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The Kronos Interference

Edward Miller (Goodreads Author),

J.B. Manas (Goodreads Author)

3.49 · Rating details · 205 ratings · 32 reviews

NAMED TO KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST OF 2012 (Starred Review)

How far would you go to save the world?

When physicist Jacob Newman is pulled from his family, his job, and his whole life to investigate a strange vessel discovered at the bottom of the South Pacific, he finds evidence of time travel, along with implications that a judgment day against mankind is imminent. But it isn’t ...more

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Paperback, 346 pages

Published June 24th 2012 by Pop Culture Zoo Press

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· 205 ratings · 32 reviews

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Jul 07, 2012 Amy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012-books-read, tt-books-by-group-member-authors, time-travel, time-travel-group-authors

If you could travel back in time and change one single, horrible event in history that could redeem the tarnished name of humankind by preventing tens of millions of deaths, what would it be? Jake thinks he knows because the universe seems to be pushing him toward it. First, he receives his grandfather's journal in the mail, and then he receives a call from the CIA that they've found a technologically advanced vessel underwater that might possibly be a time travel machine. And, when he arrives t If you could travel back in time and change one single, horrible event in history that could redeem the tarnished name of humankind by preventing tens of millions of deaths, what would it be? Jake thinks he knows because the universe seems to be pushing him toward it. First, he receives his grandfather's journal in the mail, and then he receives a call from the CIA that they've found a technologically advanced vessel underwater that might possibly be a time travel machine. And, when he arrives to investigate the strange underwater curiosity, everything seems to point toward a plan for him to help his grandfather ... you guessed it ... kill Hitler. And, in the process, he'd hopefully also save family members and better his own life and humanity as a result.

Yes, it's been done before. Everybody wants to travel back in time to kill Hitler. But, honestly, what other action could you take in the past that would positively affect so many people ... other than perhaps eradicating mosquitoes which I read are responsible for about half of all deaths in human history? And, let's face it, a fumigation time travel novel just wouldn't be as interesting. Hitler (not mosquitoes after all) stands for what is still the worst part of humanity: the ability of people to look the other way or to even act like monsters in the name of fear. This is a problem that is still alive and well today (the current Sandusky scandal as case in point). So if there's anything that would prove to an advanced civilization spying on humanity that we're not a fellow advanced civilization and that there is still the potential for humanity to commit great atrocities, it would be the horrors of World War II that would make the case against us.

I have to admit that I wasn't sure what I'd find when I began to read since there were no reviews yet written on amazon.com or GoodReads and one of the authors had asked me to read it. However, once I started the book, I knew in the first page that I'd have a hard time putting it down. In fact, I read it in a couple of sittings. It is well plotted, interesting, the main characters are well-developed, and it reads like an action/suspense novel. I had just finished Stephen King's time travel novel, and it was easily able to compete with it on the level of how compulsive a read it was.

I have to admit that I got bogged down a bit in the ending, and it's the ending that knocked it from 5 to 4 stars for me. Some characters that I didn't notice in the main part of the book turned out to be very important characters ... and I had no idea what Jake's past dealings with them had been. I needed a brief recap that just wasn't there. However, I have to admit that I'm a lazy reader and depend on such things sometimes, so it's probably my fault that I got bogged down in the end. Also, the ending is a little more supernatural than my tastes normally run. I'm sure others will enjoy it just fine. And I do like the nods to a Prometheus-esque plot. Also, everything is tied up nicely and happily at the end.

I do find myself wanting to recommend this book to lovers of time travel novels. It's definitely worth a read and is nicely written. The Kindle version is available for a mere $2.99. ...more

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Sep 23, 2012 kenzimone rated it it was ok

Shelves: ranty-mcrantypants, time-travel, science-fiction, misc-creatures, aliens, supernatural-paranormal, fiction, i-own-it, 2-stars, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

According to the About the Authors section in the back of this book neither Miller nor Manas have ever written a full-length fiction novel before. It shows.

