…until he gets violently ill. The symptoms only disappear at night. When he begins to crave blood, Jamie knows something is wrong. Somehow, his timeline is converged with a man on the Titanic. In order to save himself from the vampire gene that’s consuming him, he has to go back in time to the Titanic and stop the vampire once and for all.

So my mind is literally blown after listening to this story. It was such an awesome blend of genres: adventure, paranormal, romance, magical realism, time travel. I feel as if I’m missing a few, but those were the major ones. Not to mention the addition of the Titanic. When I was about twelve, I had a phase of obsession with the Titanic so I loved the accuracy the author had in detailing the failed voyage.

This is the most unique story I’ve ever read, and I really loved both the depth of the plot and characters. Jamie was easy to relate to. He was honorable and strong, even when he had his moments of craziness. On the Titanic, he showed his flaws, but I love the way he made up for them in the end.

The romance between Jamie and Kate was cute. Gave a new meaning to the phrase “timeless love.”

If you’re looking for outside the box fiction, this is the story for you.

Narration worked perfectly for the story.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

I needed more vampire time

This is basically a Titanic story with a vampire and some time travel. For me, it was a very slow start. Set in 1980s California at the beginning, there is lots of college angst and it doesn’t take much angst to wear me out. Jamie is worried about his looks, do the girls like him, do the guys want to be his friend, is he worthy in his chosen field of study, etc. Of course, some of the other students have some of the same angst. Maggie, one of 2 female characters that have names and lines for the entire book, has been dating Jay but she has to admit she has growing feelings for someone else.

I have to mention that there were too many J names in this book. First off, Jamie goes by James, Jimmy, Jack…. and then there’s his friend Jay, who for a time I thought was just another nick name for Jamie. Somewhere along the line we get a John.

Let’s talk vampire! Because I thought it was high time we had a Titanic-time-travel-vampire mash up. I’ve read the original Dracula and an in-depth bio on Bram Stoker so you know I have a fondness for references to the original Dracula. When Jamie starts experiencing symptoms that point directly back to Renfield (a character in the original Dracula), I was finally interested in the story. Jamie has spent some considerable time researching the Titanic so he soon realizes that his symptoms and his dreams and the Titanic are all wrapped up together. Hence, he drags the story out into the middle of the Pacific for the second half of the book and that’s where we get the paranormal transport through time.

Back in 1912, Jamie meets Kate, our second female character for the book. There’s some insta-love, which I rarely like. So, yes, we have Jack (aka Jamie) and Kate (think of Kate Winslett who played Rose in the movie Titanic). Rose’s love interest in the movie was also named Jack. So if you have pined for a sequel to the movie all these years, here it is in book form.

OK, back to the ladies. Why are there only 2? Not realistic. Women are everywhere and in fact actually attended college in California in the 1980s in droves. There’s a few other ladies that pop up here and there and they either have no lines or no names. Kate and Maggie actually get to interact at some point and they do indeed talk about men. Sigh…. I was disappointed in the ladies all around.

OK, so what about that vampire? Well, yes, he is a danger and he must be dealt with but for the most part, he was not memorable. The impending Titanic disaster is much more of a danger to more people. The strain of vampirism in this tale lacked the dark sexuality, mystery, and danger I expected.

I did like that Jamie is faced with some very tough choices once he’s on the Titanic. He wasn’t thinking clearly before his little time trip, but once he’s there, he has to choose whether or not to do his best to avoid or mitigate the disaster. Even after all the big scenes are over, Jamie still has some tough surprises and I really felt for him.

All told, I feel the author tried to pile in too much to one book and therefore all aspects felt a little stretched thin. The love story didn’t work for me. The time travel was by the simplest of mechanisms – a paranormal event. It was a penny tour of the Titanic instead of a deeper historical fiction. The vampire tale was more of a distraction than an added bonus. 3/5 stars.



I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Aaron Landon did a good job with this story. His voice for the angsty Jamie is perfect. He does a good job with Jamie’s emotions through the story. He also makes a good angry Jay. His female voices are feminine. He also did voices for the elderly well too. I also liked his regional accents. 5/5 stars.

A Mystery of Titanic Proportions... And Vampires?

First off, this is not your typical time travel adventure. There is no science behind it. The time travel just happens.
Next. The vampire, while an integral part of the story, is just a side story.
And then, this is a love story. Starting with college in the mid 80's, this group of friends is dealing with some not so normal situations brought on by some rather unusual dreams. Matters quickly get worse and you are drawn in.

This is a well written novel with some interesting twists that make sense for this group.
Narration was well done and certainly helped the story along rather than detracting from it as some do.

This is not set up as a series but there is room to do so if the author desired. The story is complete in itself.

I can easily recommend this story to anyone interested in the Titanic. Lots of good information and a good look at life on the Titanic for at least that day.
Could also recommend to anyone interested in a good Love story, some vampire history, or even young adult action adventure mixed with a good mystery.

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Wonderful Story of Love Across Time

Would you consider the audio edition of A Matter of Time to be better than the print version?

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Any additional comments?

It is 1986 and Jamie is a junior at Santa Clara University. He wakes up from a dream where in it he is attacked. Shortly thereafter he starts being lethargic during the day, the sunlight burns him, and then feels super strong at night. Jamie becomes obsessed with the young man is in the dream and trying to figure out what is happening. At the same time his friend Jay and Maggie visit Jay’s great grandma about a diary she kept her whole life. Maggie is writing a paper on the Titanic and things this can supplement her paper.

Jamie keeps getting sicker and sicker until he realizes that Jack, the man from the dreams is on the Titanic. Jamie decides to go to the coordinates of Titanic to catch a ride. His plan is to stop the attacker but ends up meeting widowed Kate and her 10 year old son David and falling in love with Kate. But it’s clearly not meant to be since the Titanic will be sinking in a couple hours. Jamie is torn between saving the passengers and how this would affect history.

Jamie is a fan of science fiction and horror. So when he starts having the dreams everyone thinks he is just writing a story. But it is clear something is very wrong and then he becomes obsessed with the Titanic. He even manages to make it aboard Titanic.

This is a great story. I admit that at first I had a hard time getting into the story. It seemed to drag but I think that was just me. I loved the paranormal twist and the wrong information that it leaked. It’s hard to go into this without giving it away. Trust me you will like it.

I received A Matter of Time as an audiobook through Audible. Aaron Landon narrates the book and he did a wonderful job. It was easy to listen to the story and understand the different characters.

I especially loved how the story ended. It was a great, warm, fuzzie moment. This is a wonderful story and I recommend that everyone check it out. You will not be disappointed.

I received A Matter of Time for free from Sage’s Blog Tours and the author in exchange for an honest review.

Very well done

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
It doesn’t start the way you think it will. But it is very intriguing. Michael wrote an excellent story. When you finally reach the titanic and it’s fateful night you really feel like you are there. I couldn’t stop listening. If you like the story of the titanic and a timeless love you will love this. If you like iconic stories with vampiric twists this is for you as well.