The Third Rule of Time Travel

by Philip Fracassi

Rule One: Travel can only occur to a point within your lifetime.
Rule Two: You can only travel for ninety seconds.
Rule Three: You can only observe.
The rules cannot be broken.

In this riveting science fiction novel from acclaimed author Philip Fracassi, a scientist has unlocked the mysteries of time travel. This is not the story you think you know. And the rules are only the beginning.

Scientist Beth Darlow has discovered the unimaginable. She's built a machine that allows human consciousness to travel through time—to any point in the traveler's lifetime—and relive moments of their life. An impossible breakthrough, but it's not perfect: the traveler has no way to interact with the past. They can only observe.

After Beth's husband, Colson, the co-creator of the machine, dies in a tragic car accident, Beth is left to raise Isabella—their only daughter—and continue the work they started. Mired in grief and threatened by her ruthless CEO, Beth pushes herself to the limit to prove the value of her technology.

Then the impossible happens. Simply viewing personal history should not alter the present, but with each new observation she makes, her own timeline begins to warp.

As her reality constantly shifts, Beth must solve the puzzles of her past, even if it means forsaking her future.

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy, Adult

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2025

About the author

PHILIP FRACASSI is the Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award-nominated author of the novels A Child Alone with Strangers, Gothic, Boys in the Valley, The Third Rule of Time Travel, and The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre. He is also the author of the story collections Behold the Void, Beneath a Pale Sky, and No One is Safe!

His stories have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Black Static, Best Horror of the Year, Nightmare Magazine, Interzone, and Southwest Review.

Philip lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Copps Literary Services, Circle M + P, and WME. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky, or visit pfracassi.com.

Reviews

[Court Zierk · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I think Fracassi just found himself a new genre. This is a straight up sci-fi banger, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Admittedly the science was a little underwhelming at times, but I have never needed full scientific explanations in order to enjoy something. Suspend disbelief and you’ll be just fine.

I loved the fast-pace, the small cast and the entirety of the premise. It was definitely a unique take on time travel, and that’s a difficult thing to accomplish in such an oversaturated sub genre.

There’s a reason I joined an online book group called Fracassi Freaks, and this book only further solidifies my fandom.

[Mª Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fracassi nunca decepciona.

Qué destaco del libro

Novela de Ciencia Ficción que se mueve a ritmo de thriller. Está bien escrita. La prosa es sencilla y directa. Engancha, dosifica la intriga y mantiene el interés hasta el final.

Desarrolla un tópico clásico del género, los viajes en el tiempo. El enfoque que ha elegido, sin ser del todo novedoso, sí aporta su punto de originalidad. Estamos ante una tecnología que permite "viajar" en el tiempo de una manera muy concreta. Este viaje, además, se rige por tres leyes que son intrínsecas a dicha tecnología. Los científicos que la diseñaron intentan desentrañar los datos con el fin de comprender el funcionamiento de las tres leyes e intentar controlarlas. En estos parámetros es por dónde se desenvuelve la trama.

Fracassi nos introduce poco a poco en el lío. Con cada nuevo viaje de la protagonista nos deja claves acerca de lo que puede estar pasando. Se desenvuelve bien tanto en lo que tiene de Ciencia Ficción como en el toque paranormal.

Los personajes están bien trazados. La protagonista, Beth, es una científica ortodoxa en sus métodos y con no demasiadas habilidades sociales en el ámbito de lo laboral. A lo largo de la novela el personaje evoluciona de forma coherente a las circunstancias que se presentan. Los secundarios, igualmente bien, cumplen con su función.

El desenlace, el esperado. Se construye desde atrás, fluye bien y de cuando en cuando gusta un final así.

En conclusión una novela de Ciencia Ficción, bien desarrollada, con el sello indiscutible de un autor que se ha convertido en imprescindible para mí. Recomendable.

[Char]

I won a giveaway! WOOHOO!

[Gareth Is Haunted · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tour de force in time travel fiction.

"There's something awe-inspiring about being able to stand beneath this metal monster that is waiting to turn my brain, my humanity, into bits and bytes, then suck the whole thing away, beam it to another time, another place."

I'm going to be honest, I came into this read not expecting too much. I had previously read one of Philip Fracassi's novels and although I didn't hate it, it certainly wasn't a book that left me in awe. This book was a completely different kettle of fish. Put it this way, I devoured this within a 24-hour period. That is unheard of for me unless I'm reading a short story, which this certainly isn't.
The book follows our main character (Beth) during the testing of a scientific device that for all intents and purposes is a time travel machine. Yes we are treading ground that has been well trodden over the years and some might say is rather cliche or even so overused that it's boring, but that's where they're wrong.
Philip Fracassi has somehow managed to create something that flows effortlessly and pulls the reader in every step of the way. Yes there are some common tropes and the language isn't overly elaborate but this doesn't detract from what is a thoroughly engrossing, emotional and sometimes shocking story.

"..humans are made up of memories. It's the constitution of who we are. Our minds hold the reflections of a billion lives, infinite parallel worlds...but only fate can decide which of those we are allowed to see and touch."

Ultimately what I'm trying to say is that it was an amazing read and a testament to the author's ability to tell a great story.

Read this on sight!


I received an advanced copy for free and I'm leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

[Rebecca Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you can tell from the title, this is a time travel sci-fi thriller. Something different to the usual horror that I have read by Fracassi and not a genre I read much of, but I really enjoyed this! This was exciting and fast paced. The chapters were short and I just wanted to keep reading to see what would unfold next. Each time the main character travelled back in time it was having a butterfly effect on
the present timeline. I enjoyed noticing the subtle changes that were happening throughout the story as well as some big, disastrous changes and hoping that it would all work out in the end! I think if you enjoy Blake Crouch kind of books, you will enjoy this.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars
I have read and enjoyed this author's horror books so I was eager to read hid take on science fiction. This was a reasonably engaging work but it didn't feel like the author was writing to his strengths. As a piece of science fiction, I found this one very surface level. Given the subgenre, I didn't expect it to be grounded in much science. I would primarily recommend this one to thriller readers who are open to a time travel element.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Esti Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pues... ¡Me ha gustado mucho! El autor hace "creíble" lo que cuenta. Y ameno. El final me ha gustado, porque es difícil poner un final a esta novela.
Más o menos la novela empieza así:
Beth Darlow es física y trabaja en una investigación secreta para la Corporación Langan. Ella y su marido ingeniero vendieron su proyecto a cambio de inversión. Se trata de una máquina que permite que el cerebro de una persona viaje a un punto de su pasado durante 90 segundos. Esa vivencia se transmite después en imágenes. Hace un año murió Colson, su marido, en un accidente de coche y ahora Beth lleva ella sola la investigación. Pero su escape, entre todo el estrés y la tristeza por la pérdida de su marido, es su hija Isabella,  de 5 años.
Aún queda mucho por avanzar y ello requiere muchas horas de trabajo y más inversión, pero los fondos escasean y la viabilidad del proyecto peligra.
Esta primera mitad es más tirando a pausada y normalita, hasta que nos metemos de lleno en los experimentos.
En la segunda mitad, la trama se complica y el ritmo es trepidante.
Recomendable!! 👌

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time Travel. If it was actually possible, and at points in this novel Fracassi makes it feel that it truly could be, would you do it? In the majority of the stories I've read, the characters travel backwards into the past. The past is where our mistakes and wishes lie so that makes perfect sense. It's how most of us readers connect with a book about time. Whereas a other books disobey certain realities, or simply ignore them, the time travel here in this book is limited to a 90 second window. Science will not allow a longer travel. Rules cannot be broken, or can they? Philip Fracassi creates something original by balancing both the feasibility of technology with a thoughtful, character driven story. The human side of this story wins of course, meaning it's what I enjoyed most, and I believe it's where the author shines. In the past books of his I've read the same can be said – emotion and connection are the strengths of the plot.

The antagonist position didn't work as well, possibly by coming on too strong. And although I felt the main character's (Beth) losses as true pain, I wanted to know certain characters with more depth. Other readers may not say the same, so read the book. This is the fourth Fracassi book I've read. Horror, Sci-fi, and a mix of straight up fiction. The dude kinda writes it all.

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up)) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rule One: Travel can only occur to a point within your lifetime.
Rule Two: You can only travel for ninety seconds.
Rule Three: You can only observe.
The rules cannot be broken.

The Third Rule of Time Travel follows Beth Darlow, a scientist, who along with her husband, Colson, developed a machine that would allow a user's consciousness to travel back through time to relive random moments in their lives.

It's a stunning scientific breakthrough, yet it does have some limitations, and potential hazards. It also may not be quite as dialed in as they originally think.



After Colson is tragically killed, Beth is left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and to continue their work alone. She's aware of the machine's kinks, and she wants to be sure they get them worked out safely.

She's poured her heart and soul into this project, and handles it with great care. When she starts getting pushed by the big boss though, Beth needs to take some risks in order to please the powers that be. She's not fully comfortable with the things they're asking of her, but she feels she has to proceed nonetheless.

That's when Beth begins to notice unsettling shifts in her reality. Perhaps they didn't have the full understanding on this technology like they thought they did?



This is such an interesting concept, unsurprisingly, executed so well, with great writing from Fracassi. I actually wish it would have been longer so all the topics could have been expanded upon even further.

This is only the 2nd-novel I've read from Fracassi, the 1st being Boys in the Valley, which was my favorite book of 2023. I was so surprised how wildly-different these two books are, but what they share is Fracassi's smooth, accessible writing style.

I think it is so impressive when an author can jump around amongst different genres, and still deliver in such a believable way. I gotta give him props for that.



But, yeah, this had such a fun set-up. It was compelling from the start, easily drawing me into Beth's world and current circumstances with her work.

I enjoy following characters who are scientists, so this one definitely scratched that itch. I like how much mystery there was surrounding what had happened to Beth's husband, as well as the shady feel of the company she works for.

After Beth starts to push the tech and notice glitches, I like how she questioned all of their research and prior beliefs. She didn't double-down on anything, she wasn't arrogant in her stance. She was a woman seeking the truth, and I found that very compelling.



Towards the end it did get crazy. I mean the concepts we're dealing with, they're not easy to conceptualize always, and I did have fun trying to track everything happening to Beth.

It did give it a bit of a fever-dream feel, but not in an overwhelming way, so I was fine with that. I actually feel like this is one of those books where I could possibly enjoy it even more upon reread.

I would recommend this to any Sci-Fi fans, particularly if you enjoy stories that play with time and what we understand about temporal space.



Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a very enjoyable read!

[Dead Inside · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I am just not in your world anymore..or..I don’t know, your version of it. So you’re talking about dimensions? He thinks about this. Yes and no. Like I said it’s impossible to put it into a scientific construct you’d understand, that any human mind could even remotely comprehend.”

