19-year-old Jackson Meyer can time travel. Not much, usually just back a few hours or days. And when he does go back, nothing he does actually impacts the future - no one remembers interacting with him if it happened on one of his jumps, if he hurts himself he isn't seriously damaged when he gets back, and if he does something on one of his jumps, like break a window, that thing is undone when he gets back to the present. It's not really serving a purpose, but he's having fun experimenting, and keeping it a secret from everyone but his science genius friend who is helping him figure out why it's happening and how to use it. At least it is all fun until some people who also appear to be able to "jump" back in time show up at his girlfriend's college dor, attempt to kidnap Jackson, and kill his girlfriend in the struggle. Now Jackson has jumped back 2 years, farther than he's jumped before, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't get back to his "real" time. And the Enemies of Time are still after him.
Very much the first in a series, it has sufficient mysteries to make you want to read more, but goes a little slower than I'd have preferred, at least in parts. The last few chapters spew out a lot of info, but doesn't solve anything, except perhaps Holly's death (at least we assume it changes that, as Jackson has reset his "base" time, meaning anything that he does from now on really does impact "real time", and he's made it so he and Holly don't meet, meaning she won't be a casualty of an EoT bullet, right?). We find out his Dad is a CIA operative (and not his bio parent), his sister is dead, and some EoT agents think Jackson is going to be developing some pretty power time-traveling ways and want to influence him, plus the book sets up Thomas as an evil Enemy of Time agent who is apparently the dastardly mastermind behind it all.
SLJ: grades 8 and up. Language, including the f-word, and references to sexual activity between Jackson and Holly.
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