In keeping with my current run of blog entries, this one is about the third book I published. Like The Widow’s Husband, Nick of Time began as a ‘what if’ thought. What if a detective had to investigate his own murder. Of course, I am not the only writer to have this idea, or at least a similar idea. There was a film made in 1949 called D.O.A. about a man who was poisoned and had twenty-four hours to figure out who did it. It was remade in 1988 and again in 2017. But that is not what happens in Nick of Time.
Nick of Time is a step away from my usual writing. For one, it is written in first person. Everything is from the view point of the main character, Nick. I actually enjoyed the process, although it does make the dramatic cliffhanger/scene change at the end of chapters more challenging.
One thing I found interesting about writing in first person is that in writing from the perspective of a single character, you only see and hear what that character sees and hears. There is no insight into the minds of others, no chapters taking place where the main character is not. He is telling the story and cannot relay what he hasn’t seen. It was another challenge that I hope I navigated well.
Second, there is a little bit of science fiction involved. As the title suggests, there is an element of time travel in the novel, although it is not the main focus. The main focus is the investigation into the murder of a man who looks like he could be the main characters older doppelganger and the attack on a scientist who is working on a top-secret invention that will make time travel a reality.
Although Nick of Time, as most of my novels are, is a mystery, there is also action and suspense. A mystery woman, bad guys who always seem to be a step ahead and a main character who resists believing everything he is being told, all circle around a fast moving plot line that keeps everything moving forward.
I will say that of all of the novels I have written, Nick of Time is my wife’s favorite to date. Since she married me, I am going to claim that she has good taste.
I hope you give Nick of Time a chance. Maybe it will be your favorite novel of mine as well.
To learn more about Payback visit my website: https://williamcoleman.net/books/659-2/.
To read it for yourself: https://books2read.com/Nickoftime
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