[Montes Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primera novela que leo de Fracassi y me ha encantado. Siempre que hay viajes en el tiempo en la historia ahí tengo que estar yo para leerla. Y en esta ocasión ha sido un éxito, la he disfrutado como una enana.

Dice la sinopsis: “La científica Beth Darlow ha construido una máquina que permite a la conciencia humana viajar atrás en el tiempo y revivir un momento del pasado del sujeto. Si bien se trata de un logro impresionante, la invención no es perfecta, pues no permite al viajante escoger el momento de destino ni alterar el pasado: este solo puede observar. Tras la muerte de Colson, su marido y coinventor de la máquina, Beth cuida de su hija y trabaja incansablemente en el proyecto que ambos idearon. Mientras lidia con la pérdida y con las amenazas de su jefe y mecenas, un magnate de la industria tecnológica, Beth se exprime al máximo para perfeccionar su descubrimiento, que todo indica que revolucionará el mundo. Pero durante sus largas horas en el laboratorio, Beth repara en algo que creía imposible: sus viajes están alterando la línea temporal. Al principio se trata de cambios menores, pero pronto estos comenzarán a adquirir dimensiones terroríficas. Cuando su presente empiece a quebrarse, Beth se verá inmersa en una carrera contrarreloj para reparar las grietas que ha ocasionado en el tiempo.”

La historia te engancha prácticamente desde la primera página. Enseguida puedes ver que tras las visitas al pasado de la protagonista hay pequeños detalles que empiezan a descuadrar y que el tipo de viaje en el tiempo que Beth y su marido han descubierto puede en realidad ser algo más, que las reglas que en principio creían inamovibles quizá no lo sean tanto. El autor nos lleva de la mano a un ritmo frenético hasta un desenlace bastante correcto. Muy recomendable.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few weekends ago, I discovered the first season of Halo was on Netflix and virtually binged it. It was better than I expected—for my expectations were low—and exactly what I craved: something visually stimulating, with a clear story, yet ultimately not all that … meaningful, I guess? “Mid” is probably the right term all the kids are using these days. Anyway, The Third Rule of Time Travel is just like that. Like the Halo series, its production values are too high to be called “pulp”—this is a book that takes itself seriously both as science fiction and literature—yet its execution is decidedly mid. That’s no shade to Philip Fracassi, who has clearly taken the time (pun intended) to craft a fun little time travel story. I received an eARC from NetGalley and Orbit in return for a review.

Beth Darlow is a physicist carrying on the project she began with her late husband, Colson: a time machine. So far, the machine can send a traveller mentally into their own past for ninety seconds. Still grieving and under pressure to deliver something marketable, Beth subjects herself to the stress of reliving some of her worst moments in her life. Then, things start going wrong.

We love to see a woman in STEM as the protagonist! The Third Rule of Time Travel also reminds me of Boss Level on Netflix, a time-loop movie. Both have about the same level of character depth, especially when it comes to their villains. Both have the protagonist somewhat motivated by the death of their significant other, who is a physicist working on a time machine of sorts. Yet Boss Level unapologetically embraces trite action-hero tropes with a fridged damsel and a buff, macho male protagonist. In contrast, Fracassi here has killed off the husband, and Beth is every bit the physicist and hero this book needs.

Now, Beth is a little spiky and seems to have traits of a male author trying to write his breast. Lots of emphasis on Beth’s maternal drive, her Power of Love for Isabel overcoming some of the worst shenanigans of the book. Similarly, constant allusion to how Beth is isolated at work, the only woman in STEM there apparently, and she has to keep her temper under control lest she be seen as a hotheaded and irrational lady scientist by all the men! It’s not subtle at all and feels very much like a man trying to telegraph, far too loudly, “Look, women readers, I too have empathy for your struggle against patriarchy.” Thanks, I guess?

I assure you, however: I mock out of love. The Third Rule of Time Travel has a lot to recommend it. Although I won’t go so far as to describe any of its time-travel mechanics as original or particularly mind-bendy, Fracassi overall makes use of some interesting ideas. The debriefing mechanic in particular is one that, once explained in the story, initially sounds really impossible but is actually based on fairly simple ideas about light cones and worldlines. I don’t know, I’ve read quite a few literary time-travel novels that are apathetic to how their time travel actually works, so it’s nice to see one that at least pretends to care.

Other than that, this book follows much the same arc as most of those novels: main character can travel through time; main character discovers time travel kind of sucks and is really dangerous; main character deals with fallout of time travel, usually by seeking to undo damage; main character discovers the real family is the family she had at home all along. If you’ve read The Time Traveler’s Wife or Oona Out of Order or watched About Time or any such movies with pretensions to Big Ideas But Make It Timey-Wimey, then you get the vibe.

However, Fracassi also can’t resist shoehorning in a thriller subplot with delightfully cartoonish characters. I kept laughing every time the evil boss shows up because he’s so transparently inconsistent and exists solely to make Beth’s life worse. The climax of the novel feels very forced and awkward as the story contorts itself from psychological thriller into action thriller, almost s if its own timeline is being rewritten.

This culminates in a classic kind of resolution for this type of science-fiction-by-association: the What the Bleep Do We Know?–style syncretic speculation that it’s all connected, man, and if we could slip the bonds of our linear temporal existence we would, like, see the time knife. The moment between Beth and Colson is meant to be incredibly emotional, a fulfillment of hundreds of pages leading up to it … and yet.

