Paradox Bound, by Peter Clines

Peter Clines tackles the complexity and fun of time travel in his new novel Paradox Bound.  Eli lives in a tiny, inconsequential (he thinks) town that time seems to have forgotten.  Over the years, he has several encounters with the same mysterious woman passing through town.  On her last stop, he convinces her to take him along.  Turns out she travels through history in search of the American dream. 

In Clines's world, the American dream is an actual artifact that was lost many years ago.  Eli's friend Harry (short for Harriet) is one of dozens, maybe hundreds, of people criss-crossing the continent and traversing history in search of it.  To keep things interesting, a group of mysterious, faceless (literally) special agents pursure the dream hunters with deadly force.

Eli teams up with Harry, learning the ways of the road and the history of the search.  As they wander the country, pursuing leads, Harry meets some surprising figures (John Henry, James Dean, and, to his surprise, the owner of the company he used to work for) while gaining perspective on American history.  As Harry explains to Eli, the Freemasons had a large role in the founding of the United States, and they, in turn, were empowered by some Egyptian gods.  Eli said, "'So the whole American Revolution happened because of an Egyptian God?' 'Such a silly idea, I know,' said Harry.  'If it was true, there'd be huge obelisks in the nation's capital, pyramids on the currency, noticeable things like that, wouldn't there?'"  Good one!

Why do they want to discover the dream, and why do the faceless men want to prevent them from finding it?  Harry explains, "If one person actually possessed it, held it, the entire United States--and all its people--would all be whatever that one person dreamed.  They could impose their will on the whole country."  If all of this sounds far-fetched, abusurd, and maybe a bit stupid to you, you won't enjoy Paradox Bound.  But if you like a good adventure, if you don't mind suspending disbelief for some time-travel fiction, and if you have a few hours to kill by losing yourself in a fun novel, Paradox Bound might be up your alley.  I enjoyed it like I might enjoy a good mindless action movie.  It's fun, but not something that will stick with me for a long time.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!