Wrong Place, Wrong Time is a riveting and cleverly constructed novel of suspense that has a mother traveling back in time to discover the events leading up to a murder committed by her beloved son. Can she change history and save her son?

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Let’s begin with a short summary of Wrong Place, Wrong Time:

At the beginning of this suspenseful book, Jen is waiting for her son, Todd, to come home. She’s worried about him because it’s after curfew, and all mothers know that nothing good happens after midnight (I added that part). She’s looking out the window and sees Todd, who is walking towards a strange man. Suddenly, Todd stabs the man and is arrested for murder.

Jen is stunned because this is completely out of character for Todd, and she has no idea who the victim is or Todd’s motive for killing him.

She goes to bed exhausted that night and wakes up to find Todd at home and the pumpkin she carved the night of the crime untouched. She slowly realizes it’s the day before the murder. She has a chance to stop it from happening. She finds the knife in Todd’s backpack and removes it.

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Thinking she’s taken the right steps to stop the crime, she goes to bed and wakes up… two days before the murder.

Thus begins a cycle of traveling further and further back in time. Every day that Jen wakes up is earlier than the previous day. She eventually wakes up 7,230 days before the murder. For those of you who aren’t good at doing math in your head, that’s 19.8 years before the murder (I used a calculator), all the way back to when she first met her husband, Kelly.

Each day Jen travels to the past is a chance to learn something about why her son became a killer. She uses these opportunities to snoop and eavesdrop, and she learns that Kelly and Todd have been hiding things from her, which makes her feel stupid for not noticing.

Every day that she wakes up in the past, she knows that she still has information to learn about the events that led up to the murder. Finally, the pieces all fit together, and she wakes up in the present.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time is a fantastic combination of suspense and science fiction. The concept of traveling progressively back in time lets the reader slowly learn the characters’ back stories, in reverse. It’s a clever way to reveal history and create plot twists.

I found the characters in Wrong Place, Wrong Time likable and I could especially relate to Jen, who at times wondered if bad mothering skills led to Todd’s downfall (who hasn’t second guessed their influence on their kids?). Kelly was also well-developed and his and Jen’s love for each other was touching. As for Todd – he’s kind of a typical teenage boy. In other words, part goofball, part enigma.

Before I discuss the narration of the audio version of Wrong Place, Wrong Time, I have a confession to make. When I watch shows like The Crown and Game of Thrones, I typically turn on closed captions because I have a tough time understanding pronounced English accents. Don’t judge me.

Although the narrator of Wrong Place, Wrong Time is British, she’s very easy to understand, even when she’s doing Kelly’s Welsh accent. And her narration is superb – she adds a touch of appropriate emotion to various parts of the book, which nicely sets the tone for the listener.

As you may have guessed, I strongly recommend Wrong Place, Wrong Time. Its likable characters, creative storyline, excellent narration, and surprising plot twists made it a joy to listen to. And I’m sure the printed version is fantastic, as well.

Have you read or listened to Wrong Place, Wrong Time? If so, what did you think?

Also, if time travel is your jam, check out my review of Kindred by Octavia Butler. (Now a series that you can watch on Hulu.)