So here’s the bottom line: this book is fine. I came to it off of DNFing a different book that was dull. So yes, I’m critical of The Third Rule of Time Travel’s overall quality as a story. Yet I’ll happily share that I devoured this book in a single day over about two sittings. Like that first season of Halo, this book is flashy and easy on the eyes and aspires to be more than it is. That doesn’t mean it succeeds. But it’s fun to watch it try.

Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.

[John Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philip Fracassi’s The Third Rule of Time Travel isn’t your typical time travel story. It doesn’t get bogged down in the mechanics of quantum physics or paradoxes. Instead, it leans into something much more unsettling: the emotional weight of revisiting the past and the creeping horror of realizing you might not be as powerless as you thought.

Beth Darlow’s invention—a machine that allows people to relive moments from their own lifetime—was never supposed to change anything. She and her husband, Colson, designed it, but it came with strict rules: you can only go back within your own lifespan, you can only stay for ninety seconds, and you can only observe. No interacting. No influencing. No do-overs. But after Colson’s sudden death, Beth becomes consumed by her grief, using the machine not just as a scientific breakthrough, but as a lifeline to the past. Then, things start shifting. Subtly at first. But soon, her present is unraveling in ways she can’t explain—and the past might not be as fixed as she once believed.

Fracassi masterfully blends science fiction with a hint of both thriller and horror. The rules of time travel create a fascinating constraint, but it’s their gradual unraveling that fuels the book’s tension. There’s something deeply eerie about memory being the conduit for time travel—especially when trauma is involved. The novel taps into the universal human experience of looking back on pivotal moments, wondering what might have been different. But here, Beth isn’t just wondering—she’s watching. And watching isn’t as harmless as she once thought.

Beth is a compelling character: brilliant, grieving, and increasingly desperate as she realizes the machine isn’t working the way it’s supposed to. The real horror isn’t just in the shifting timeline; it’s in the psychological toll of Beth’s obsession and the chilling realization that she might not be just looking back.

Fracassi’s prose is brilliant and deliberate, slowly ratcheting up the suspense. The novel’s slow-burn pacing allows tension to simmer before delivering a gut-punch of a climax. While there are thriller elements, the novel is more about emotional stakes than high-speed chases or explosive action. It’s about grief, regret, and the terrifying possibility of inadvertently changing what lies in the past.

Would you relive a moment from your past if it meant risking everything in your present? The Third Rule of Time Travel dares to ask—and the answers are more terrifying than you think.
Fans of psychological sci-fi and horror, this book is both thought-provoking and unsettling. It’s a read that lingers, not just because of its clever premise, but because of the raw emotion woven into its pages.

Thank you to Orbit Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this book for review.

[thevampireslibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

GIVE
IT
TO
ME
RACHEL
PLEASEEEE

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What time is it? What is certain—the now, what has happened before, or what is going to happen? Traveling through time has consequences. Your present is not the same; people you know and love have disappeared, and your past may or may not have been changed by you. Time is not what we think it is and has confusing rules you must follow—3 big ones—but who the hell knows when everything is up to the hands of fate and when you mess with the program, bad things happen.

Right, I liked this! This is the type of writer I can dig into, reading all day or, more likely, all night long. Horror, suspense, science fiction… his style of writing keeps the ball rolling at a steady pace, and his internal dialog pulls you into the characters. Very well done. Recommended, this is the second book I’ve read of his, and I’m looking forward to more.

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an “ok” scifi read, but honestly a bit mediocre; I was expecting an astounding story from an author of such high calibre.

I get that the time travel trope has been done before, so new material might be hard to create, but this wasn’t overly exciting, thrilling, or horrifying. The ending was subpar. I can’t say I cared about any of the characters.

The writing was good, the content was blah.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

one dimensional unlikeable characters. terrible pacing, ridiculous premise and even stupider explanations given for the science behind it. you can 100% skip this one.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update 3/18/25: Reposting my review to celebrate that today is publication day!

This time she gets the look she expected. Lucy goggles at her. “No way.”

Beth nods. “Yes way. Been working on it for a decade. Got a big lab, a giant machine, the whole nine frickin’ yards. Obviously, there are limitations, and it’s not what you think, or what you’ve read in books or seen in movies. But still, it’s pretty damn cool.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for sending me an ARC of The Third Rule of Time Travel in exchange for an honest review.

Beth Darlow and her husband Colson built an actual time machine, one that allows the traveller to travel anywhere within their own lifetime, to only observe, for up to 90 seconds. But Colson died in a tragic car accident almost a year ago, leaving Beth not only to raise their 4-year-old daughter, but also to try to protect their invention and solve how the machine determines the arrival point in the past she travels to. It’s a delicate balance, and it’s not clear she’s succeeding, but when Beth begins to believe that—impossibly—her travels to her past are changing her present, everything in her life threatens to unravel ….

The Third Rule of Time Travel does a good job of slowly ratcheting up the tension in Beth’s life so that it’s not clear what is real and what she may be imagining. As it built towards its climax, it was pretty clear how the story was going to end, though her final trip in the machine was a good bit … weirder than I expected based on the rest of the book. A solid, though not spectacular, time travel story. Recommended. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[Strega Di Gatti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, breezy, Philip Fracassi? It's true! I hope this marketable thriller does for his pocketbook what "The Chain" did for Adrian McKinty.

In "The Third Rule of Time Travel", Beth Darlow invents a device that sends your consciousness (not your body) back to observe an event you experienced in your own history. Seems safe enough, right? The scientists willing to do this have certainly not read "The Jaunt".

Furthermore, Beth and her team believe that a 90-second laser-guided mind-zoom through a wormhole can't harm the universe. To quote Jurassic Park, "life finds a way".

