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A Far Place in Time
by Lee Cross
Virgina City Publishing Co. LLC ( 2006)
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 In this fast-paced story, John Lander must face the challenges of a world that ended before he was born. Vivid alternative realities and unexpected consequences await him there. Motivated by greed, his plans become thwarted as he is trapped in 1945. Love and romance enter his life in the form of Charmaine. Then, forced to hide from the FBI, he seeks escape by joining the Merchant Marine. From the decks of a Liberty Ship, John Lander sees the worst of World War II. His conflicts and emotions in war and romance unfold along with his destiny there. This forbidden journey where time is the ultimate mystery holds a "Hitchcock" style climax in store for the reader.
Prologue
I, John Lander, know I must die soon. I may not last until sunset. All I can do from here is look out the window of this hospital room. My breath doesn't come easy; this pneumonia is incurable. I would be dead now if it were not for this oxygen tent. My best friend just left me. Strange, his body is wasted with lung cancer; yet he will outlive me. I need to get this story off my chest. Where is my son? He said he was coming. Where is he? I don't have long. I now turn my head to the sound of the door opening. Finally, I see him there walking into my room.
"Hello, Dad!"
Time is an illusion that has purpose"
Edgar Cayce
Thirty minutes later, I signed the articles as they were placed before me by the purser in the officer's mess. I tried to make sense of what had happened to me. This is crazy! I, John Lander, am a seaman in the Merchant Marine in a war twenty-six years before I was born! The FBI is after me! And I got the worst goddamn hangover I can remember!
Reality struck me. So this is how it goes. I'm going to die in the Indian Ocean twenty-six years before I was born. This would be the greatest fight I would ever face, trying to stay alive, just this one night. I need something to keep me going, a reason to keep struggling. I have one; it's Charmaine. If I could just see her one more time, touch her again, and kiss her pretty lips. At least you were mine for a while, Charmaine. Dig deep, Lander; think of Charmaine. She's worth living for. Remember! Remember the day you met Charmaine.
She stood before me, head slightly tilted, staring at me with the strangest expression. It seemed like a long time before she spoke. "Johnny, I feel like I've stood here before, looking at you just like this. I don't know what's come over me. I just feel like I would go anywhere with you.
BOOK REVIEWS
For those who enjoy science fiction, Lee Cross has published A Far Place in Time ($13.95, Virginia City Publishing Co., NV, softcover). It is actually a combination of science fiction and WWII action-adventure story. The main character, John Lander, teams up with an elderly scientist who wishes to escape into the future, but instead opens a tunnel to 1945. Lander decides to go back in time in order to use his advance knowledge for financial gain. Bad idea. Everything goes wrong for him and he ends up working on a liberty ship, part of the merchant marine, where he experiences the horrors of that war. A number of interesting themes connect in this unusual story that includes a surprise ending readers will enjoy.
~ Alan Caruba, Editor, Bookviews.com, 28 West Third St., Apt. 1321, South Orange, NJ 07079.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lee Cross is a historian and graduate of California State College in San Bernardino. He is also a retired locomotive engineer for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In addition to his first book, A Far Place in Time, a second novel, the re-incarnation themed adventure "The Twelve Dreams of Laima" has also been published. A third novel is scheduled to be released early in 2008. Mr. Cross lives in Sparks, Nevada with his wife and two daughters. He is active in numerous historical societies, Freemasonry and is a Shriner.
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