| Title | : | Time of Death (Paradox P.I. #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1950669068 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781950669066 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 171 |
| Publication | : | Published November 9, 2020 |
Private detective Greyson Travers has a secret, but he isn’t the only one.
When a stunning widow asks him to investigate the suicide of her husband, Greyson plans for an easy resolution.
But a quick look into the past gets dangerous for his future. He isn’t the only person interested in the case, and the longer he’s involved, the more victims turn up dead.
Greyson can travel through time. It makes him the best sleuth in the city. But every advantage comes at a cost. Under pressure from a powerful mob kingpin and an agency governing time, his investigation will take him deep into the underworld.
The clock is ticking, and Greyson might be too late to discover the truth.
Sometimes the past is better left for dead.
If you love treacherous twists and mind-bending murder mysteries, jump into this page-turner where time is never on your side.
Can you solve the mystery of the future?
Time of Death (Paradox P.I. #1) Reviews
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Clean, awesome fun!
I absolutely soaked up this story with a big grin on my face. The audiobook was top notch and had the perfect narrator. I'm so on board with this series from now on. Totally kickass!
The only thing knocking a star off the rating is that I had the solution in mind all along and thought it was glaringly obvious, but ... I'm damaged goods. Seen too much. Read too much. 😂
Still enjoyed it though. Heck yes, I need more! 🥳 -
Okay! I found this a little confusing at times but I still enjoyed it. I can't even tell you what it's was about but it was about time travel. So, I would recommend it to people who like time travel.
I liked Greyson Travers but I really liked his AI Waldo.
There was no romance and the F-bomb was used 6 times.
As for the narration: Stacy Carolan was just okay for me. He did a good job with the voices but he read without emotions. He never laughed or yelled or whispered or sounded grumpy, nothing except his own voice, and that's disappointing. -
Grey is pretty confident he can solve any case that comes his way. He has a secret weapon, he can travel in time and find out exactly what happened. However the latest case is proving a lot more difficult and he's running out of time to find out why.
This was a good start to a new series though I feel like he could have used the time travelling element to solve the mystery a bit more easily than this. I loved Grey's slightly sarcastic AI companion and some of the gadgets sound super cool. I thought the narrator was pretty good too. -
Check out my blog, One Man Book Club
The Value of a Star: Ratings Explained
Time of Death (Paradox P.I., #1)
Electric Midnight (Paradox P.I., #2)
The Clockwork Game (Paradox P.I., #3)
Tomorrow Detective (Paradox P.I., #4)
By: Nathan Van Coops
My Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS
Best for: 18 and up
THIS is how you write time travel...
There are all kinds of stories about time travel. I was going to list some for you, but then the list started getting really big. Just Google "books about time travel" and you find some. Tragically, there will be one author missing from Google's algorithm-based search results that favor popularity: Nathan Van Coops. Tragic, because he's the one who does it best.
His first books were a series called In Times Like These, which started good and grew to great. One thing I love about discovering new authors is seeing their growth. Nathan Van Coops is doing a fantastic job. Buy his books, the guy deserves to be read.
This series, Paradox P.I., is about the son of the main character from In Times Like These. It's related, but not necessary to read first. In fact, my reading journey went like this. I read In Times Like These originally back in 2016, but didn't finish the series. Instead, I read some of Nathan Van Coops other stuff: Kingdom of Engines (cool!) and Faster Than Falling (even cooler!). It wasn't until 2023 that I jumped back into his time travel books, and realized quickly I'd been missing out on some really great stories. But instead of finishing In Times Like These, I read Paradox P.I. Loved it. And then went back to In Times Like These. It's been a perfect way to jump around.
Okay, now you know my history, and hopefully that will inform you when you jump in too.
Let's talk about Paradox P.I.
These stores are little bit Doctor Who, some Thursday Next, a sprinkling of Agatha Christie, and big splash of Knight Rider. In this world, time travel is a reality. It was invented in the 1980s. Over time, it's use became common place, the future is full of time travelers who can travel back to our past and get into all kinds of fun trouble.
I enjoyed the plausible scientific rules for time travel in these books. That's why they stand out to me. This isn't Back to the Future--in these books changing the past splits the time stream, and that's serious business. Creating a time paradox should be avoided!
Don't make a jump through time unless you have an anchor to get you exactly where you want to go. After all, the Earth is constantly moving! You can't jump from one place in time to another and expect to magically end up the same spatial location. If you jump to a place that is currently occupied by something else, that thing becomes part of you...and that isn't pretty.