Plenty of comps pop-up for this book because time travel is such a well-mined subject and so often the plot revolves around the desire to "correct" the death of a loved one. Beth's desperation to be reunited with lost family members will make folks think of Blake Crouch's "Dark Matter" and other similar 'human-uses-tech-to-solve-the-problem-they-actually-created-with-tech' stories. I guess Deadpool put a nail in the "What if we kill baby Hitler?" stories of the Cold War years and we've all moved on to more personal dramas in our time-travel...

The physics in this novel are especially interesting. I liked the idea that a message sent to the moon (or a satellite) before time-travelling could then be retrieved and read by people in an altered timeline to compare against their understanding of reality.

In all, don't expect the emotional pull of "Boys in the Valley", those characters have stuck with me. This book had me turning the page not for Beth, but to see what happens next.

[Ghoul Von Horror · Rating 1 out of 5]

TW/CW: Death of spouse, grieving, language, drinking, mourning, depression, anxiety

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Scientist Beth Darlow has discovered the unimaginable. She's built a machine that allows human consciousness to travel through time—to any point in the traveler's lifetime—and relive moments of their life. An impossible breakthrough, but it's not perfect: the traveler has no way to interact with the past. They can only observe.After Beth's husband, Colson, the co-creator of the machine, dies in a tragic car accident, Beth is left to raise Isabella—their only daughter—and continue the work they started. Mired in grief and threatened by her ruthless CEO, Beth pushes herself to the limit to prove the value of her technology.Then the impossible happens. Simply viewing personal history should not alter the present, but with each new observation she makes, her own timeline begins to warp.As her reality constantly shifts, Beth must solve the puzzles of her past, even if it means forsaking her future.
Release Date: March 18th, 2025
Genre: Sci-fi
Pages: 325
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Science fiction stuff (when it happened)
2. Plot sounded interesting

What I Didn't Like:
1. Typical female character just can't eat because she's soooo stressed
2. Boring characters and storyline

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Beth doesn't have time to eat after running for 10 miles and says she'll eat at work, but is this going to be one of those books where the woman never eats. It drives me up the wall when they make women not eat in books but this never happens for the the men in books. Don't worry she got coffee.

Who brings such an important mug to work and leaves it in the break room? It was the one she got with her dead family on their last vacation. Sadly, it breaks. Surprise.

Beth did indeed skip lunch and breakfast. Why does this have to be hit over heads that women don't eat?

Oh is Beth's husband dead? I haven't noticed oh wait it's only mentioned one like every chapter. Does Beth have any other personality than her husband being dead?

Trusting the therapist that she sees through work is wild to me. Like does she really think he isn't sharing info with her employer. 100% that man was hired to get the workers inner thoughts plus making it mandatory is even odder. I would have gotten my own therapist outside of work.

The reporter is asked a question by Beth - if she believes in God to which the reporter pushed the question away and replies she'll answer it later. I'm sure she won't and this will come back to us. Even better is Darla still didn't answer but turns it around and asks Beth why she asked her. Odd.

Isabella mentions seeing her dad at night so I wonder if his brain is stuck in a this time traveling. Beth mentions that they use their brains to travel and not body so is the company keeping his brain alive to study.

Her mug broke but now she's drinking out of it with the therapist. These people are messing with her.

I am quiting this book. I am bored and Beth is boring.

Final Thoughts:
This is one of those books that says it's about time travel but it lays in the background never really going into it, but tiptoes by it. It's never about the time travel but about Beth's lost husband and grief. The time travel is just a supporting role. I expected it be more forward as the story carried on and walked it with the story of Beth.

I had to dnf this book halfway through because it wasn't very interesting. I'm 50% through and I found myself so bored that I could not imagine it could even get better from here. Beth wasn't a good enough character to keep me invested in her story and the mystery behind what's happening. All she did was complain about her work and then it's beaten over our heads how much she misses her husband, which I get but as a reader I need more to a character than just she is grieving the death of her husband.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit books for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

So here I just finished Dissolution and my next pick is another time travel thriller! Where Dissolution gave me The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August feels, The Third Rule of Time Travel is more Dark Matter. I do love the storytelling heft of Claire North, but Blake Crouch is good for pacy entertainment.

This is an entertaining book that will keep you turning the pages. It doesn’t provide a lot of meaningful character development but there’s enough to hang the story on and keep you interested. If you like time travel stories and seeing the lab rats push back on their corporate overlords then you will enjoy it.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading BOYS IN THE VALLEY and not fully clicking with it, I knew my instincts were right - I LOVE this author’s writing style, the topic of that novel just wasn’t something that particularly interested me. But time travel? Sign me up!

This was an incredibly engaging sci-fi story with a focus on your main character’s experience vs an overwhelming science-based story, so don’t be too intimated by the time travel/multi-universe of it all.

While at times I felt the pacing to be a bit slow, I was very connected to Beth as a main character and rooting for her through her struggles and grief. As her timeline begins to warp, the story takes on a slight horror-like quality as well that I appreciated. The ending has some interesting reveals and an emotional resolution that even made me tear up a bit. I will definitely be exploring more from this author!

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nitty-gritty: An intriguing mystery that focuses on the emotional relationships between the characters, The Third Rule of Time Travel is a different take on the time travel trope.

Philip Fracassi, who is known for writing horror, turns to science fiction in his latest, a twisty, thought provoking time travel story. Time travel is a tricky subgenre to tackle, so I was a little wary going into this story, but I loved the author’s take on it, especially the strong emotional elements.

