1927 A time travel novel.
In 1927, Robert P. Fitton flawlessly combines the genres of romance, historical fiction, and science fiction, so it is a crime that he has allowed the story to be marred by deficient editing, including typos and missing words. Regardless of these errors, Fitton takes readers on a thrilling ride that borrows the very best from multiple genres. Just shy of 200 pages, 1927 almost falls into the novella category, but it contains all the romance and thrills of a novel twice its size. Fitton’s writing carves out perfect descriptions of the flamboyant roaring twenties, showcasing such marvelous feats as Charles Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic and Babe Ruth trying to set the home run record.
Baseball is vitally important to the novel’s protagonist, Charlie Russo. The story begins with Charlie attending a Yankees game. “It was only the beginning of May and Ruth had six home runs,” Fitton writes, “it might be possible, if he continued at this pace, to break his 1923 record of fifty-nine home runs…this team had it all…Charlie shook his head as he watched the agile Gehrig throw practice balls across the infield grass.” The author sets up the story by placing the reader in the idyllic setting of Yankee Stadium and putting his mind at ease with images of a man living in an age of prosperity, “American know how,” and the rise of a new technological age. The reader experiences Charlie’s confidence and feels the pride of a country still reveling in its victory in the “War to End All Wars.”
But then Fitton turns this normalcy upside down by thrusting an unknown factor upon an unsuspecting populace. Suddenly, the most powerful country in the world must remember that it is not the center of the universe. Charlie, the 1920s’ everyman, collides with his destiny when he meets Jamal, a time traveling woman from the future. Her mission is to save the future Earth from being attacked by the dreaded Avegis, who, according to Jamal, “destroyed their creators, and aggressively moved into the galaxy.” As they fall for each other, Charlie and Jamal must fight and sometimes take flight from opposing forces of FBI agents and Avegis that have broken through the continuum. The lovers attempt to gather the items needed to build a transmitter that will send historic archives through time to warn the people of the future about the Avegis’ imminent attack.
1927 is paced like a movie that places Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall into the plot of The War of the Worlds, with some Hitchcockian chase scenes thrown in. It is too bad that Fitton did not seek proper editing.
Reviewed by
Lee Gooden
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
