Wrong Place Wrong Time: A Novel – A New York Times Bestselling Psychological Thriller
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
"It’s perfection, every word, every moment. A masterpiece . . . One of the best books I’ve ever read." —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author
New York Times bestselling author Gillian McAllister has created a psychological thriller unlike any other in this endlessly clever, twisty story of a mother who must move backward through time to prevent tragedy from striking at the heart of her family.
Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened?
It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger.
She doesn’t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd’s, have been shattered in this heart-stopping family drama.
After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up…it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet—and in this unique time travel story, there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past, first weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd’s terrible crime…and in this compelling mystery it is her mission to find it, and prevent it from taking place.
Both the story of a mother’s love and the sacrifices she will make for her child, and a page-turning thriller with a brilliant twist, Wrong Place Wrong Time EPB is a one-of-a-kind novel that begs to be read in one sitting.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Wrong Place Wrong Time* is an imaginative, clever psychological thriller that mixes crime with a time-loop premise and strong emotional s...
You see your 18 year old son murder a man. This can’t be! What is it you don’t know about your son and how can you help him now? This is the dilemma that faces Jen. She then goes to bed and wakes up the previous day as if the murder never took place. And so begins Jen’s quest to find clues of what could have led to her son Todd getting caught up in this.
I really enjoyed the perspective the author gave on motherhood- the guilt we all feel that we never did enough or did too much. I also thought she did a great job showing the frustrations that come with each stage of parenting and how looking back it really wasn’t as bad as we made it sound.
I honestly don’t usually like time travel but this one held my interest and I enjoyed the different twists.
I really enjoyed the perspective the author gave on motherhood- the guilt we all feel that we never did enough or did too much. I also thought she did a great job showing the frustrations that come with each stage of parenting and how looking back it really wasn’t as bad as we made it sound.
I honestly don’t usually like time travel but this one held my interest and I enjoyed the different twists.
Ok, I’m going to be the odd woman out on the merits of this book because I don’t share the same opinion about this book as most of the other members who have read this book. Heck, it was even on the Crime Mystery Thriller group’s July group read, which means a lot of people voted for it. I didn’t (that should have been my first clue), I voted for Blacktop Wasteland. But anyway, I do love a good time travel story so I thought it would be a good read, especially after being a little disappointed with the last time travel story that I just recently read.
The book summary lays out the primary storyline so I’m not going to repeat it here. From early in the story, Jen believes that if she can change something in the past, that will make some small difference in the future and her son, Todd, will not end up killing some random man. Everyday, she wakes up and she is farther back in the past. At first it was just a day and then two days and then weeks, and on and on and on. Each time she wakes up and finds herself farther back in time realizing that the changes she made on the previous day weren’t enough to stop whatever it is she’s supposed to stop. She has no idea what she’s supposed to do to stop Todd from becoming a murderer. So, she spends day after day trying to figure out what it is that needs to be changed and sets out to change it. By the 30-35% mark, I was bored and already thinking of DNFing the book.
There is also a secondary storyline of a man, Ryan Hiles, who is a rookie police officer or rather a constable. The story flips back and forth between Jen and her travels back in time and Ryan and his recruitment into an undercover operation as an asset because of who he is related to. I plod on thinking that at some point, it must get better – right? Why would so many people like it? Anyway, Jen has discovered that Todd is involved with some nefarious people, but she doesn’t know what he’s doing with them. She decides that she needs to get him arrested for something minor in the hopes that will prevent him from eventually murdering someone. Good grief!!! That was illuminating!!! It’s through this scenario that she discovers that it’s her husband, Kelly, that has actually gotten their son, Todd, involved with these people and now Kelly is lying to Jen when she confronts him about his involvement.
By the halfway point, a boatload of revelations are dropped and it isn’t that much of a stretch to see what’s going on or where the story is going. Well into the second half, the reader has to plod through and suffer a couple of years of Jen continuing to wake up every day farther back in time with absolutely no clue as to how to get out of this insane time loop. By this time, Jen is becoming completely unhinged (I’m not too far behind her) and becoming more and more dumbfounded over the naiveté and ignorance of the red flags in her marriage and life. She realizes just how much she has sleepwalked through her life, marriage as well as Todd’s life too.
