Nexus Point

Time Ranger, Book 1

By: K. Pimpinella

Narrated by: Andrew Wehrlen

Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Late in the 22nd century, teams of Time Rangers travel back in history to capture Time Runners, renegade time travellers who endanger the future by changing the past. Kai Sawyer, son of a rear admiral who was a founding member of the Time Ranger unit, is a Spawn, a genetically enhanced human with powerful strength and abilities. But despite his advantages, he carries the burden of his father’s cold and calculated plans for Kai’s future.

As Kai rises through the ranks to become the Time Rangers’ youngest commander ever, he must constantly prove himself to fend off perceptions, even from his own team, that nepotism is behind his meteoric rise. But when Kai and his team are sent to 17th-century France to capture a sadistic Time Runner altering the arc of medical advances, Kai finds his considerable strengths used against him. And he fears that he might be a pawn in a dark scheme concocted by mysterious forces even he can’t defeat.

©2021 Krista Baillie (P)2023 Krista Baillie

Great story

This is an auspicious start to what looks to be a great series. I cannot wait for book two.

Great Book, not a huge fan of the narrator

I bought the hardcover when it was released and fell in love with it. I've read it 4 or 5 times since and can't wait for the next book in the series.

The only real downer is the narrators performance, I'm not sure if it's because I hear different inflections and intonations in my head when I read or if Andrews reading is just.... off. It's very wooden and stilted, at least to me. I don't feel any emotion coming from him... jokes and light hearted bits in the book just fell flat or weren't funny.

This is NOT a reflection on the author or the book...at all.. JUST on the performance itself. Dont let this review prevent you from buying the book or listening to it here.

Perhaps if this is your introduction to the book you'll really love the performance as you aren't attached to the characters yet. If you DONT like the performance, buy the book and read it for yourself. You will NOT be disappointed, I promise.

Great story!

Enjoyed the story, especially the tie in’s to historical events. A must listen for any alien conspiracy folks. Can’t wait for the next one!

Great Debut Story!

Great story Concept. A Breath of Fresh air in storytelling. I can't wait to see what future stories bring. Kai Sawyer, and His team, will be a team to be reckoned with! Congrats K.

