Science Fiction about a man with Machine Empathay lost in a netherworld

[Fraz]

I read this science fiction novel around 1999 - 2003. The main character, a man had become lost in a netherworld of some kind and had to journey through a series of different landscapes with other lost travellers. He has a special ability which was "machine emapthy". One of the many landscapes he travelled through was a rusted world and he carried some kind of watch which had some importance. There was also an old house set somewhere in mid western USA and the plot jumped through time with this house as its centre. A senace was held in this house in the 1800's and the occupants thought that it was an occult experience but in reality it was connected with the science fiction element pertaining to the main character. There may have also been a dark, ominous god like entity which oversaw the menace within the storyline which bought elements of supernatural horror into the storyline.

[Robert]

Long shot: Maze of Worlds has a character who is said to have "machine empathy".