Beth Darlow is a physicist who, along with her late husband Colson, invented a time travel machine that allows a “traveler” to revisit a moment in their past, but only for ninety seconds at a time. Through use of a powerful laser, the subject’s consciousness is transported through a wormhole, while the physical body remains in the machine. Several years before, Beth and Colson decided to sell their technology to a tech company called Langan Corporation, which gave them the opportunity to continue their work with salaries and benefits, not to mention that Langan would supply the funds needed for such an expensive endeavor.

But Beth’s life changed forever when Colson was killed in a car accident, leaving her to continue their work alone. Now, on the anniversary of his death, Beth is told by the company’s owner Jim Langan that funding for the project is running out. Jim insists on bringing a journalist in to write an article about the machine, hoping to attract investors.

Beth agrees to demonstrate how she travels with the journalist present, but when she returns from her trip, everything begins to unravel. She thinks she sees Colson in the park—impossible since he’s dead—and of course, no one believes her. Past memories are haunting her, but she can’t make sense of them. Beth needs to find out the truth about what happened to her before she cracks—and before Jim decides he doesn’t need her anymore.

Fracassi builds his time travel theory around memories, especially emotional ones, and every time Beth travels, the machine takes her back to a traumatic moment in her past—and she’s had a lot of them. One of the “rules” of time travel is that the arrival points are random and the traveler doesn’t get to pick where they go. I loved this idea because it gives the story a sense of uncertainty. Maybe you want to go back and experience meeting your husband for the first time, but instead the machine takes you to the day your father died, for example. One of the things that Beth and her assistant Tariq are trying to figure out is how to control the machine, otherwise it won’t have any value for commercial use.

This idea of memory makes the story very emotional, especially for Beth, who is the one doing the traveling. Fracassi knows how to tug at the reader’s heartstrings as poor Beth is forced to relive several very painful memories from her past. Beth’s four year old daughter Isabella is also central to the story, and there’s a interesting twist involving Isabella that makes the emotions run even higher.

Fracassi also includes some thriller elements, as Beth is pitted against Langan Corp and finds herself in danger. But don’t expect “thriller” on the level of Blake Crouch, for example, as the focus is mostly on Beth’s journey to find the truth.

The author does a great job of dropping hints about what’s happening to Beth, and you have to read carefully to catch them. Eventually he touches on things like alternate realities and dimensions, giving the reader lots to think about.

There were a couple of things that didn’t work for me, though. First, I didn’t believe for a second that Beth was a brilliant scientist who invented a time travel machine. The author doesn’t go very deep into the ins and outs of how the machine works or what sort of professional experience Beth and Colson have, and adding more technical talk about the machine and the process of traveling would have helped in that respect. Beth is an emotional wreck for most of the story, which doesn’t really say “brilliant scientist” to me, and she also gets angry quite easily, yelling at her boss and coworkers when she doesn’t agree with them.

The science was on the light side as well, and I would have liked more depth in that area to make the time travel more believable. Beth and her assistant Tariq are constantly “analyzing data” from her trips through time, but they never really do anything else. I also found it odd that such a big, important project wouldn’t have more people working on it. As far as I could tell it was just Beth and Tariq—Beth doing the traveling and Tariq monitoring her while she was hooked up to the machine. It just didn’t make sense to me.

I loved the ending, though, which wraps up Beth’s emotional journey in a very satisfying way. I had plenty of theories as I was reading about how the story would end, and I sort of got the the ending I hoped for, but somehow it was even better than I imagined. Even if you balk at time travel stories, Fracassi fans will not want to miss The Third Rule of Time Travel, and new readers should try this if you love emotional, character driven sci-fi mysteries.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

[Nina The Wandering Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

“...humans are made up of memories. It’s the constitution of who we are. Our minds hold the reflections of a billion lives, infinite parallel worlds…but only fate can decide which of those we are allowed to see and touch.”

This gripping sci-fi thriller had me locked in!!!

Husband and wife scientist duo Beth and Colson Darlow create a time machine that allows the traveler (or rather their mind) to briefly go back in time. However, unlike your stereotypical time machine, there are 3 rules travelers must follow:

(1) Travelers cannot travel outside of their own memories or timeline. No catapulting into the future, no free-falling backwards into the French Revolution. (2) Travel only lasts for 90 seconds, and (3) the traveler can only be an observer.

These rules end up being a cocktail for trouble when Beth’s husband dies suddenly in a terrible accident. She’s left alone to raise their young daughter while continuing the daunting research required to perfect the operation of time travel for her employer–Langan Corp. Being the only human trial subject allowed to test the machine, Beth starts to worry the effects of time travel are tearing her mind apart—she’s experiencing troubling hallucinations--and therefore doubts it's safety for public use. To make matters worse, the time machine only takes her to the most traumatic events in her past. What’s going on???

At this point, I don’t think I can ever pass up a book from author Philip Fracassi, and after absolutely loving his last book—Boys in the Valley—I knew I was in for a nail-biting ride. While this book ventures away from Fracassi’s usual horror genre, there are suspenseful elements of anxiety and unease that will have the reader fully absorbed!! You won’t want to put this book down, y’all!!!

(Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Orbit Books for this early digital review copy!)

[Matt M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those of you who know me know how much I love Fracassi’s books. He is primarily known for his horror books, which feature strong characters, great pacing, and very memorable horror scenes. When I heard he wrote a science fiction novel, I was very excited to see what he would do!