EPIC Debut Novel Time Rangers saving the Past

Nexus Point is the debut novel for K Pimpinella, and is an outstanding character driven story that follows the Kai Sawyer, the main character, from his early years as a trainee at the Time Ranger Academy, and once he starts his role as a Time Ranger out in the field.
Nexus Point is a combination of things, the story has elements of Time Travel, a bit of Hard Sci-Fi around the Nexus Point, as well as some elements of Mil Sci-Fi regarding the structure of the Time Rangers. The story is set in the future, in which several things have happened. First is the arrival of technology from somewhere that allows for people to travel back to the past to see events in history. Initially there was a flood of people going back to see things in the past, and people started to tamper with the timeline, until a major event happened, in which the timeline was irrevocably altered and millions of lives were lost. Since then, time travel has been restricted, and the Time Rangers have been tasked with capturing anyone who is back in the past who shouldn’t be. They travel through a Nexus Point, which provides them a location of an incursion, and a time frame in which to capture a person who shouldn’t be in that time period. However, these Nexus Points only stay open for a few days, and once closed, you cannot return, anyone left, is trapped. The Author has done a really great job of providing the science around the Nexus Point and Time Travel (and this is the Hard Sci-Fi – it is done really well and provides a cool insight into the story – there are elements you get the feeling we don’t fully know yet that will come out in later books to which was really good)
Generally, the person that they are after at an event, is at a significant event in history, (I don’t want to give spoilers), but Pimpinella has done a masterful job of researching each of these events, providing information on the event in question and what happened, how it unfolded, but also how changes might affect the future. Time Rangers have tech that allows them to determine if a person will have an impact on the future in significant ways, if they are a major influence on the future (or if they don’t belong in the past!), and it is fascinating watching them try and do their jobs without interfering with both their current time period, as well as our future. But more importantly, Pimpinella has taken into consideration these time flows, and both researched and written the story accordingly, making for an outstanding story. The world-building is just brilliant (quite literally as Pimpinella creates her own timelines in some instances), with as stated, exceptional research into past events to create these storylines that are fascinating in both a historical sense but also from the story point of view as well – it is masterfully done.
Added to this is some extraordinary character work, Young Kai Sawyer is just brilliant as the Time Ranger who has an absolute horrific Father figure, but somehow, is still not a completely terrible person. He is arrogant, and pig-headed, but is still a decent person. You can’t help but like him, and admire him given what he has to endure at the hands (or mouth) of his father. Sawyer Senior is just an absolute (well, I can’t type that here), he has only one goal, to meet his aims, at any cost, and to make sure that it reflects well on him. He doesn’t care about Kai, just wants to make sure he excels, is ready for his role, and is doing everything right. Kai has an amazing friend in Hawk, so incredibly loyal, they go through the academy together, and find each other later.
It is Commander Beaumont that is one of the real influences on Kai though, and his character is just outstanding. There is such an incredible depth to Beaumont on so many levels. The interactions and relationship between the two is very clever, and really makes this story special. Added to that is the overall relationship between Kai, Beaumont and Sokolov on their team in the early years of Sawyers career.
There are multiple other characters (including some later in Sawyers career), that I won’t mention to avoid spoilers, but they are just brilliant. Pimpinella does such an incredible job with her character writing it takes this story to a whole extra level given how brilliant it already is with the detail of the time travel and the science behind how they travel.
This is a really engaging and captivating story, with brilliant characters and masterful storylines that are not only creative, but have been expertly researched to provide these breathtaking scenarios that leave you in awe.
If you love a great Time-Travel story, one with plenty of action, a bit of science, and mil sci-fi, but mostly just outstanding characters – then you will LOVE this as it is just extraordinary and not to be missed!!
Andrew Wehrlen was a new Narrator for me, but he was brilliant. He has a very clear and concise Narrating voice, easy to understand. He has a great range of character voices, both male and female, and does a fantastic range of individual male and female voices to that you can pick out individual characters.
More than that, Wehrlen is a voice actor, in that he provides the emotional state of the characters, so that you really get to feel what they are going through. He lets you know when they are sad/happy/angry/scared/elated – he does a really great job of conveyed the emotional state of each of his characters. It provides this additional layer to the story.
The Narration was outstanding and it was absolutely worth listening to this as an audiobook – I can’t wait for book 2!!

A new favorite! Highest marks!

The first book in the Time Rangers series. I am anxiously awaiting book two. Time travel SciFi stories can seem to be overdone and often model themselves after HG Wells Time Machine or several TV series since before the 1960s. This author has not only added enough original elements but has created a well developed universe in Earths future. The tech is not over the top and believable. Not all is revealed (yet) regarding the origins of the Nexus Point and boomerang events. While ingenuity and imagination are key elements for a good SciFi novel, the author masterfully shows perfect use of dialog and setting the various scenes. Blending actual historical events into the story was done well and did not drag the pace of the story.
Time Runners are travelers messing with events in the past to change the present or even the future. Time Rangers are trained soldiers sent back to stop the dramatic twisting of the timeline. Can they do that without subtle changes? Will they come back to find how different the present has changed or will they screw up on a mission and not be able to stop a runner. What are the consequences? The interaction between the main character, a genetically altered human and his father, his superior officer is well done. The father has visions and aspirations of fast tracking his son to command. The son wants to forge his own path and earn not only the respect of his peers but promotions in his career. Can the people Sawyer surrounds himself be trusted? Can they trust him? Of course there are more secret agendas that need to be revealed later in the series.
The narration was well done and the voice actor performance gave each character unique and believable ‘voices’ to what is written on the page.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to book two and beyond.

love the arch

Ahh to hear some true war sounding material. I love a good sci-fi book don't get me wrong but sometimes a good f bomb works so much better then making up splick. I can't wait to see what next in this series or this author.

Pimpinella is a Legend

Pimpinella has that special X-factor you long for but often miss with indie authors. Can’t wait for more from her. Enjoy the ride!

Excessive language

this book has way too much bad language to enjoy. it's like the author didn't have any other adjective except for F***. definitely takes away from the story