Follow the rules, and you should be safe. Don't, and you'll be dead.
Our main character is a time traveling detective who uses his unique skill set in SUPER creative ways to solve the crimes and catch the bad guys. He's super smart and has cool tech, including a wise-cracking AI in his car and home bases set up in multiple time streams in multiple years, past and present. He's super complicated--he's a paradox. Something happened in his past that split his time stream, so there's two of him. One who holds a place with his famous time-traveling family, and the extra one. Being the extra adds all kinds of drama, and following along with him as he comes to peace with his past is a big part of our adventure.
Mix up all that: the time travel, the gadgets, the wise-cracking AI, the mysteries, the past that needs to be dealt with, and the crimes to solve, and Nathan Van Coops has created a brilliantly fun character with endless stories to be told. It's ready made for an excellent TV series!
There's some language, but no other significant content concerns or triggers. Because of the language, I'll say this series is best for adults.
You're going to love time travel.
Happy Reading! -
Mixing the genres of noir detective with time travel results in a delicious blend of ingredients. This was a fun quick read.
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If you laugh out loud while perusing a book on your phone it is probably a sign of good writing. I had a bit of nostalgia while reading Time of Death thinking it was in some sections reminiscent of conversations between Tony Stark and Jarvis in the Marvel Iron Man movies. Other times I drew a parallel to the expert confidence of James Bond questioning the leading ladies or baddies for information. Who doesn't enjoy a good-looking, sarcastic, quick-witted, slightly dark hero a la Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool? What I enjoyed most about Time of Death was how it was presented in a stylish manner with very cool imagined or yet to be invented tech, while still being relevant to current times. Greyson Travers enjoys a good drink as much as the next hardworking P.I. and I can relate to that. He thinks creatively and outsmarts the dimwits who work for an interesting antagonist. I enjoyed the side characters and sidekicks a close second and third to our protagonist. Having some pretty great end of chapter dialogue with his A.I. or his inner monologue causes you to keep scrolling or turning the pages. I like when I have a hard time putting a book down to come back to reality. I was trying to watch something somewhat important on TV and started reading during commercial breaks but found myself missing the actual event due to reading past my intended stopping point. I did have familiarity with the ancillary characters from reading the prior books by the author but I can honestly say this book could easily stand on its own for a first time reader. In fact this book fast became my new favorite. There are a few easter eggs that spoke to me and I am excited to discuss them with friends who will be reading it next. Van Coops continues to entertain and expand the universe for his fans and it just keeps getting better.
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Interesting premise, the start of good world building and characters. The storyline (as a mystery) was eh.. I honestly was expecting more. So good on the urban fantasy side but a letdown on the mystery aspect (that part wasn't terrible, I just thought it was .. nothing amazing. I wasn't expecting Val McDermid or Jonathan Kellerman level mystery - it didn't seem like that kind of series - BUT I was hoping it was on par with a Dan Willis/Arcane Casebook or Orlando Sanchez/Montague and Strong type of UF mystery.. Or Peter Clines "Paradox Bound"). Hopefully this will improve as the series continues, the ingredients are definitely there.
Tl;Dr: good ingredients for an amazing series, just thought the mystery aspect was underdone.
(Also, there was a weird sentence: "her lips tasted like sex". What?.. Sweaty? Since I have read that weird, Jamie Thornton Doormaker series, I have a low tolerance for metaphors and similes.) -
I've read other books by this author a long time ago and the man definitely knows how to write fun time travel books (check out the chronothon for a fun "amazing race" style contest but with time travel).
This book (and series) is part of the same world and has some similar characters. I wish it was longer but understand it's a series of novellas. Either way it was a great detective story with some interesting twists and gadgets because of the time travel -
Nathan Van Coops is one of my favorite authors. I really enjoy his use of time travel to create exciting, fast moving and occasionally complex stories. Always fun, always hard to put down
No spoilers here, just another exciting adventure, This time a murder mystery with Time Travelling Detective Greyson Travers. Do yourself a favor, get into Nathan Van Coops world. -
Van Coops no decepciona. Habiendo agotado las aventuras de viaje en el tiempo en la serie "In Time Like These", el autor regresa al mismo universo, pero ahora usando esa premisa para contarnos una aventura de detectives. Se da el tiempo de estructurar bien tanto el misterio como los detalles del viaje en el tiempo, y combinarlos de manera ingeniosa. Aunque se nota que Van Coops no es un escritor de misterio, eso no le resta a la aventura, ya que antes nos ha demostrado que puede complicar bastante sus tramas para no hacerlas predecibles, algo esencial en este tipo de lecturas.
