Crown City (Time Box 5) by John A Heldt-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 26, 2021.

From the author of the critically acclaimed Time Box series comes the dramatic conclusion of a story that spans a century.

Two years after stealing portable time machines, the Lanes, a family from the present day, stop running and start living. They settle in the seaside town of Coronado, California, in 1963.

For Jordan, Laura, and Jeremy, the oldest children, the respite is a chance to nurture relationships, start families, and explore the country. It is an opportunity to put down roots.

For Ashley, the youngest, it is a chance to thrive. Now fourteen, she is ready to start high school, make friends, and make up for lost time. She finds popularity and more after a classmate nominates her for freshman homecoming princess.

Robert Devereaux could not care less. The deranged billionaire wants his time machines back and is willing to do anything to get them. He sends a hit man to the past, setting into motion a final confrontation between a hunter and his prey.

In CROWN CITY, the suspenseful finale of the Time Box saga, a defiant family finds romance, friendship, and danger as it navigates the final months of the Kennedy presidency.

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REVIEW:CROWN CITY is the fifth and final instalment in John A Heldt’s adult TIME BOX time travel series focusing on the Lane family-Mark and Mary, and their children Jordan, Jeremy, Laura and Ashley. CROWN CITY should not be read as a stand alone-I recommend reading the series in order as their is an ongoing premise throughout.

SOME BACKGROUND: Having created two time machines in 2021 known as the Time Boxes, patriarch Mark Lane discovers that his business partner, billionaire Robert Devereaux, wants to use the Time Boxes for questionable purposes. Having prepared for weeks, Mark Lane and his family pull up roots, and send themselves, along with the Time Boxes, back in time. Robert Devereaux desperate to retrieve the time boxes, and punish his one-time partner, hires a modern day assassin who goes on a time travel hunt for Mark Lane and his family.

Told from several third person perspectives CROWN CITY finds the Lane family travelling to 1963 in the months prior to and after the assassination of John F Kennedy. 1963 beckoned Mark and Mary Lane and their growing family but the constant jumping through time was beginning to take its’ toll on the youngest child Ashley. As Ashley started high school for the very first time, the soon to be fifteen year old needed more freedom than the family would accord, and in this , Ashley was about to bring trouble to the Lane’s front door.

Meanwhile, Randy Taylor, Mark’s one-time mentee, had proclaimed his love for Mark’s daughter Laura, and in this, Randy will begin a deliberate take down of Robert Devereaux, by travelling to the future. Setting a plan into motion, Randy will ensure the safety of the family he has grown to love but trouble continues to follow in the form of a hired assassin who refuses to back down.

CROWN CITY follows the Lane children as they come into their own-falling in love, starting families, venturing further without their time-travelling parents. As one couple struggle to prevent the death of someone else, everyone must come to terms to a decision that will affect them all, going forward.

CROWN CITY is a story family and friendships, relationships and love: a story of betrayal and vengeance, acceptance and moving forward. John A Heldt pulls the reader into another multi-faceted story that tentatively looks at a factionalized account of historical events, events that our family must regrettably ignore. The premise is detailed and complex, engaging and captivating-a fantastic conclusion to a wonderful series.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Lane Betrayal
The Fair
Sea Spray
The Refuge

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy