Time Frame (Split Second) Paperback – January 16, 2018

Well, Douglas E. Richards gives us another twisty, compulsively readable sci-fi/fantasy thriller chock-full of cutting-edge scientific ideas.First off, prospective readers should know that TIME FRAME is a direct follow-up to SPLIT SECOND. Without question, read the previous novel before reading this one. You'll be lost otherwise. In fact, if you have not read SPLIT SECOND, stop reading this review right now. I wouldn't want to spoil anything for anyone who has not read it.Richards wastes no time whatsoever in grabbing readers by the throat with a huge twist in the very first chapter (how many books can you say THAT about?) and rarely coming up for air. This time, we focus primarily on the incredibly resourceful former-special-forces-operator-turned-PI-turned-special-agent Aaron Blake. Most sci-fi authors tend to have rather bland, stock characters who do not even seem like actual real people. Not so with Richards. He makes Blake, one of my favorite lead characters in any books I have read recently, a highly skilled and resourceful character, without making him into the invincible superhero caricature that is so common to many other thriller novels of this type.The character of Jenna Morrison, who was Blake's co-protagonist in SPLlT SECOND, is not given as much to do here, which is unfortunate.The main villain, whose name I will not reveal, is deliciously devious and evil. Richards' novels always give us terrific villains. He understands that a compelling villain is essential to stories like this and, as usual, he does not disappoint in that regard.Since most of the science involved was explained at length in the first book, we don't have as much of the extended conversations about science and philosophy that Richards usually gives us. I enjoy those, mind you, but sometimes they do slightly overstay their welcome at the expense of moving the story along (that's a minor complaint, since I enjoy everything Richards writes and am always happy that I learn a lot about science from his stories). Anyway, with the exception of one extended - and entertainingly informative - sequence of said scientific and philosophical discussion, Richards keeps the pedal to the metal with this one. Those of you who, like me, consider SPLIT SECOND to be Richards' best work, will not be disappointed. Most of the original characters are here, accompanied by even more of the time-traveling, duplicating, teleporting mayhem we loved about SPLIT SECOND. If I had any issues with TIME FRAME, it might be that some readers, not used to Richards' science-heavy writing style, might feel slightly overwhelmed at times. Others might feel that perhaps he overdoes it somewhat with all the teleporting and duplicating. Personally, I have no problem with either of the two above-mentioned issues, but if some readers did feel that way, I would understand where they were coming from. Very slight spoiler alert - Richards throws a new scientific twist into the mix here, one which is discussed somewhat, but not really involved in the actual plot all that much. It seems that Richards is perhaps teasing us with the possible theme of a - hopefully - third book in the series. If so, it should be a corker. Readers of science-based thrillers with a lot on their minds will love TIME FRAME. Just read SPLIT SECOND first. Have fun.😀

If you are reading reviews for Time Frame, you probably read and enjoyed the first book, Split Second. That’s why I decided to read the sequel and my review for that book is stil up on Amazon. I gave it four stars. In a nutshell, I found the first book a bit mind bending thanks to the parts of the text discussing the various time machine theories. ‘rules’ and paradox ideas (what happens if you go back in time and kill your mother etc). Some reviews found that a distraction from the ‘action’ and narrative but I didn’t.The 2nd book has a few pages that go into the mind bending ideas behind extra dimensions and again, I found this the best part of the book. The rest is fun, mindless and silly to some degree but like the first book, it is entertaining. A real page turner. I didn’t see many of the plot twists coming which is a plus. And yes, much of the dialog is silly but as I think I wrote in my first review, this is a book where our ‘hero’ is nearly indestructible, super smart and out-thinks the army of bad guys. Diehard with a time machine.Time Frame takes two story narratives which I will not spoil here but one takes place around the dictator of North Korea while the other involves a super smart, ruthless bad guy that would make most James Bond bad guys seem tame. The action is again a bit silly but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Do I recommend the book? Yes, if you enjoyed Split Second, I think you’ll enjoy Time Frame but again, the best bits of both are when the action stops and the author goes deep into the science of the science fiction.

Once again, Douglas E. Richards presents a fascinating thriller which blends fiction with yet unknown but not inconceivable science. As always, this Richards book has exceptionally deep character development and is flawlessly composed.Edgar Knight, a brilliant but unscrupulous physicist working for Lee Cargill, the head of a black operation, was able to access previously unknown properties of dark energy that allowed him to push matter back into the past for a for a split second [no pun] and thereby duplicate it [locally] while sustaining its alternate existence for a prescribed period of time. But Lee Cargill, Knight”s boss, was opposed to that on moral grounds; and Knight left to pursue his own egocentric and grandiose ideas.Using time travel Knight made identical copies of himself, each with the identical motivation of the original - to kill Cargill. However, Cargill formed an excellent team of his own which was able to recreate and surpass Knight’s technology and then destroy Knight’s last copy of himself. But Cargill thought he had killed the original version and that Knight no longer presented a threat.A 5th dimension, one more spacial dimension than the usual three space and one time [most string theories having 9 or 10 spacial dimensions] was the crux of interacting with dark energy; and Cargill’s team thought it might lead to other things such as faster-than-light, interstellar travel and teleportation. But they also thought it would be possible to transport nested “kettles” (the time machines themselves) backwards in time, which could afford an easy means of duplicating an indefinitely large number of people and materials. So they appointed an ethics overseer to their team and pursued the development of time travel suppressors. And if the suppressors could block travel in time and distance [as the Earth spins] at destinations as well as sources, what a defensive shield that would provide.All the events described above are just part of setting the stage for this thriller and comprise only ~10% of the book. The stories that follow are truly riveting, e.g., including (i) Cargill’s team member Aaron Drake making a highly daring attempt to fight through China and use the new technology to kidnap North Korea’s ruthless leader Kim Jong-un, (ii) the maniacal Edgar Knight returning with more copies of himself, all with the same objective of destroying Cargill, stealing the work of his lead scientist, and establishing a world government with Knight in charge, and (iii) a climactic finish for all involved.I will not elaborate on these and other fascinating developments in the book so as not to be a spoiler. You will be able to enjoy reading firsthand these action-packed and totally captivating stories.Martin Fricke, Ph.D., nuclear physicsSan Diego

This second book is so brilliant as the first one. A well-paced plot. The time travel intricacies are well explained here. The book has good information on matters that are being under investigation all around the scientific community and does that in the middle of the story as those complexities were easy to serve as a piece of cake. Eager to see the third volume. Well done.

I loved Time Frame, like all the books by Douglas E. Richards. It's a very fast-paced, exciting sci-fi near-future thriller I couldn't put down. It's just as good as it's first part, Split Second, although it can be read as a stand-alone book.

I came across this book in my Kindle Unlimited plan, which I would consider worthy just for these 2 books. Split Second and Time Frame. The time travel concept in this book deals with all the questions I had about time travel as a kid.Add to this the action adventure, what results is a perfect mass masala thriller.I recommend this book to all my friends with whom I shared books.

I intend to read all of his books and I hope you will too.Every time I think I know where the book is going, it turns in a direction I did not think off.

Excellent Mr Richards! Wite more please! Your ideas are amazing and nicely woven into exciting stories - I am a lifelong fan already!This is the second book in a time-travel story, and is not what you are expecting. No fantasy or morlocks, just great science and an imagination to weave it into an action packed story. This is how I would like to write a novel!