Nick of Time (by Ted Bell)

NICK OF TIME
by Ted Bell
Release date : september 2009

The setting is England, 1939, on the eve of war. Nick and his sister, Kate, begin gathering vital information for Winston Churchill as he tries to warn England of the imminent Nazi invasion. But the Nazis become the least of Nick’s problems after he discovers a time machine hidden in a cove. Unfortunately, the evil pirate Captain Billy Blood, who travels through time capturing little children and holding them for ransom, will stop at nothing to possess the priceless machine. With the help of Lord Hawke, whose children have been taken by Blood, Nick must fight the ruthless pirate on land and sea in two different centuries in a desperate attempt to save his home and his family from being utterly destroyed.

MY THOUGHTS : A good war and adventure story. Good and true values are present, which is always nice when not cliché. The story is original and the characters are colorful. Speaking of characters, Kate, the hero's sister, almost steals his place in the story, being much more characterized and imposing. Which is neither a bad thing nor a good thing, it just felt weird and nice at the same time.

All the Second World War theme, with its war material and submarines will appeal to both boys and girls I think. Even if it's more of a boy book, which is a good thing : I don't cross books for boys often, even though I know there are some out there.

There are no inconsistencies and the story is interesting, but somehow I wasn't hooked. The time machine appears after approximately a hundred pages, and that first part seemed to drag on. Of course this part was needed to install the situation and characters, but I felt like it could've been shorter and a bit more dynamic. It started to get better for me when the different groups of people separated through time. The alternative chapters gave a thrilling aspect to the story, which maybe would've fell flat if it wasn't for this construction.

The writing is reminiscent of older war novels, therefore not very modern, which may please some readers but annoy others. I thought it was sometimes difficult to follow the action and I found the descriptions a bit weak. Except from the dialogues, which I liked and found convincing, the whole plot contruction didn't appeal to me. Often very patriotic, the story was sometimes overloaded with pathos and easy tears, which is something that I tend to dislike.

All in all, I would recommend this book for boys who enjoy heroic stories, war adventures and time-travel. The mix works out well, even if it didn't seduce me as much as I would've liked.