Nick reviews TimeRiders

TimeRiders 
by Alex Scarrow
Published by Puffin
Release Date: February 4th 2010
Edition: Kindle Edition, 412


What GoodReads has to say: 

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912.
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010.
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026.

Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, ‘Take my hand ...’

But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren’t rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose—to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past. That’s why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world... 

Likes:
A book about time travel you say? Winner for me! This book was a pleasant 99 cent surprise. I knew that I would love this from the moment I started reading. The writing easily grabs you from the start and rarely gives you a few seconds to let you catch your breath. The characters are well done and very likeable. Especially the walking humanoid computer, Bob, that accompanies Liam throughout the story. Reminded me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Terminator a few times. Also, for some reason, the person who forms the "TimeRiders" and guides them to become a great team, Foster, reminded me of Liam Neeson. If you can get me to picture any of your characters in your book like that great man, you are doing fantastic. I really enjoyed the villain in the story as well. Villains that are doing what they believe is honestly going to make the world a better place, but execute it so that it ends up causing more grief than good are my favorite. Especially when if it has anything to do with rewriting history. Even better when it involves kicking Adolf Hitler off his high horse.

Dislikes:
There was a moment or two during the time of reading about the villain, Kramer, that I was greatly confused on what or who they were talking about. Kramer and his posse are all German and they use the German language to refer to different military positions. At first, it was a bit confusing figuring out who was who in rank and who was the highest rank of them all. After awhile, it irons itself out and becomes understandable. Also, only a few times did the storytelling confuse me a bit too. It jumps back and forth from 1956 and 2001 to let you know what is going on in both time frames. Though, several of those times, it jumps back and forth from 1956 to 1957 and then back to 1956 and then forward to 2001. A bit confusing at first but that too irons itself out and makes sense the more you read.

Who would I recommend this to:
If you love YA science fiction, timetraveling, and even some history added in for fun, this book is for you. Like, for serious, if you have any way to read an eBook, go to Amazon right now and pick this book up for 99 cents. It is so easily worth the price of admission and then some. I will most certainly be continuing this series. Especially since the 2nd book has to deal with dinosaurs. Another instant winner!