Out of Time

Out of Time is the third in C. J. Peterson's Sands of Time trilogy. I read synopses of the first two and jumped right on into this one. What a ride!

Here we see a group of teens with special abilities – superpowers, if you will. They were created by Professor Noah Roth, who raised them with more interest in how their powers could be developed to benefit him than in actually caring for them. It was a hard childhood, and some of the teens, who have been scattered in facilities across the country, have broken free. Now they're racing against time to free the rest of their siblings. They know the Professor will be coming for them, it's just a question of whether they can shut him down before he takes them out.

For an additional twist of drama, the woman who adopted and raised two of the children lies comatose in a hospital somewhere in Pennsylvania. They also have to keep her from the Professor's clutches, and hope that she will wake up and return to them.

Professor Roth is what Professor X would be if he were a bad guy with zero redeeming qualities at all, who was only concerned about what his charges could do for him. The Professor here is a nasty, nasty piece of work. He's created these children for his own twisted purpose, and nothing will stand in the way of him getting what he wants.

I can imagine what a task it would be traveling cross-country with a vanful of kids. I've traveled with my own two, who don't have superpowers, and we weren't at risk of losing our freedom or our lives. Peterson ratchets that tension up by several levels as Wyatt, the man heading the charge to save as many of Roth's creations as possible, and the teens old enough to drive split their group up to go to different facilities. The stakes are high and time is running short. And when they learn that the Professor has an unexpected way of locating them, they realize that time is running out faster than they thought.

Many of the characters are teenagers, and there's a lot of typical teenage angst, with tempers occasionally flaring and romances breaking out. And there are moments that are both sweet and humorous, as children who have known nothing beyond the walls of their captivity learn about modern technology and conveniences.

The characters in this story talk openly about the Christian faith. For me, that's a big plus. Some of the characters are strong in their faith, some are struggling, some aren't quite sure they want to believe in this Jesus they're hearing about. It's refreshing to see an author who's not afraid to point readers to Christ. That makes me want to read not just the rest of this trilogy, but all of Ms. Peterson's books.

And the resolution of this book, y'all. I cheered. I got a little teary-eyed. I'm not telling you the details of how it winds up – that's Ms. Peterson's job, and she does it admirably. But it will be much easier for me to go back and read the first two books now knowing how it all ends!

Out of Time is a fast-paced, tense read that's hard to put down. The ending is deeply satisfying, and the faith on display is genuine. It's a five-star read for me.