Not so much I didn't like it, it just wasn't for me. Got through 40% when I decided that was enough ( )

Well, it's no masterpiece, but for what it is (a pulp novel about AWESOME PRISON GUARDS fighting dinosaurs) it's pretty good. ( )

To be honest, I bought this book at the library for $1, as a light holiday read. I've spent longer reading this book than any other in my life, primarily because I kept dipping in and out, and other stuff kept getting read in the middle. Three pages here, fifteen pages there. At one point I didn't think I was even going to finish it. But, I actually really enjoyed it!
The modern day sections were the least enjoyable, and potentially the author thought so too because there were so few of them, but maybe they exist because the author is planning some spin off series.
The premise is far fetched, a maximum security prison, transported back through time, to the time of the dinosaurs, and through some bizarre time warp, so too were the Spanish Conquisidors, the Cherokee Indians, and the people of the Mounds all were too, all ending up in a heap at the time of the dinosaurs.
From there on in, its the survival of the fittest, or survival of those armed with modern day weapons. Sounds far fetched I know, but it really is an absorbing read!
If the author had foregone the modern day bits, I probably would have given it 5 stars. ( )

I found this 2008 hardcover at the Mennonite charity shop in New Hamburg.

The prisoners and staff of a maximum security prison find the entire facility has been sent back in time by millions of years. As the stressed out staff try to keep the prisoners in check, they find that other people from different times in Illinois history have been sent back, too. They include Cherokees on the Trail of Tears, and de Soto and his men who had been exploring the area while taking slaves and stealing treasure. A very contrived situation, but handled well, with believable characters and non-stop action.

A time spike reaches out ad sucks various folks from different parts of history along the Mississippi into the prehistoric past. Primary amog them is a federal high security priso ( )

Set in--or at least starting in--the same universe as Flint's 1632 series, seven years after Grantville disappeared. A maximum-security prison, a group of Cherokee on the Trail of Tears, a city of Mound Builders, primitive Mississippian Indians, and Hernando de Soto's expedition all wind up back in the remote past. Now rampaging dinosaurs are the least of anyone's worries. Can the stranded people build a new society. What about those 2000 violent prisoners? Meanwhile, in the "present," scientists studying the recent time spikes are making new discoveries.

This stands alone quite well, but there's also room for sequels, if wanted. Well worth reading. ( )

AMAZON: Captain Mark Stephens was overseeing the change of shifts at the state of Illinois' maximum-security prison when the world outside was suddenly ripped. They thought it was an earthquake until they found that the Mississippi river had disappeared, along with all signs of civilization. Then the sun came up -- in the wrong direction. And a dinosaur came by and scratched its hide against the wall of the prison...
Something had thrown the prison back in time millions of years. And they were not alone. Other humans from periods centuries, even millennia apart had also been dropped into the same time. Including a band of murderous conquistadores. But the prison had its own large population of murderers. They couldn't be turned loose, but what else could be done with them? Death walked outside the walls, human savagery was planning to break loose inside, and Stephens and the other men and women of the prison's staff were trapped in the middle. ( )

Set in--or at least starting in--the same universe as Flint's 1632 series, seven years after Grantville disappeared. A maximum-security prison, a group of Cherokee on the Trail of Tears, a city of Mound Builders, primitive Mississippian Indians, and Hernando de Soto's expedition all wind up back in the remote past. Now rampaging dinosaurs are the least of anyone's worries. Can the stranded people build a new society. What about those 2000 violent prisoners? Meanwhile, in the "present," scientists studying the recent time spikes are making new discoveries.

This stands alone quite well, but there's also room for sequels, if wanted. Well worth reading. ( )

Time Spike is a "fun" action book with plenty of good information thrown in for good measure, as with many alternate history books. It's not deep, but there are many thought-provoking ideas and "how would you respond" sorts of situations scattered through the pages, and many stereotype shredders as well.

In the opening pages, a maximum security prison from southern Illinois is taken back to the Cretaceous, with its guards and inmates. It turns out that most of the groups of people who played a part in the history of that area were also taken back, all strewn about the area. The conquistador De Soto, Mounds Builders, Cherokee on the Trail of Tears and their guarding soldiers, and pre-Mississippian culture Indians, all thrown together to find a way to survive in the Age of Dinosaurs. And a prison full of 2400 hardened criminals, with a whole world to make their own - what will they do with it?

Much of the book relates how the prison's people fare in the situation, but it also places weight on the interactions between cultures.

I was surprised at the author's facility in infusing the story with large amounts of information, without ever seeming to cause the plotline to stumble because of it.

But lest the review put the emphasis on the wrong side of the book, the plot is constantly entertaining. At every point, the reader is wanting to find out what will happen next - there is always some situation brewing with potential for disaster. It's an "easy read" because the pages fly by effortlessly, with few if any dead spots you have to force yourself through.

The characters are pretty interesting. Some may be too idealized or too stereotypical, but a few stand out as complex people with plenty to offer the plot. The only significant problem I found was the "resident scientist." A guy working as a prison guard, but who was trained as a geologist, and it turns out knows the science behind nearly everything. Not very likely! Well, it's a relatively small point.

The book is certainly on the feel-good side. Events are depicted as one might wish they would occur, rather than the way one suspects they might occur if the situation really existed. As I said, idealism is afoot on these pages. But that is part of what makes 'Time Spike' an easy, fun read - very few difficult situations to deal with.

The author's political leanings are obviously to the left, and a died-in-the-wool conservative would probably think the book full of poppycock. Those folks should probably not invest themselves in Time Spike. Feminists unhappy with any but a strong female protagonist might not entirely approve, either. There are strong women in the book, but men ultimately run the show in all but the medical arena. But looking beyond that, everyone else from mid-teenage on up should enjoy this. It's the perfect book for the person who wants to read a book that's pure pleasure, but wants also to feel they improved their understanding of the world by reading it, as though it's not fair to read a book for pleasure unless you get something useful out of it. It's also the perfect book for the reader who just wants light entertainment - the information input is pretty gentle and easily disregarded in favor of the excitement of the plot if you prefer.

Overall, I give the book four stars. I personally value more my time with a book with greater emotional challenges to the characters - but that's just me! Despite the lack of the fifth star, the book is a winner for reading pleasure. Buy it and enjoy it. ( )