BIG TIME - Ben H. Winters

Allie is being kidnapped. She's handcuffed and in the back of an SUV, driven by the kidnapper, Desiree. But Allie is just as confused as she is scared.  She's a middle school teacher and she was just enjoying a day at the park with her infant daughter when she was abducted and rendered unconscious. An accident provides Allie with the opportunity to escape and get to a hospital where, to more surprise and fear, it is discovered that an odd device - some kind of portacath - has been implanted. It doesn't look like anything the local ER has seen before and they call in Grace who works for the FDA in a special branch that works with medical implants.

Grace isn't familiar with the device but digs into researching it, to discover it was produced by a company, now defunct, that was trying to 'extract time'. A thrilling adventure follows as Desiree looks to complete her mission and Grace tries to understand and save Allie.

Well ... almost a thrilling adventure.

The opening couple of chapters of this book really set an exciting tone with lots of interest and expectations.  I was hooked. Something was going on and I wanted to know more.

Unfortunately I was let off the hook. With the introduction of each new character - some who seemed to be there just to add confusion - I grew less and less interested rather than more so.

What is maybe most intriguing about this book is that, in a book about time, perhaps author Ben H. Winters was playing with the reader and presented a book that was 'backwards.' Instead of starting a book with a congressional hearing that would garner some interest and ultimately lead to the massive kidnap and chase sequence, we go in reverse, starting with the massive chase and ending with the rather mundane 'talking suits.' The closer we get to this end, the slower everything seems to move, rather than ramping up the way one would imagine a thriller to work.

It's been 7 years since I last read anything by Ben H. Winters, and it might be that long again before I try another of his works.

Looking for a good book? Ben H. Winters's Big Time takes too much time to keep the energy moving.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Big Time

author: Ben H. Winters

publisher: Mulholland Books

ISBN: 9780316305778

hardcover, 275 pages

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