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When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review, courtesy of Just Reviews:
Janus Project
by Brad Anderson
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 978-1432753887
Synopsis*:
The Feds have a special place for marquee witnesses. It’s not a matter of where; it’s a matter of when…
Army veteran and restaurant owner John Callan was at the wrong place at absolutely the worst time. And he paid for it with the lives of his wife and daughter. His attempt at revenge on Morgan Ropp, the country’s most lethal criminal, lands him in a special, top secret section of the Federal Witness Security Program: the Janus Project.
Life under Janus is supposed to be the safest available for protected witnesses – and it is for Callan until Morgan escapes from prison and finds out where – and when – Callan is hiding.
The Janus Project reveals the struggle of survival when the need for revenge pushes us to the brink of disaster. This character-driven novel highlights the dichotomy of a man torn between the fictional life that has been implanted in his new reality and the depth of his instincts that drive him within his innermost soul.
Which reality will win? It’s a matter of time.
Critique:
Your entire family is wiped out in a flash. Your wife and daughter paid with their lives because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. But, the person who caused this crime is one of the most dangerous criminals in the world and because of what you know and the fact you have to testify against this killer your life is about to change forever. The FEDS have created a special place for what they call marquee witnesses. Some would think it would be a witness protection program relocating you to another state and being carefully monitored. Not so. This program is unique unto itself, as each person that is a part of it is placed not where but in a different when.
John Callan is the man who is paying with more than his life to attempt revenge against Morgan Ropp, a deadly killer. Hearing her words in prison, seeing what she was able to do when attacked by inmates and threatening her lawyer with everything she’s got lets readers know that she is far from done with Callan and if released the people protecting him will have to do more than just wipe out his memories and thoughts. Trying to get her is what places him danger and in the Janus Project. But, sometimes after going through the portal, leaving yourself and your past behind, winding up years before he even met his wife, John’s thoughts cannot be completely erased and although he now works in a bank as a teller and met a lady in the past named Becky, time travel might have changed his location but not totally altered him memory and who he really is.
Ropp is dangerous and prison bars cannot hold her and she escapes and will come gunning for John. But, first a young agent working the surveillance on the night shift realizes that John/AKA/Scott Blackburne, is now remembering his past as he writes notes to himself which brings it all back and causes the alarms to go off in Deputy Wallace’s head making it necessary to take him back. What is real to him and what is imagination? Within minutes of entering his new world he encounters an older man named Larry Douglas and manages to carry him to safety. The scene with him jumping into a river and carrying this man out to safety is quite compelling and will make you wonder just who John really is and what was his training in the past. The innermost turmoil within John/Scott is evident as he fights within himself to decide which life is real the one created for him by the Feds or the one he lost when his wife and daughter died. But, he’s not the only one who has suffered and meeting Becky he learns about the death of her parents and the truth behind why she keeps her brother’s door closed as they begin to bond in the past but what about when and if he returns to the present?
The premise of this book is that the Witness Protection Program hides people in the past, “The Janus Project”. Veteran John Callan witnessed something he wished he hadn’t. It cost him the lives of his wife and daughter. He wanted revenge on Morgan Ropp, instead he was sent back in time. Ropp discovered where they were keeping Callan. She escaped prison and goes after Callan.
Robb is on a mission to get out of jail and with the help of her lawyer, Sam and another man hired to take him out she hopes that he will be eliminated very soon. But, first she has to find a way out of jail and wherever they are holding Scott/John. Learning about the Witness Protection Program and his ability to stop bank robbers, handle difficult situations and even now according to time travel and advancement living in a small town for 30 years. Yet, when we meet Sam and Jim it is the past and not that much time has passed. Although they trust him you even hear the voices of Ben, his boss and President of the bank where he worked at first, the Doc and Larry the man whose life he saved wonder and start putting together the pieces of a very unusual puzzle.
Even Becky, now listed as his wife thinks that certain things about him just don’t fit and when she questions Ben, things start to come a little clearer but they have yet to figure out why and how he arrived there. His mind flashes back and forth and he seems to be fighting his own demons at times yet not trying to understand everything but wanting to know more. Remembering his past life in some respects yet moving on in the present. How do you erase who you really are? Can you ever really disappear within your own body and have a different mind set and forget your past and your entire life? There are people monitoring him every minute of every day yet does he realize that? When will it all come to blows and when will John/Scott have to come back to the present and face it all? But, in the end where will his loyalties lie? With time periods switching back and forth and now Morgan on the loose things are about to heat up in both dimensions. As Morgan plans her revenge and those in the past realize what exactly happened and we meet the man who decided to help her, the author leaves Becky and us wondering just what the fate of John/Scott will be too. There are two worlds that are affected and too many with the power to alter time and create these wormholes. The ending is terrifying and will keep you on edge until the final scene is revealed.
Which world will John choose and which lives are real? When the ending comes to light he has to make a decision that will either cause his memories to come back from both worlds or lose them completely. When dealing with the doctors and people in charge of the Janus project their reasons for wanting him out of the way might make sense to them but what about John? Deputy Wallace is standing in front of him and John has decided where he belongs. You the reader will have to learn that for yourself and decide just how far would you go to save those you care about the most? What about the technology that was created and allowed as the doctor states: The God Factor and whatever is meant to be will be. You decide if you agree when you read this thought provoking book by author Brad Anderson and wonder what he has in store for us next.
[ reviewed by Fran Lewis at Just Reviews ]
Here’s what other reviewers are saying:
The Janus Project grabbed my attention from the first paragraph and didn’t let go until the last page, which came way too soon. It’s a taut thriller in the spirit of Baldacci and Iles, with well-developed characters that draw you in and make you care about them even as you’re eagerly turning the page to keep up with the action.
I’ve always been fascinated by time travel, so the concept of the Witness Protection Program using the past to hide a witness caught my attention right away, and the book delivers everything the idea promises and then some.
Great read…I highly recommend it.
– Amazon Reviewer Lisa J. Blackerby
Three people’s lives collide in a past that isn’t so past. Brad Anderson’s The Janus Project tells the story of three people in extraordinary circumstances. John Callan loses everything he holds dear to the beautiful sociopathic criminal, Morgan Ropp. The Janus Project gives Callan the chance he needs to hide, stay alive and exact his revenge. What better place to hide than in another time scape, that is until Ropp suddenly disappears from her high security prison cell. Callan realizes that the same technology that saved him has trapped him. Anderson hits five stars with The Janus Project. If you would lay down your life for those you love, or fight when there is no hope of winning then you know a little bit about John Callan.
– Amazon Reviewer r richard maxwell
Book Trailer:
* = courtesy of the book’s Amazon book page.
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