Jill Cooper has been publishing since 2012 and loves all things genre! When not writing mind-bending time travel thrillers, she can be found at the local beach or catching the latest movie.

Time Trap by Jill Cooper

Fifteen minutes is all the Rewind Agency gives you to relive a memory in the past, but for street smart Lara Crane it's enough time for her to race through the city, find her mother and stop her murder from happening over ten years ago.

When Lara takes a bullet meant for her mother, her future changes forever. A new house, new friends, and a new boyfriend turns Lara's life upside down. But with memories slowly leaking in from her new life, Lara realizes not everything is as it seems.

With the mob after her and a US senator that wants her captured for her time travel ability, Lara is going to have to fight for her life and unravel a government conspiracy to reunite her family. Or die trying.

Time Trap is an edgy high octane techno-thriller where the people Lara trusts change in an instant. She is in a timeline she doesn't understand and is about to make one fatal mistake as she faces an enemy so familiar, he's family.

CURATOR'S NOTE

Jill Cooper has written a thriller you won't be able to put down. When the heroine uses time travel to save her murdered mother long after the fact, it sets a chain of events in motion that will keep you on the edge of your seat as she fights those determined to control her power. The only thing you'll regret by reading this book is the sleep you'll lose before you finish it. – Terry Mixon

 

REVIEWS

  • •"Super time travel story. Cooper does an excellent job managing multiple time streams. Well done, and not confusing. Great character development, particularly showing how her time travel exploits affect the main character, how the time lines mix together in her mind, how she resolves the dramatical differences between them."

    – Amazon Review

  • •"This book was just plain amazing. I couldn't read it fast enough! Lara's character is nicely developed and the book had me reeled in from the first chapter. The action doesn't stop and I love how the ending leaves you wondering what reality Lara is really in."

    – Amazon Review

  • •"This is a really "engaging" story - I tried to put it down and couldn't! Time Triplets, Double Doppelgängers, Two Tangled Triangles, Murder Mystery, Desperate Dads & Manipulative Moms, UnReal Reality - all rolled into one! Jill Cooper keeps you guessing who dunnit, who's a bad guy and who isn't, who's who and when - like I said - I couldn't put it down. Five Stars!"

    – Amazon Review

  • •"I was stuck waiting all day ferrying a friend to Doctor appointments. I was sad when I had to put your book down to drive to the next office. This story so engaged me, time flew. I even reread bits to make it longer. Buy this book. I now have a new favorite story to revisit, like a good friend."

    – Amazon Review
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

I have no memory of what I did before this. I rub my temples. I'm missing something, and my head throbs. I flip through the papers I notice in my hand. It's a pamphlet that says I have fifteen minutes to be in the past.

Time travel?

Flipping through the pages I see short-term memory loss is to be expected but will fade soon. I paid money to go back, but why into a school? Something about it is familiar, and I know the hall I'm standing in leads to a music room.

But I don't know how I know any of this. I just do. As if memories were uploaded into my brain.

A photo falls from my papers and lands face up.

Her face. Her eyes. It's like looking in the mirror.

I scoop the picture up and head down the hall. A piano chord strikes. The soft tone echoes toward me, and the digital watch on my wrist beeps. A rush of memories slam into my mind, knocking me off balance. I wobble on my feet as if the collision were physical. I retch, the vomit threatening to spill. Swallowing, it burns like racing lava. I check my watch.

I only have thirteen minutes left.

I don't bother to look through the doors to find five-year-old me. Instead, I race down the hall, feet gliding across the linoleum. My hood flaps behind me as my body crashes into the elementary school front doors. Blinding sunlight greets me, and I am flying down the hill. My arms pump, and I suck in deep breaths of air, like I learned in my time as a sprinter at Cambridge High.

Rounding the corner onto Mass Avenue, I see Tower Records off in the distance.

Beep.

I now have ten minutes to run eight blocks in time to save Mom. If I don't make it, if I fail, I won't get another shot.

My chest aches, and in my mind, I see Mom. I've seen her in pictures, but my memories of her are pretty much gone. I want to remember her tucking me into bed and cooking me dinners. Now I am alone and have microwaved bowls of macaroni and cheese. Maybe it wasn't Dad's fault. Maybe he did his best, but I want more.

I want a mom.

My legs burn, and my lungs beg me to stop, but I keep going. I push harder and edge my body on until I'm desperate to collapse. A woman steps out from a store. I take a hard right to avoid her, clipping my arm on a brick wall. I groan and pause to bend over with my hands braced on my legs. I take a gulping breath of pain that my lungs reject. The woman comes up behind me and puts her hand on my shoulder.

Shrugging her off, I sprint away.

Eight minutes.

I round the corner toward Tower Records with anxiety tight in my chest.

This is where it happens. This is where Mom's body will be found.

My run slows to a trot as I stop beside the giant music store. I peer up at the towering skyscraper as I round the back, down an alley. Quiet shadows loom around the dumpster. A breeze sweeps by and blows a trash bag open. I catch the stench of decomposing meat, churning my stomach. My head pounds. I groan and grab my temples. Behind me I hear a woman's voice.

"Are you okay?"