In the last 15%, another boatload of revelations are dropped and the end comes pretty fast after that (thank goodness!!!). While I was a little off on a certain part of the plot, I did figure out most of it. For most of the story, it was a solid 2star rating, for me anyway. Even though the ending was satisfying enough, I guess I would give it 2.5stars if I could, but I am definitely not feeling compelled to round up. As a time travel story, this story was not a good one. JMHO
I’m not a big fan of domestic dramas. That’s not to say that I haven’t read some really good ones (I have) but, they are just not my fave genre. I was talking to hubby about this book, and subject matter and genre and he just smiled and said the quiet part out loud (God, I love that man😊).
Anyway, I read for enjoyment as well as a form of rest and relaxation and a brief escape from my busy day. The last thing I want to read about in my free time are the daily trials and tribulations of some messed up, fictional family. I’ve had enough of that IRL. Unless, of course, it’s a story of some beloved character getting killed and a boatload of relatives or other related characters are suspects (I love whodunits) and some bad@$$ law enforcement type (preferably a smart@$$, snarky woman who kicks @$$ and takes names) is on the case and there’s a bunch of twists and turns leading to an explosive ending. That I’d read in a heartbeat!!! Enough said.
The book summary lays out the primary storyline so I’m not going to repeat it here. From early in the story, Jen believes that if she can change something in the past, that will make some small difference in the future and her son, Todd, will not end up killing some random man. Everyday, she wakes up and she is farther back in the past. At first it was just a day and then two days and then weeks, and on and on and on. Each time she wakes up and finds herself farther back in time realizing that the changes she made on the previous day weren’t enough to stop whatever it is she’s supposed to stop. She has no idea what she’s supposed to do to stop Todd from becoming a murderer. So, she spends day after day trying to figure out what it is that needs to be changed and sets out to change it. By the 30-35% mark, I was bored and already thinking of DNFing the book.
There is also a secondary storyline of a man, Ryan Hiles, who is a rookie police officer or rather a constable. The story flips back and forth between Jen and her travels back in time and Ryan and his recruitment into an undercover operation as an asset because of who he is related to. I plod on thinking that at some point, it must get better – right? Why would so many people like it? Anyway, Jen has discovered that Todd is involved with some nefarious people, but she doesn’t know what he’s doing with them. She decides that she needs to get him arrested for something minor in the hopes that will prevent him from eventually murdering someone. Good grief!!! That was illuminating!!! It’s through this scenario that she discovers that it’s her husband, Kelly, that has actually gotten their son, Todd, involved with these people and now Kelly is lying to Jen when she confronts him about his involvement.
By the halfway point, a boatload of revelations are dropped and it isn’t that much of a stretch to see what’s going on or where the story is going. Well into the second half, the reader has to plod through and suffer a couple of years of Jen continuing to wake up every day farther back in time with absolutely no clue as to how to get out of this insane time loop. By this time, Jen is becoming completely unhinged (I’m not too far behind her) and becoming more and more dumbfounded over the naiveté and ignorance of the red flags in her marriage and life. She realizes just how much she has sleepwalked through her life, marriage as well as Todd’s life too.
In the last 15%, another boatload of revelations are dropped and the end comes pretty fast after that (thank goodness!!!). While I was a little off on a certain part of the plot, I did figure out most of it. For most of the story, it was a solid 2star rating, for me anyway. Even though the ending was satisfying enough, I guess I would give it 2.5stars if I could, but I am definitely not feeling compelled to round up. As a time travel story, this story was not a good one. JMHO
I’m not a big fan of domestic dramas. That’s not to say that I haven’t read some really good ones (I have) but, they are just not my fave genre. I was talking to hubby about this book, and subject matter and genre and he just smiled and said the quiet part out loud (God, I love that man😊).
Anyway, I read for enjoyment as well as a form of rest and relaxation and a brief escape from my busy day. The last thing I want to read about in my free time are the daily trials and tribulations of some messed up, fictional family. I’ve had enough of that IRL. Unless, of course, it’s a story of some beloved character getting killed and a boatload of relatives or other related characters are suspects (I love whodunits) and some bad@$$ law enforcement type (preferably a smart@$$, snarky woman who kicks @$$ and takes names) is on the case and there’s a bunch of twists and turns leading to an explosive ending. That I’d read in a heartbeat!!! Enough said.
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