This novel is both exactly what I expected from a Fracassi sci-fi novel and also so much more. The main character, Beth, is a scientist grieving her husband (and partner)‘s untimely death, as she is developing technology that allows a person to “time travel” back to a point during their lifetime, with the caveats that they can only observe and it’s only for 90 seconds.

This book is thrilling, has some really excellent thoughts on what it is to be human, memory, and the important things we have in our life. And also some really mind blowing discussions on physics and existence and so much more. Beyond the thrilling conceit and the science is the heart of this book - the characters, especially Beth, our protagonist. She has a great character arc in this and she feels like a real, flawed human (which many sci-fi authors either struggle with or leave out - many scientist characters are flawless caricatures but Beth is not).

This is an absolute recommend from me!

Thank you to Orbit for sending me an ARC and the author for an eARC on NetGalley.

[Karen’s Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welp, I finished this within a weekend so I was definitely very intrigued.

In The Third Rule of Time Travel, Beth has invented time travel. Well, sort of. The traveler can only send their conscienceness back to their own timelines and revisit 90 seconds of their past through their own eyes.

Yes, there was science. And yes, I didn’t understand most of it. It didn’t matter though as there was more than enough story to keep me invested. I mean it’s time travel. Who can understand ANY of that science?

This definitely felt a bit like a Michael Crichton or a Blake Crouch story and I love both of those authors so I definitely recommend this book if you like that type of sci-fi.

*Thanks so much to partner Orbit Books and NetGalley for the gifted eARC!*

[Lezlie The Nerdy Narrative · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you prefer watching videos, I've posted a full, spoiler-free discussion about my experience with THE THIRD RULE OF TIME TRAVEL on my BookTube Channel!

Philip Fracassi soared his way up the ranks of favorite horror authors after I read both BOYS IN THE VALLEY and A CHILD ALONE WITH STRANGERS. As soon as I saw his newest title land on NetGalley and available to request, I had to get in on it, even though this one is labeled as a sci fi thriller instead of the horror I was accustomed to from this author.

After having read this one, I'd say it was on the softer side of sci fi, meaning it doesn't get too lost in the weeds of the scientific explanations, instead keeping it where the average joe(like me) can keep up. I felt the primary focus was the thriller aspect and once it got rolling, I was strapped in, no choice but to see where it was going to take me.

What I loved most about this book is its unique approach to time travel. If your mind immediately turns to shows/movies such as Doctor Who, Back to the Future or 11/22/63 - you're on the wrong track. In this gem, the time machine is the person. There is a machine involved, of course, but it's simply the doorway, the conduit. As you learn from the opening pages, there are three rules regarding this method of time travel:

1) Travel can only occur at (random)destination points during the previous lifetime of the traveler.
2) The traveler can only maintain contact for 90 seconds.
3) The traveler may only observe, as they have no ability to interact with the world they've traveled to.

You might be thinking that sounds a bit underwhelming. You physically go no where. Your mind is all that is able to travel....for a paltry 90 seconds into your own stinking lifetime AND you don't even get to choose which memory you go to!

Friends, this is where Fracassi put all the thrills, chills and intrigue.

For those of you with overactive imaginations, like me, then your mind might already be racing with all of the ways this could be terrifying. The couple have been unable to determine how the arrival points are determined. The method used for this time travel - what could be long term effects? And if there is anything effected, how would they know? What if something occurs and a traveler's mind is somehow untethered and lost? What if there's a power glitch? (Important note here: some of these questions were those running through my mind while reading, not actual events you would find fleshed out in the book)

So to be fair and give a reason why some readers may not like this book...it took a pretty sizable chunk before it went from good to great. I had full trust in the author from having read previous books by him, so I was going to hang in to the end no matter what. Readers who enjoy the harder side of science fiction may not appreciate the lack of in depth explanations of how this method of travel works. (Though to be fair, I think this was a great choice from the author - it added to the horror and intrigue that there were so many unknowns involved in this endeavor.)

I like when authors dip into other genres and add to their wheelhouse - it keeps things fun and fresh, especially for a reader like me who reads in a variety of genres. I'm chalking up another enjoyable win under Frascassi's name in my book - now to look forward to his next release!

I accepted a copy of the ARC from the publisher, Orbit Books, in exchange for consideration of a review. All opinions discussed are my own and are subjective to myself as a reader.

Special thanks to my wonderful Patrons for their support towards my enthusiasm for reading and reviewing: Ev, Sharon, Andrew, Star, Kate, Gail, Tara, John, Ann, Chad K., Wilbur & Heidi.

[Antonio TL · Rating 5 out of 5]

La científica Beth Darlow ha descubierto lo inimaginable. Ha construido una máquina que permite a la consciencia humana viajar a través del tiempo —a cualquier punto de la vida del viajero— y revivir momentos de su vida. Un descubrimiento imposible, pero no perfecto: el viajero no tiene forma de interactuar con el pasado. Solo puede observar.

Tras la muerte de Colson, el esposo de Beth y cocreador de la máquina, en un trágico accidente automovilístico, Beth se ve obligada a criar a Isabella, su única hija, y a continuar el trabajo que iniciaron. Sumida en el dolor y amenazada por su despiadado director ejecutivo, Beth se esfuerza al máximo para demostrar el valor de su tecnología.

Entonces ocurre lo imposible. El simple hecho de ver su historia personal no debería alterar el presente, pero con cada nueva observación, su propia línea temporal empieza a distorsionarse.

A medida que su realidad cambia constantemente, Beth debe resolver los enigmas de su pasado, incluso si eso significa renunciar a su futuro.

