Creative, thought-provoking and downright addicting!

“Portals in Time…” by John Joseph Teressi is by far one of the more different, creative, thought-provoking and downright addicting books I’ve read in a long time! I was completely drawn in from the get-go in the different characters’ minds in this strange world and watched as they slowly became entwined and deeper in this complex drama as more twists and character motivations were revealed – some which are seriously jaw-dropping.

It does take some time for us to really understand where the story is going, but we know it is very ‘science’ based and the race of people known as “Gripps” age faster than normal, so they send an exploration team through time to figure out why. But that brief description barely touches the surface of this novel which encompasses so many facets of the human condition and consciousness and has several tangents ranging from scandalous, to spiritual, philosophical, scientific, fantasy, mysterious, intellectual… you name it.

I enjoyed Teressi’s literary ‘voice’ and thought the character and plot development to be extremely well done. This level of complexity with the various interweaving subplots and a large cast of characters could have ended up badly, but instead, I darn near gobbled the whole thing down in three nights! (And this is a pretty long book, 414 pages.) The writing is genuine and authentic, as is the dialogue in a way that truly brings this memorable story to life. At times it does almost border on being almost too strange and unbelievable, and some of the characters I felt like I had a good sense of, but some just felt like names. This has a surreal vibe that will make you think outside the box, even for a SciFi fantasy, but it also speaks to your heart and soul in profound ways that I didn’t expect. Occasional bouts of needless scenes/wordiness, but overall an impactful journey—emotional, spiritual-physical—that we go on with these characters and definitely worth a read. 4-Stars — Karen Matthews, Goodreads; Barnes & Noble; Indie Book Reviewers