I have a bag full of complaints. I could go on for days. I could rant about the plot, which was borderline interesting but very poorly presented, with far too much tell and not enough show; I could bring up the ending, which contained a plot twist that was utterly ludicrous and felt sorely out of place; I could pick apart the stilted dialog, ...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Tej rated it it was amazing

Shelves: time-travel

As I start to write this review, I took a look at the synopsis. The first part gives the main plot, the second paragraph is the hard sell promotion as is expected with all books, using words such as "written in the vein of the late Michael Crichton", "fast paced action", "plenty of twists and turns", "impressively original", and "tour de force". So um, may I use that second paragraph as my full review? No? ok..but damn if it isnt far from the truth as this is a superb high octane time travel mys As I start to write this review, I took a look at the synopsis. The first part gives the main plot, the second paragraph is the hard sell promotion as is expected with all books, using words such as "written in the vein of the late Michael Crichton", "fast paced action", "plenty of twists and turns", "impressively original", and "tour de force". So um, may I use that second paragraph as my full review? No? ok..but damn if it isnt far from the truth as this is a superb high octane time travel mystery thriller and yes, it does indeed remind me of the great Michael Crichton but it also has an ambitious science fiction spin that I am sure Arthur C Clark would have approved. There is plenty of science based facts and theories littered in the narrative of course but easily digestible and fascinating enough to find out more about in one's own time.

We mainly follow the journey of a scientist who is roped in by the CIA to investigate a recent discovery of a top secret vessel that exhibits many properties of either alien or future technology. As this is a time travel novel, it comes as no surprise that we find our protagonist jumping back in time. And yes, as the synopsis implies, he tries to kill Hitler before the historical abonimation he causes. Although the synopsis appear somewhat basic and I dare say unoriginal, (how many stories have been written about someone going back in time to kill Hitler?), there is so much more here than just this apparently simple premise. There are several underlying mysteries that keeps you guessing right to the end and it is an intricately woven tapestry of bigger sci-fi elements. The story is so cleverly structured, delightfully intertwining the time travel cause and effects, and is very well thought out.

But its the sheer pace and tension that really makes this a page turner. The protagonist very often finds he has to make difficult moral decisions which adds gravity to the narrative. So good is the editing that at no point did I feel it drag apart from perhaps the ending which I will come to later, no spoilers, promise.

Our time travelling protagonist is one to care and root for, and though some of his actions appear annoyingly naive, his emotional drive compensated to assure my investment. There isnt a lot of fleshing out of characters in this novel, so its not going to win awards for character study and there isnt a great deal of detail on the sideline characters and villains either. However, there are moments of striking emotion when I least expected it plus some exceptional conversational scenes, one in particular involving a very well known historical character, a scene that oozes brilliance.

The book also gives a wonderfully balanced thought provocation of human nature, their worth and your common sci fi religious/political musings. You are never too sure where it stands but you may get a fair idea towards the end leading up to the deliciously complex ending revelations. The end may divide some readers in its ambitious concept but I sure as hell liked it even though it does drag somewhat. I can imagine the difficulty in tightening up the editing here without sacrificing clarity. Still, for me it was still a fascinating ending. It seems there may be scope here for a sequel too, an opportunity to take this story to a more epic scale. If a sequel is written, I would certainly welcome it.

4.5/5 ...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Matt Mitrovich rated it it was ok

Whether or not to use your time machine to kill Hitler is a question that plagues everyone, not just alternate historians. The Kronos Interference by Edward Miller and J.B. Manas provides adds its two cents to the discussion. It is another installment in the classic time travel genre where our hero travels back in time to prevent something horrible from happening.

Physicist Jacob Newman is pulled from his family and his job when he gets a call about a strange vessel discovered at the bottom of th Whether or not to use your time machine to kill Hitler is a question that plagues everyone, not just alternate historians. The Kronos Interference by Edward Miller and J.B. Manas provides adds its two cents to the discussion. It is another installment in the classic time travel genre where our hero travels back in time to prevent something horrible from happening.

Physicist Jacob Newman is pulled from his family and his job when he gets a call about a strange vessel discovered at the bottom of the South Pacific. Seemingly alien in design, Newman and the team of researchers quickly find evidence of time travel by some unknown force that has been studying violent episodes of human history. Some believe whoever created the vessel has been building a case against humanity and a judgment day is imminent. To forestall the end of the world and to save his own family, Newman travels back in time 1924 to kill Adolf Hitler when he is still locked in prison. There is a specific reason he chose this date: his grandfather was part of an abandoned plot to kill Hitler and now Jacob is going to convince him to go through with his original place. As can be expected from time travelers with good intentions (see 11/22/63 and The Company of the Dead) the resulting outcome does not go as expected and paradoxes abound.

The plot was solid, but my greatest issue with the story is with the characters. I found them to be unrealistic in their depictions. First, they took everything in stride, whether it was murder or being stuck on the bottom of the ocean inside an alien vessel. The character were limited in their abilities to express shock, fear or awe in situations when they should have been freaking out. There was also too much tell instead of show in the novel. I only knew that the character Beeze was the comic relief because I was told he was funny by Newman. Finally, and this is always a big annoyance of mine, there were just too many instances of dialogue with a character saying "as you know". People generally do not use that phrase when stating the obvious, and even if they do, they do not use that phrase exclusively.