Siempre he disfrutado de una novela de viajes en el tiempo bien elaborada, con gran impacto y ciencia compleja. Si bien esta no ofrece ninguna de las dos cosas, no impide que sea una lectura entretenida

La historia sigue a Beth Darlow, la mujer que, junto con su difunto esposo, desveló el secreto del viaje en el tiempo. Su Gran Máquina tiene la capacidad de transportar al viajero a cualquier punto de su pasado y retenerlo allí durante 90 segundos.

En la primera página, vemos dónde termina: el día en que sus padres y su hermana murieron en un accidente de helicóptero. Claramente, no hay recuerdos felices.

Al comienzo de la historia, nos enteramos del trabajo de Beth en un poderoso conglomerado tecnológico que financia la investigación. Gracias a un ingenioso recurso literario —Beth es entrevistada por un periodista para un artículo de revista—, recibimos una explicación simplificada de la ciencia (que me pareció un poco superficial, pero no soy físico cuántico, así que ¿qué sé yo?) que impulsa la tecnología. Esto nos basta para tener una base sólida de cómo funciona esta forma de viaje en el tiempo y qué hay en juego.

Con esto establecido, nos adentramos más en el misterio y el suspense. La misteriosa aparición de su difunto esposo, solo para que desapareciera de nuevo. Sueños extraños que parecen demasiado reales. Las crípticas declaraciones de su hija. Cada nueva incorporación aumenta la emoción hasta que sabemos que algo extraño está sucediendo, y ahora solo tenemos que seguir leyendo para descubrirlo.

Entre el constante aumento de la tensión y los capítulos cortos y ágiles, este libro resultó ser increíblemente fácil de leer. No tuve ningún problema en leer "solo uno más" porque quería ver adónde iba todo y obtener cada vez más respuestas.

Los verdaderos riesgos emocionales alcanzan su punto máximo alrededor del 75%, y desde ese punto, ya estaba con ganas de ver cómo Beth iba a arreglar todo.

Vi venir el final desde muy lejos, pero eso no lo hizo menos satisfactorio emocionalmente cuando todo quedó perfectamente resuelto.

Aunque no es el libro de ciencia ficción sobre viajes en el tiempo más épico ni complejo que he leído, lo disfruté tanto que lo recomiendo con gusto a cualquiera que busque una lectura que valga la pena sobre viajes en el tiempo Es una historia sólida que no tendrás problema en leer, te lo garantizo

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time travel is always a tricky concept to get right and this new book by Philip Fracassi does a great job of bringing his readers a new idea of looking at this theory.

In The Third Rule of Time Travel, Dr. Beth Darlow is trying to develop a time machine that allows a person to time travel.
Beth and her last husband Colson had figured out a way to travel through time with the mind.

There are three rules though.

✔️ First, you can only travel within your timeline. So, you can’t travel back to check out dinosaurs or go kill Hitler.

✔️ Second, you have no idea where time travel will take you in your life when you’re strapped in.

✔️ Third, you only have ninety seconds of travel.

I thought Fracassi does a great job of setting the tension and unease as Beth keeps traveling back to moments in her life. What starts with an interesting and scientific endeavor of time travel ends up becoming more sinister and complex.

The reader is also holding on to sanity while Beth keeps traveling to moments in her life and things start to unravel. What is real and what’s another dimension of her life?!

I think I would have rated this higher if there was more time travel and less science, and I love science!
I know we need science to understand time travel (duh!), but it became too technical at times and kind of went over my head. I still enjoyed having my mind explode when things started going sideways when she comes back to the present time.

I loved the action in this and the buildup at the end. I also loved hating Beth’s boss, Jim Langan. What a creep! Most billionaires who are only invested in money are, though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you’re a fan of Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch or H. G. Wells, I think you’ll love this new sci-fi book by Fracassi!!

[BiblioPeeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you @orbitbooks_us & @pfracassi for the free copy. All thoughts are mine.
____

“The mind was the most complex machine in the known universe, and when it came to making choices, the mind had plenty to say.”

"Beth shrugs. 'I'm suggesting the universe may not like us pushing it around. Flouting its rules. Maybe it's, you know...pushing back.' "

I’m not gonna lie, I’ll always be biased about books involving time travel of any sort. In this case, the idea that merely OBSERVING a moment in one’s past could alter their present, is fascinating to me.

Equally plot driven as well as character focused, I thoroughly enjoyed this mind bending tale. The discussions of quantum mechanics, wormholes, and the observer effect were excellent, but not at all overwhelming. There was a touch of the metaphysical, though I would’ve preferred staying with hard science that melds into science fiction. It’s certainly fun to think about all of the above and what potential consequences could arise from interfering with time and space!

When Beth travels in time, she’s forced to face traumatic moments in her past, the results of which ripple into her present life. As she grapples with trying to ascertain how to control the machine and keep funding for her life’s work, it’s suddenly clear that what’s MOST important may be at risk.

With an ever increasing pace, surprising outcomes, a creepy atmosphere, and several ethical AND moral dilemmas my attention was held rapt. When the stakes increased and Beth raced against a ticking clock in order to fix her timeline, I definitely had a hard time putting this down!

THE THIRD RULE OF TIME TRAVEL is thought provoking, emotional, gripping, and utterly addictive. Definitely reach for this one if you like a cerebral thriller that will leave you pondering the nature of reality!
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Potential spoiler content warnings below.
















































⚠️Content warnings: language, gun violence, Mention of: fatal plane crash, fatal car accident, stillbirth