1927 was a remarkable year and well worth travelling through time to experience. Science fiction and time travel writer Robert P. Fitton brings us back to a year when Charles A. Lindbergh rumbled down an open stretch on Long Island called Roosevelt Field and wafted across the Atlantic Ocean to land The Spirit of St. Louis in Paris, France thirty-three hours later. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti were executed on August 23rd. In sports, Jack Dempsey fought Gene Tunney in the famous Count” fight at Solder Field in Chicago while in September the immortal Babe Ruth broke his own home record on September 30th. The First talking film, The Jazz Singer followed by others, is heard by audiences in 1927. It is the age of wealth and buying stock on cheap margin. Fitton somehow weaves all the history realistically into a science fiction story that is both tender and tense.

Jamal, a time traveler enlists the help the ambitious and engaged Charlie Russo, an avid New York Yankees fan. She did not plan to fall in love. Her insurmountable problem begins with retrieving the archives of a future attack that destroys her world and the earth of the future. With the archives she can signal a galactic civilization near the star Capella, but bioenergy beings pour through the time continuum with the express purpose of stopping her mission. J. Edgar Hoover’s Bureau agents trail Jamal and Charlie and the beings along a trail leading from Boston to Niagara Falls and back to New York City. The threat of these omnipotent creatures is never too far way.

Somehow, Fitton brings Charlie and Jamal into the historical maelstrom, providing an enjoyable journey in the days where big media came of age. Within the fast placed plot the characters grow and mix together in an easy way. 1920’s was known for ambition, escalating wealth and a growing urban power and Fitton’s characters display these themes. 1927 is the perfect book to grab at the airport book store, read between classes or stuff it in the beach bag this summer. As with Fitton’s other science fiction novels the point is evident and the pages turn easily. It’s a time travel lemon slice squeezed into a potent historical concoction.