Audiobook Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin/Macmillan Audio

Publication Date: January 17th, 2012

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Initially, I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book.  The synopsis didn't grab me and the cover looked a bit juvenile for my taste.  Then I started reading early reviews, and well... I got  an audio ARC from Macmillan Audio, and it was so much better than I expected.  I've had a few rather disappointing audio experiences lately where I had to actually just read the book instead, and this was a refreshing change.  The reader was great; I really enjoyed his voice and style of reading.  I wish I knew what his name is!  Now for my review of the actual book...

Like I mentioned, I wasn't really into this at first.  Even when I requested it, after several early rave reviews, I wasn't sure I was going to love it, but I was curious.  It pretty much starts out with a bang, and doesn't slow down.  It's action packed, but the action isn't filler.  It's relevant to the story, and despite the rather unbelievable storyline, somehow quite believable.  The timeline could very well have been confusing with all the time travel (especially in audio format), but it wasn't.  It was well documented and I almost always knew where the protagonist was in time.  As for the story itself, it was phenomenal; well plotted, with superior organization.  The characters were very well rendered, and I LOVE that the story is told from the male protagonist's POV.  I feel like there is such a shortage of YA books told from a male perspective.  Jackson is a great character who you really can't help but like. A lot.  The other characters are pretty great too.  The villains aren't all that well developed, but this is only the first book, and I have a feeling we'll learn lots more about them in subsequent books.  I do highly recommend the audio version.  I think it brings the story to life because the narrator brings some emotion into Jackson's story.  Whether you listen to the audio or read the print version, do read this book.  It was time well spent.

I think Tempest is a solid start to what promises to be an excellent series.  Julie Cross had written a stellar debut.  I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a great year for debut authors and their readers!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★  

Grade Level Recommendation:  This book has a bit of sexual content.  If it were a movie, it would definitely be PG-13.  I would put this at grades 8 and up (ages 13+)