Time and Time Again by Ben Elton: Intense and Mind-Provoking Thriller!

Ben Elton’s book: Against Time is an action-packed and thought-provoking counterfactual thriller that contains plenty of drama, but also in-depth social analysis.  The novel draws the reader into a world where the consequences of our actions are explored and where time is of the essence. 

Hugh “Guts” Stanton is a former elite soldier who has lost his wife and two children in a car accident. He is deeply depressed and does not want to live on.  A mysterious organization Kronos represented by his former Cambridge professor McCluskey now offers him the opportunity to travel back in time to 1914 and try to prevent the First World War.  

The war which, in the professor’s opinion, was the greatest disaster in human history. Hugh Stanton’s mission is now to prevent the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The murder that started the First World War. 

Hugh Stanton is to travel back in time by using some of Isaac Newton’s papers that Kronos has obtained. 

Disillusioned as Hugh Stanton is, he agrees to take on the mission and is sent back in time from a certain location in Istanbul with a number of assignments so he can prevent the murder. Having arrived successfully in 1914 he quickly becomes involved in a series of dangerous situations and must use all his skills to survive. 

Linguistically, Ben Elton delivers a well-written novel that manages to capture the reader with its descriptive language. His style is easy to read and engaging, thus making the book hard to put down. “Time and Time Again” is a novel worth recommending to readers looking for an intense and mind-provoking thriller.

Ben Elton manages to combine tension with depth, resulting in a reading experience that not only entertains, but also leaves the reader reflecting about some interesting ethical questions about time travel. What are the consequences of changing history? Can you really improve the world by changing the past? Elton asks these questions without giving any easy answers.

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