Right Between The Eyes

A few weeks ago I commented on a review that called The Chronocar racist. Today on Amazon, I saw this review. Hit me right between the eyes. The only thing any writer can ever hope to do is to have a lasting effect on a reader.  Looks like I managed to do that with both readers.

This nearly brought a tear to my eye.

I was tense, reading faster and faster. Not just the writing which was great, but the story just wouldn’t let go. So very well done. And not just the science of it, though that is in a higher class. Time travel stories take a particular kind of mind to develop – I’ve read my share, this one has made the greatest impression on me…

I’m middle class. I live in the suburbs. I’ve read about hate, read accounts of the fear that black Americans endure(d), the irrational discrimination and threat of injustice. I always have believed it… but I’ve never FELT it like this. Perhaps the discovery/experience of this darker side of humanity finally resonated as I felt akin to the protagonist… middle class, educated, a man from 2015. I had an overwhelmingly physical reaction unlike anything I can describe.

I was so… angry.

And upset.

I tried to explain it to my wife, and I almost couldn’t get the words out without crying.

This story, for all its entertainment value, is exactly what I think the best fiction writers dream of. Something that really moves people. Something that belongs in and represents our culture.