Congratulations and a long, happy writer’s journey to Lise Breakey, whose nuanced, witty, fiercely intelligent debut novel Unraveling Timelines opens corridors of parallel history today!
Original, layered, historically informed, a mythic tale of warring castes (and star-crossed lovers) with psychic powers, Unraveling Timelines is a fresh take on “X-Men Meet Underworld” that just cries out to become an immersive movie directed by someone with the flair of Ang Lee or Alfonso Cuarón. The novel’s fascinating premise:
Peter Chang is an unassuming young man from San Francisco who wonders how he got the stockbroker job he is so obviously unqualified for. One night, his boss’ daughter emerges from the wall in his office, pursued by killers. Smitten, Peter helps her escape — and the life he understands disappears as he is snatched from one alternate timeline to another.
Nikki Varian is a bohemian rebel whose overbearing father uses his time-traveling power to create alternate timelines and exploit them for profit. But when the old man is murdered, her quest to find his killers and preserve what is left of her family leads her to the horrifying truth: that alternate timelines can be destroyed as well as created.
When Nikki is captured by the survivors of her father’s xenophobic extermination campaign, Peter must discover his own mysterious power in order to save her. Together, Nikki and Peter must find a way to make peace with her father’s implacable enemies — or the timeline that they both call home will be the first of many to unravel.
Lise started out writing fantasy role-playing game articles and books but has also written science fiction intermittently over the last 25 years. In her day job, she is an attorney, handling indigent criminal appeals and writs in the California Courts of Appeal. She also invented the traffic sign which reads “Resume Being Unprepared To Stop.” She lives with her family in La Mesa, California. Her best writing occurs in various coffeehouses in La Mesa Village. The magnificent cover is by Eleni Tsami, whose stunning work also graced The Other Half of the Sky and To Shape the Dark.
Unraveling Timelines received a deeply appreciative review in Publishers Weekly. Here’s an excerpt:
“Breakey’s debut novel blends high-stakes intrigue and fantasy in an imaginative alternate universe. // Breakey suffuses her imagined world with color; the concept of time-hopping is not new, but she plays with history in a remarkably fun and intriguing way. // … readers will enjoy this fast-paced tale of suspense across history.”
Unraveling Timelines is available on Amazon, B&N, Kobo – and of course on our website, where buying the lovingly prepared trade paperback also brings along the full digital bundle (PDF, Epub and Mobi). As a reminder, it will take a couple of days post-launch for full linkage between print and digital versions on Amazon and B&N, and all C&G ebooks are DRM-free.