I really wanted to like this novel, especially after seeing how many 5 star reviews it got on Amazon and Goodreads. I did find Newman's interview with Hitler to be one of the more intriguing moments of the books, so there are pros to the novel that prevented me from giving it a lower rating. I would check out some of those other reviews as well before you make your final decision, but in my opinion the The Kronos Interference is a story with potential, but poorly executed. ...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Bailey Olfert rated it did not like it

How disappointing. I read the kindle version, and definitely would not have finished if it were a hard copy. The story started out promising enough, but the writing quickly disintegrated to something I'd expect of a junior high student. The spark for the story is intriguing and I find it so disappointing when good ideas aren't capitalized on!

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Jan 08, 2013 Cece rated it it was ok

This was a great read for about 1/2 the book...and then the story line just went to pieces for me and I lost interest. I skimmed the last half of the book just to get through it. So disappointed because it started out so well and the idea was very intriguing.

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Mar 08, 2013 Donna Tapellini rated it it was ok

Some parts of this book were interesting and fun time-travel fiction. But it was inconsistent, almost a if written by two different authors. Oh wait, that's because it was.

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Jul 09, 2012 Penumbra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ending-hfn, good-formatting, free-ebook, pov-switches-viewpoint, theme-violence, format-ebook, pov-multiple-viewpoints, reviewed, mc-likeable, theme-death

I was given this book through the Making Connections ARR: Science Fiction group for an honest review, thank you.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Brenda A rated it really liked it

For the vast majority of The Kronos Interference, it was a solid three stars. Interesting enough to keep me reading, but nothing particularly new.

I did roll my eyes a few times at the silly things that happened, particularly when Lauren threw herself at Jacob with no preamble. It was extreme and came out of nowhere.

And I wasn't too fond of Jacob just suddenly deciding that he is wise enough to decide the fate of the entire world. It is extremely arrogant, and I agree with Finkel in that regard ...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Reading Reindeer rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Reading Reindeer by: Making Connections

Shelves: july-2012-reads

An utterly delightful and super-stunning thriller, this novel had me page-racing with its excitement and intrigue. Science fiction, futuristic, historical, time-travel, extraterrestrial-this book has everything! I literally could not pause in the reading until I was finished, and I read with eyes wide and heart in throat. There are no dropped plot threads in this book; everything is seamless and well-accounted for, yet the authors have done so in a way that leaves a sequel possible (and as well ...more

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Jun 01, 2019 Krysta Halye rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 21, 2016 J.D. Martin rated it liked it

I found this book to be a really fun read. All the research the authors did to make changes in history affect the current timeline, and lining it up with actual events to make it plausible was a lot of fun. However, it's the ending that is keeping me from rating the overall book any higher. Once Jacob has taken steps to correct the timeline, there are a few chapters that really just feel like filler to make the book longer.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***
There isn't a need to spend that much time seeing hi ...more

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Oct 04, 2013 John rated it liked it

If you had access to a time machine, you'd probably think long and hard about undoing the holocaust. Jacob Newman certainly does, partly because of his family history.

But it turns out that changing history isn't so simple, as Jacob learns. The Kronos Interference has a pretty wide scope and moves quickly through a lot of scenes as Jacob learns what he has really gotten into. The middle third of the book, spent in the past, is by far the best.

Author Edward Miller relies a little too heavily on sc ...more

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Sep 27, 2012 John rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, kindle

This book had me riveted for the first two parts of the book, but I started to fall away when the authors broke one of the classic time travel rules and create a paradox that seemed unresolvable. Fortunately, I hung in there and was able (in my own mind) to reconcile this paradox with some satisfaction by the end of the book. The ending was not quite what I expected, and there is a lot of information thrown at the reader in the last few chapters. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book overall. ...more

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Apr 23, 2013 James rated it it was ok

A Science Fiction/Time Travel/Alternate History book with a few too many good ideas. Without giving away too much, some characters adhere to some overplayed, well-known archetypes (e.g. the coldly-beautiful seductress, the beautiful damsel in distress, etc.). The book does well with its plot for much of the book, and even serves up what might be a fitting ending were it not packed so full of foreshadowed machinations. The final part of the book, however, serves up some very heavy exposition and

...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Sharon rated it it was amazing

If you could change just one thing in the past

Kronos interference is an easy read with well developed characters, and a fast moving plot that kept me interested through the whole book.
For me the book flowed smoothly with no editing or spelling errors to interfere with a really well crafted story.
One that blends science fiction, history and the what if factor, in a way that even a non sci fi person will enjoy.
This is a great first book from the authors I cant wait to see where the next book in t ...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Tony Schirtzinger rated it really liked it

I won this book from the Time Travel group here on Goodreads. Thanks to the authors and the group for the book!

