Consider the notion that there are light particles surrounding the Earth. Let's call it BETA light. Now let us assume these light particles record every act here on Earth, and, like a huge video library, they set out there just waiting for humanity to finger through them.

This notion struck me as unlikely, and defiant of the laws of Newtonian (as well as Quantum) physics. And yet, just maybe, it could be true. As I read "Time Shift" I found myself going through this process (more than once, by the way). Given a stretch of the imagination as a premise, Mr. Jackson makes me accept it as a possibility and so interweaves it into the plot of his novel that I soon accept it as fact, well - fictional fact.

It takes a fine craftsman and storyteller to remove us from the work-a-day world and propel us into a fantastic story that includes a United States split in two like the late Roman Empire, as well as a machine that can view the past the way we might watch a vcr (only as holographic life-like images), a nuclear ash choking and killing the planet, a couple square mile bubble protecting the bio-sphere of Washington D.C., most of humanity driven underground and more.

What makes the book a fascinating read has little to do with these strange, almost foreign, notions, but has everything to do with what has always been the hallmark of good fiction, an interesting plot and good character development. The backdrop is secondary to the travails of the young mathematician, Paul Thorndyke, who works for the company in charge of locating various time records in the Beta particles surrounding the planet. He is smart, witty and somewhat of an everyman (an important ingredient for lead characters).

Mr. Jackson is good at developing characters quickly. Even the minor characters generally rise to three dimensions and have mixed motivations and even mixed loyalties. Margaret Zhow, a time jumper, is torn between her devotion to her mentor, her love of country and her conscience. She and others are placed in a position where choices must be made; for the time viewer is put to political purposes. Certain elements want to overthrow the two governments of the United States and unite the Nation once more. Not necessarily a bad goal, but those working to that end use evil means.

To reveal more of the plot is to reveal too much. Suffice it to say that it moves along at a rapid clip and the narrative gives occasional insight into our own humdrum existence. This line caught my eye: "It was somewhat ironic that a society whose technology produced a seemingly never-ending stream of labor saving devices would be populated with individuals who scurried from one task to the other, always consumed by the need to push themselves harder, never allowing themselves a moment's rest. Even leisure time was carefully planned to maximize every second...It was as if the entire society was afraid to stop--even for a moment--to reflect on who they were and what they had become."

This novel does have a few political overtones. Something I tend to look for when I read any book. Mr. Jackson seems to be a bit of an environmentalist (the ash choking the decaying planet feeds on pollution). Yet he seems more concerned that science is gripped by the hand of politics. A dialogue between two of the major characters goes into a bit of detail on how political correctness has distorted our view of the world by predicting global cooling in one decade and global warming in the next (pp 92-93). On the whole, the book might be characterized as libertarian - if anything.

There are also moral tones underlying the plot and its movement. Although technology is an important factor in any science fiction novel, it is always the human drama that makes it interesting to humans. It is the struggle of man against man, man against nature and man against himself that draws our attention. In "Time Shift" we have all of these struggles and we see that the key to victory in every one of them lies in self-reliance, tenacity, intelligence, and moral rectitude.

So if you are looking for political validation, moral validation or any other kind of validation you may find some of it in "Time Shift". What is more, you will find a fascinating sci-fi thriller that will keep you turning the pages - cover to cover.