The 13th Hour

I did not realize that this is book two of the Nick Quinn thrillers. Yet, I had no issues jumping right into this book. Mr. Doetsch sures knows how to up the ante with the reading experience. I mean while reading this book, it was like a major motion picture movie playing into my head! I could not stop reading. Literally read this book in one day, it was that good. The 13th Hour: Chaos took me on a roller coaster filled with tons of action, intrigue, twists and turns with engaging characters.

What made this reading experience even better was that the whole format of the story is meant to be read backwards. So, you start out at the end and work your way to the beginning. So perfect for who readers who like to read the ending first. show more While, I knew the endgame, it did not less my excitement as I was kept on my toes to how the story would play out. I will be reading more books by Mr. Doetsch. show less

When Nick Quinn's wife is murdered and he's arrested for the deed, a strange man shows up at the police station and gives him a pocket watch that somehow sends Quinn back in time two hours, leaves him there an hour, then repeats the process eleven more times. Meaning, basically, that Quinn gets to live twelve hours of his life over, in reverse order. And in those backwards hours, he needs to figure out who killed his wife and why, and find a way to prevent it from happening.

If you can manage the necessary suspension of disbelief, which I was entirely happy to do, this is an incredibly cool premise, promising a clever, unique story structure and the potential for an intricate puzzle of a plot. Unfortunately, the execution is show more disappointing. Mostly, it's just not very well written. The prose is flat and often repetitive, and far too often uses exposition as a substitute for characterization and drama. And Quinn's life and his relationship with his wife are presented as so schmoopily perfect that I found myself struggling against an impulse to hate both of them. Worse, most of what's going on is revealed by about halfway through the story -- again, via large amounts of infodumping -- thus leaving too little mystery to sustain the second half, especially as the backstory behind the murder turns out to be complicated but not terribly interesting. The suspense also got less as the story went on and I realized that as long as Quinn is able to hang on to his magic watch and not get killed, whatever situation he's managed to get himself into will automatically resolve itself at the end of the hour when he disappears back in time. And, of course, anything that he manages to accomplish, other than information-gathering or occasionally picking up small objects, is also pointless, since it's immediately undone as soon as he jumps back and starts messing with the timeline of the previous hour -- something it seems to taker him entirely too long to fully realize. At some point in the novel you just know that absolutely nothing he does is going to have any lasting consequences at all until he hits that final hour, so that until then it mostly becomes a matter of marking time, so to speak.

I have no doubt that a really skilled writer could make this structure work very well, using it to keep the reader guessing right up until the last (or, as the case may be, the first) minute, but Doetsch doesn't really pull it off. There are some moments of excitement here, and the plot certainly starts off promisingly enough, but after the first few chapters my excitement had waned, and by the end, I had mostly lost interest. What a waste of a wonderfully nifty idea! show less

From Amazon:

A mesmerizing thriller -- told in reverse! The 13th Hour is the story of a man given the chance to go back in time in one-hour increments to prevent a vicious crime from destroying his life. Nick Quinn is being held in jail, accused of the murder of his beloved wife, Julia. He knows she's dead; he saw her bloody corpse, shot in the head at point-blank range. The police tell him they found the murder weapon with his fingerprints on it in the trunk of his car. Nick is confused, grief-stricken -- and completely innocent. At 9 p.m. on July 28, a gray-haired gentleman visits Nick in the police interrogation room and asks him a simple question: "If you could get out of here, if you could save her, would you?" He hands Nick a show more golden talisman that allows Nick to go back in time, one hour at a time, for a total of twelve hours. With each hour that Nick travels back, he finds more clues to the identity of Julia's real killer, but he also discovers that his actions in the past may have unexpected repercussions in the future. In his race against time to save the woman he loves most in the world, Nick will find that friends become enemies, old loyalties are tested, and Julia's murder is part of a larger scheme that has its roots in greed and vengeance. Nick has the ability to save Julia, the chance to put his own world in balance, but he is venturing down a precarious route. If he hasn't set things right by the thirteenth hour, his desperate attempts to save Julia's life may lead to a far greater catastrophe than he could have ever imagined.

My Thoughts:

WOW!! The plot seems a bit confusing at first. I thought it might be hard to read. Instead, we live hour-by-hour with Nick and experience his race to uncover clues to his wife's murderer. Nick makes occasional mistakes that have serious repercussions. But each hour, he is able to learn from the previous one and try to stop events from happening in the past.

Not only is the plot and design unique, but the story is incredibly fast-paced and impossible to put down. The suspense is intense, caught up in drama and fantastic characters. There are twists and turns in each hour that unfolds, leading to a surprising climax. This is a must for mystery and science fiction fans alike. But simply put, I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. show less

One morning Nick Quinn and his wife, Julia, have an argument before she leaves for work. She was secretly flying to Boston but gets called off the plane for an emergency at a client's home. All 212 people on board are killed when the plane crashes just after taking off. That evening Julia's found dead in their home and Nick ends up being accused of killing her. Because of the crash, the police are too busy to interrogate him. While left alone, a strange man approaches Nick and offers him a chance to relive the last 12 hours to prevent his wife's murder. But when you try to change the past, unintended consequences can happen.
What an original concept--starts with chapter 12 and works backward to the first chapter. Even reluctant readers show more will find this book hard to put down. Highly recommend. show less

The 13th Hour is a well-written, fast-paced thriller with a very interesting and well thought out concept that seems a bit hokie at first, but really draws the reader in and doesn't let go!

The cool thing about this novel is that it works basically in reverse. The main character moves backwards in time throughout the day, one hour at a time, while trying to solve a series of crimes and other circumstances that keep leading to the deaths of those that he cares about.

This is a fairly riveting novel with characters that are likeable (while a bit too perfect to be believable, but hey not any different from a Patterson or Dan Brown novel!) and a fast-paced ever changing plot.

Lots of fun!

Interesting premise, interesting presentation, and the potential for a movie in late 2012 - this thriller delivers on a roller coaster ride of leapfrogging through time. Our hero must work through ever more complex scenarios to prevent disasters, personal and public.
It's oddly convincing, except for the love element, which seems forced and applied with a trowel - like wasn't part of the initial design. Maybe it's just me and my anti-romantic streak, but I distrust such flowery statements while the main character is being shot, beaten, punched, tossed here and there, etc, etc. One thinks he might be focused on other things.
The story isn't complex, but I found myself reading faster and faster as the time started to run out, wondering how show more the entire thing was going to be brought together.
It is, and well. A fun read, and what will be an exciting movie. It's a very visual book.
My only trouble is in following the injuries. As with most thrillers, the main character seems to be able to stand all sorts of bodily insults while maintaining full capacity. Perhaps he heals up going back in time? show less

The 13th Hour starts with Nick and Julia Quinn arguing about their dinner plans that evening. Julia storms off to work and Nick spends his day working from home, until a gunshot disturbs him at 7 PM and he finds Julia dead in the hallway. He’s immediately arrested for Julia’s murder. His fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, and an incriminating 911 call from Julia is recorded. Meanwhile, in the background, an airplane has crashed, killing all 212 passengers. A stranger suddenly appears in the interrogation room and gives Nick a watch, one that will allow him to relive the previous twelve hours in reverse, one hour at a time. He realizes this is his opportunity to alter the events that led to Julia's murder. The reader sees show more how each of the characters handle their alternate reality. The twists and turns that occur as both the future and the past is rewritten are surprising and make for a very compelling story. The story is a classic suspense mystery told in reverse, but in a way that totally works. I thought the author did a great job of giving us a good story and creating an ending that made sense. " show less