SCATTER

This SF sequel sees a time-traveling psychologist face bigger and tougher enemies.

Nine months after a harrowing, violent face-off with a gang called Demon Monks, Jackson Traine still doesn’t know where his brother, Kenny, is; whether his sister, Kansas, is safe; and if his romance with Lena Cortland is salvageable after his decision to publicly deny his time-traveling skills. At least some of his worst PTSD symptoms are under control following his combat training with Lena’s friends, but the stress of his situation is not helping his anxiety. And now, his search for answers points toward the existence of other time travelers who keep changing the timeline. His perfect recall makes Jackson one of the few people—along with his brother and sister—who can remember events that took place in other timestreams, making him the target of a secret organization bent on using him and his powers supposedly for the greater good. When a new ally appears—offering to help locate his siblings—Jackson realizes he may have made a pact with a devil greater that all his enemies combined, one who is a threat to his mental health and his fraught relationship with Lena. The advice to “Know as much as you can about your commanders and what they want from you”never felt more essential. Hayman deftly mixes the engrossing, geeky intricacies of the science behind time travel, paradoxes, and alternative timelines with an ingenious, fast-paced plot that follows a well-intentioned, determined, yet wretched protagonist. Jackson experiences every time jump as a traumatizing mental and physical experience. As a thoughtful psychologist, he tends to analyze everything and everyone, including himself, adding an uncomfortable element of self-awareness to his already complex relationship with his time-jumping abilities. Smart and powerful female characters and the moral dilemmas of time traveling and changing the timeline enrich a narrative that ends with a strong setup for the next volume.  

A fun and clever time-traveling tale.