Reviews

AMAZON READER REVIEWS

• Convergence
• Roswell 1947 
• Beak of the Turtle
• The Aviary  

GOODREADS COMMUNITY REVIEWS

• Convergence
• Roswell 1947
• Beak of the Turtle
• The Aviary

MEDIA REVIEWS    

CONVERGENCE - A Review by D. Labadie and S.E. Williams

Convergence by Thomas Settimi tells the story of a modern-day hero who finds himself suddenly thrust into an historical context. The hero is a Viet Nam fighter pilot who in 1968, while returning from a bombing mission over Viet Nam, somehow flies through a time-warp (convergence) and is shot down by canon fire as he flew over the 1863 battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

From this point the story really takes off and guides the reader through an exciting series of historical experiences that include time in a civil war prisoner of war camp and marriage to a civil war era bride. The hero eventually re-converges with 2002 Viet Nam and along the way confronts a a new set of experiences as his 1860's bride confronts the strange realities of his contemporary world.

Although the story gets off to a relatively mundane beginning, the pace accelerates, and the narrative remains completely engaging throughout. The story is told with marvelous historical accuracy. The characters are vibrant, and the story is presented with a good measure of supernatural plausibility. It ends with a captivating surprise that will certainly leave readers contented.

Settimi grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, and graduated from the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He was employed for several years as an analyst for the Navy Department and along the way earned a master's degree in physics from the University of California. He later owned and operated a retail photography and astronomy shop called "Sky Scientific" in Skyforest in what is now the Willow Woods Shopping Village, later moving the business to Agua Fria. He is currently Director of Operations for a manufacturing business in Orange County. Thomas and wife, Charlotte, have lived in Crest Park since 1979 and have three adult children, David, Anthony and Lisa. Convergence is his first novel.

Reprinted with permission from The Alpenhorn News, PO Box 4572, Crestline, California 92325 

BRAINFLUFF Review of ‘Convergence’ by S.J. Higbee

If you enjoy alternative histories, then this interesting addition to the genre could well be for you.

Lieutenant Nathaniel Booth couldn’t know how his life was about to change as he and Lincoln Hayes completed their air mission in June 1968 over Laos and headed back to aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. Thirty-five years later, when Professor Roger Atwood and his assistant find Hayes’ flying helmet inside a Confederate footlocker from the American Civil War, they find themselves untangling a mystery spanning a time discontinuity of 105 years – from Vietnam to the Battle of Gettysburg.

This is an engaging read – once you get past the first fifty-something pages. Settimi is an experienced technical writer with an extensive knowledge of military history and hardware. And it shows. There is far too much technical information crammed into those vital, opening pages where the story and characters should be connecting with the reader – rather than frightening her away with the eye-boggling detail that holds up the action. If I hadn’t been reviewing the book, I’m not sure that I would have persevered. And that would have been a shame. Because, once Settimi gets into the swing of the story, the pace picks up and draws the reader in.

That said, this is definitely a plot-driven book. The characters are there to serve the narrative – not the other way around. Whilst I am aware that the current fashion is for character-driven stories, there is a solid readership out there for well-written, interesting plots that whisk you along. And once you get past those first fifty pages, this book certainly delivers a fast-paced story with some intriguing twists that had me guessing right up to the end.

Settimi gives us a vivid picture of life and conditions for a Confederate prisoner of war and the character of Nathaniel Booth is by far the most detailed and heroic protagonist in the book. And his penchant for using a series of details to build his scenes comes into its own as we follow Booth’s attempt to save Abraham Lincoln from assassination in this alternate version of American history.

By the manner in which the book concludes, I’m guessing that Settimi intends to write a sequel. If so, I strongly urge him to find an editor with a thick red pen to assist him in cutting out unnecessary technical detail.