As I started reading this book, I found it to be a quick and enjoyable book to read. This is true of most of the book. There were some parts near the end I wasn't so sure about but they were short and I was pleased enough with how it turned out. I normally wouldn't choose a book with Hitler on the cover or focusing on any war (but by chance I've read a number of books at least partially ...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Rinku rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

This book was okay, fast paced. It came up on my recs because I loved 11/22/63, but it was a far less good. Mainly, I missed real character development. Who was Jacob, never got a real sense other than that he was a good person. There was more of that in second half than first, and I don't mind having a character revealed slowly, but I never got a physical description that stuck, or other key markers that would have engaged me.

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Sep 01, 2012 Gary rated it really liked it

Using an interesting time travel paradox has the primary plot device, this book delivers a well crafted, thoughtful exploration of how one small change can impact the course of history. I find it. Interesting that WWII and Nazism were the defining climax for the 20th Century. As overused as this riff is, the author shows how they served to define and drive the rest of the century with carry over into the 21st.

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Nov 26, 2012 Jane rated it liked it · review of another edition

There were some things about this book that were good, some that were just okay, and a few moments that made me shake my head and think, "Seriously? They're going THERE?"
The first half of the book was better than the second.
Some of the characters were rather flat and often difficult to keep straight because they were so undeveloped.
They seem to have set up for a sequel with the ending. I will probably read it because I am a sucker for sequels. But we'll have to see.

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Dec 18, 2012 Tobin rated it really liked it

As an almost completely plot-driven book this was a different one for me but the last 50 pages made it all worth it. There weren't a lot of Red Herrings, which I really hate once their number grows, and the threads were all collected.

Although the characters were a little thin the plot was definitely enough to keep me reading at a pretty rapid rate.

Strongly recommended for anyone who likes time travel, and Crichton.

I gave it 8/10 on my personal scale.

-tpl

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Oct 03, 2012 ❤Marie Gentilcore rated it really liked it

Shelves: first-reads, autographed

I won a copy of this book from Goodreads First Reads, but I would gladly pay for a copy. It was a very exciting, fast paced story and I enjoyed it very much. It is about time travel and is set in the year 2024. The book grabs you from the first chapter and keeps up the suspense throughout the book to the last chapter. My fiance is eager to read it next.

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Jan 26, 2013 Linda Hilton-Ross rated it it was amazing

Shelves: time-travel

I've always been intrigued by time travel, and when I saw this book mentioned in the Time Travel group, I couldn't resist, especially with the number of accompanying rave reviews here on Goodreads, and elsewhere. I wasn't disappointed. It held my interest and actually had me page-racing to the very end. If you like time travel, I would recommend this one. You won't be able to put it down.

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Sep 11, 2012 Jon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I really liked this book until the last twenty or so pages. Maybe I was missing something, but the end seemed totally incongruous with the rest of the book. Still, the book is zippy, entertaining, and well written. While I was not crazy about the ending, I would still recommend it.

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Jan 18, 2013 Emma Moulton rated it it was amazing

Shelves: first-reads-read

I won this through Goodreads Firstreads.

What can I say, this book is a great read. The last 10 chapters made it all worth while.

There's nothing I can really say without giving away the plot. Just read it and you'll understand.

5/5

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Aug 09, 2012 Heather(Gibby) rated it really liked it

A very fastpaced enjoyable read. It will especially appeal to people to love time travel stories.

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Aug 10, 2012 Stephen rated it liked it

I was pulled in by the reviews and the novel wasn't bad but just did not live up to the level of read I was expecting.

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Jan 08, 2013 SandyGM rated it really liked it

Great book! I liked the development of parallel universes. I also enjoyed the ethical dilemma of changing history but feel it should have been written to create more controversy.

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Aug 03, 2013 Alex Mehos added it

Shelves: my-books

This book was an interesting read, I was not sure what to think when I picked it up from phily comic-con. It was fun read with some interesting perspectives on what could be.

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Mar 22, 2013 Brad Clark rated it it was ok

I can't add anything more than what the other one and two star reviewers have written.

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