El único detalle es que el autor considera que el lector ya conoce los detalles de su universo y cómo funciona el viaje en el tiempo, es decir, que necesitas haber leído la serie "In Time Like These", por lo menos el primer libro.
De ahí en fuera, es un libro super recomendable para los fans de los detectives y de "Volver al Futuro". Nadie como Van Coops para escribir aventuras que recuerden al clásico del cine.
Espero con mucho gusto que las aventuras de Greyson Travers continuen. -
Time of Death is a new kind of detective story, while having a classic vibe to it. The protagonist's voice reminds me of Rex Stout's detective Archie Goodwin who has been one of my favourite characters for years. Greyson Travers possesses a charm that makes a reader like and care about him instantly, keeping them turning page after page.
Time of Death is not the first book I've read by Nathan Van Coops, I've read everything he has written. What I like most about his books is his ability to create colourful, versatile, and believable characters that I would like to meet in real life. The people you meet in Time of Death are no exceptions. The author also has a real knack of writing actions scenes, the like that make the reader bite their nails in anticipation. Altogether, Time of Death is a wonderful mix of time travel and classic detective story that I would recommend to everyone who enjoys either one of those genres. -
A smart, fun read, 3.5 stars.
This was a neat twist on the usual murder mystery.
Greyson Travers is a private investigator who promises fool-proof results within 72 hours. His secret? He can travel through time. So he is fully confident he can answer his latest client’s question about her husband’s death, ruled a suicide by the police. Together with his AI assistant and a box of tricks from the future, he has the edge on any human investigator. So when he finds evidence of more to the recent life and death of the victim, he knows he is up against forces with powers to match his own. Along the way we learn bits about the parallel world of time travellers, and get hints that there is more to discover in Greyson’s family history, presumably to be revealed later in the series.
I found this a quick and enjoyable read, with an enigmatic MC, clever time travel details, a decent mystery, and some nice touches of humour. -
I love to read murder mysteries. This one was exceptional for the fact it also involves time travel. If you ever thought time travel was easy, ha, just read this book. It is well written, and the humor had me laughing at many spots. I have read all of Nathan’s novels. I love his style of writing, nice and casual but clear and visual. One wants to be friends with the characters in his books. I can not say that about many other books that I have read. I love how Nathan has woven bits and pieces and characters from his other novels into this one. Brilliant! It is a nice length and you can enjoy yourself for a few hours and get swept away into a good read with mind boggling scenes that will have you questioning reality. I never guessed who the murderer was till it was revealed. I highly recommend this book.
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"A good time traveler always walks the past like a crime scene, careful of his footsteps."
Greyson Travers is a private investigator with an unusual advantage; time is on his side.
A new case comes his way that threatens to be too much to handle, but his refusal to step away leads him deeper into a dark and dangerous situation.
Nathan Van Coops' signature quick and witty humour had me literally laughing out loud as I raced my way through this book. His penchant for creating unforgettable characters and enthralling science fiction worlds is, as always, absolutely brilliant.
In Time of Death is some of his best writing yet, with twists and surprises that I never saw coming. Loaded with action, suspense, a hint of romance and more, this time travel mystery has something to keep every reader well entertained. More, more! -
Private Detective and Time Travel: Great Combination!
This was another gripping novel by author Nathan Van Coops. In many ways, it is a classic private detective murder mystery. The twist is that the mystery involves events that require time travel to solve. The same attention to time travel and avoiding paradoxes that can be found in Nathan's other books are still here. The layering is the inclusion of the fourth dimension in the normal course of finding the killer and, as the title suggests, the actual Time of Death.
Private detective Greyson Travers is part of the Travers family (no spoilers here) but there is only a brief reference to his older sister Piper and the rest of the family. This is a novel that can be enjoyed without any knowledge of the other books in this universe, but reading them does provide some background that helps. -
Greyson Travers is a private investigator with a twist: he can travel through time. This isn’t the slam-dunk you might think, though -- it turns out that there are rules, bad guys, and a time-travel bureaucracy keeping a beady eye on things. Not to mention that the nature of the cases themselves are enough to keep any detective on his toes, which these do with style.
Time of Death opens in fine noir style, with the appearance of an extremely attractive recent widow, Isla Phillips, who wants to know what really happened to her late husband. Travers takes the case, and the result is a fun, lightweight time-travel mystery.
Total: 7/10 (3.5 stars, rounded up to 4) -
Lo he penalizado mucho porque me ha parecido muy, muy corto, pero el resto me ha gustado un montón.
El detective Greyson recibe la visita de una mujer para que esta investigue el asesinato de su marido, que ha sido catalogado de suicidio. Él le dice que en 3 días le dará respuestas, y es que él no es un detective normal, sino que es un viajero en el tiempo. Greyson viajará al pasado para resolver este caso.
Me ha gustado muchísimo la premisa de este investigador privado que va viajando a través del tiempo para resolver casos, y cómo tiene el libro un aura de misterio que hace que no dejes de leerlo hasta que lo acabas.
El libro me ha parecido excesivamente corto, y tenía toques muy interesantes en los que la historia podría haber tirado por ahí e incluso adentrarnos un poco más en esos temas. -
Addictive reading
If you have already devoured the Times Like These series then you will love the follow-up here which features Ben's son Grayson as a time travelling private detective. If you haven't read that series it doesn't matter, this book will give you a much simpler introduction to time travel without all the science stuff. Which gives it more space and time to get right into the action.
And the action is non-stop from start to finish.
Grayson is hired by a widow who is convinced her husband was murdered, but the cops have closed the case as a suicide. He goes back in time to solve the simple case but it's a whole lot more complicated than he thought.
I loved Grayson and his witty one liners, especially with his AI sidekick Waldo. -
Oh I liked this story, Its not very intellectually written like Michael Crichton or fast paced like Dan Brown, but it's not bad. Expecting books at that level from any sci-fi mystery writer is a bit too much. But I'm just setting the expectations right. The plot is well paced and keeps the interest. The mystery is well maintained, although I felt the real way the murder was done was a bit let down, although it's acceptable, not far fetched like most of Agatha Christie's novels.
The tone is a bit funny, and the narrator did a good job, although
Ray Porter would have done it much better; Brilliantly!
All in all, it's a good book, looking forward to next novel in the serie. -
When ever I reach the end of one of Nathans books I'm left wanting more, but always think there can't be anymore ideas with time travel left. I'm always pleased to be proved wrong by Nathan, time and time again.
I thoroughly recommend this story, kind of a Bogart meets Sam Beckett in this edge of the seat page turner with a great set of characters and scenes, makes it dead easy to fall into this world where time travel is possible. No matter what year Nathans characters end up in, be that 1970, 80's, C15th even, you are always transported into that period with such a rich portrayal of characters and scenes . Always the sign of a great author that takes the time to research. -
Time traveling detective story!
Greyson Travers, son of Ben and Mym Travers is a detective in the old school/noire style but he's updated the whole thing by being able to travel in time. It sure is easier to find clues to a murder when you can do surveillance as it's happening. In this story, a grieving, really hot, widow asks him to investigate her husband's death. Of course it's not a straightforward case. What fun would that be. So we end up meeting all sorts of unsavory characters in the process of figuring out whodunit. I'd really like to see more of Greyson and his adventures. Hint. Hint! -
I'm wary about books and movies that include time travel because it's very easy to abuse it, leaving the reader perplexed about what's happening.
In this book, however, the author strikes a great balance in using time travel complexities in just the right amount and for the right purposes - it makes the novel exciting and twists the plot in a great way.
I enjoyed the writing style, too. The protagonist, Greyson Travers, might be too witty to my taste (he has the perfect reply to every sentence), but he's sort of a hero so I guess that's fine. If you look for a delightsome read, a detective story, where the plot twists and turns, this book is for you. -
If you have not yet read the In Times Like These series go read that first as this is a sequel series. I am a huge fan of this series and I am thrilled to see another one coming soon! The first book took quite a while to get moving but once it did wow was it fun. As soon as Electric Midnight is available for pre order I will be putting mine in and devouring the book as soon as its available. If you like time travel books then you want to pick this series up. You will thank yourself for doing so. Everyone I have talked into reading this has like me had a hard time with the first half of the first book, but once they got through that were riveted through the rest of the series.
