The Day Time Was Hacked [Paperback]

Carel Mackenbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 20, 2009

In the near future, an authoritarian regime discovers a time-travel device invented before the technology existed to make it work. The reconnaissance team from that future kidnaps Max Burkowski, the inventor’s son, and Brother Frank Bootsma from the Vatican Observatory, who says that he has been abducted for a related reason. While they struggle to find a way back home, the story unfolds and reunfolds as things that happened in the past change, and things that happened in the future change back again.

Editorial Reviews

Review

San Francisco Book Review - 5 out of 5 stars
The Day Time was Hacked (also available as Time Hack) has a fresh outlook on what it means to visit the past, and perfectly blends Cold War paranoia with new-age digital terrorism. Mackenbach weaves at least five different narratives masterfully into a well-balanced story.
 
 

About the Author

Born in 1959, Carel Mackenbach earned his master's degrees in history and sociology from the University of Amsterdam. His extensive world travels have included visits to such restricted sites as the Secret Vatican Archives, the Tower of the Winds inside the Vatican, and the Atomic Clock and Headquarters of the United States Naval Observatory. For fifteen years, he has worked as an independent strategy consultant, specializing in information technology, intellectual property, and eGovernment. He lives with his wife Charlotte, and their three children in Amsterdam.

Product Details

• Paperback: 476 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (November 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439227853
• ISBN-13: 978-1439227855
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #745,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in 1959, Carel Mackenbach earned his master's degrees in history and sociology from the VU University of Amsterdam. His extensive world travels have included visits to such restricted sites as the Secret Vatican Archives, the Tower of the Winds inside the Vatican, and the Atomic Clock and Headquarters of the United States Naval Observatory. For fifteen years, he has worked as an independent strategy consultant, specializing in information technology, intellectual property, and eGovernment. He lives with his wife Charlotte and their three children in Amsterdam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just OK for me, October 13, 2010

By 

RCW (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Day Time was Hacked (Kindle Edition)

The title is titilating, the premise ideal for someone like me who loves vatican intrigue stories and science. However, this story left a lot to be desired. The characters were disappointingly one dimensional and the story did not transition well between the timelines. At 50% I wanted to delete the story but I drudged through it to find that it did not improve.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Day Time Was Hacked, January 6, 2010

By 

Donna Van Boom (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Day Time Was Hacked (Paperback)

This is not my genre, but I must say the timely mind-expanding confluence of ideas and wide-eyed story/tale of the future had me turning the pages quickly.

I read the acknowledgments section first and was particularly impressed by the depth of research into the organizations represented in the book: The Secret Archives of the Vatican, the United States Naval Observatory, The US Naval Network Naval Command, for example, are some of those on the list. In reading the authors comments of interviews with specialists in these organizations, it felt like we were getting the latest scoop on cutting edge technology and future projects.

The complexity of the subjects: neuroscience research, medical and time travel, think waves; the Catholic Church-Gallieo connection, and science fiction in that the book happens both in the present and the future, is compellingly interesting and tantalizing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant concepts, horribly executed, September 10, 2011

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M. Mercer (Colorado USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Day Time Was Hacked (Paperback)

I love a good mindboggling time travel story. I also love conspiracies, especially involving religion, and I'm a big fan of Mary Magdelene. So I was all set to love this book. Until I started reading it.

First, it's clear that colloquial US English is not Mr. Mackenbach's native language, as he is from the Netherlands. In many places this shows. Repeatedly he misuses what should be "a couple of XYZ" as "a couple XYZ", even when a highly educated character is speaking. I doubt that the characters would have used the "couple of..." construction at all in these passages, but without the "of" it just screams "Editor!"

Second, the characterizations are horrible. Totally flat. They don't have individual unique voices. A male and female character suddenly kiss because, I don't know why, apparently just because they are a man and woman in the same room.

Third, some details and mysteries are kept secret far too long and far too awkwardly. I spent the first half of the book also yelling "Editor!" because a major character's name kept getting misspelled. Turns out it was for a reason. He never actually explains the reason in the entire book, but half way in finally acknowledges that one particular character pronounces this other character's name in a manner that would be spelled differently. I could go on with other examples of unnecessary late reveals.

Meanwhile the big reveals either never happen, or make absolutely no sense even within the story's own internal logic. Again, I'm a huge time travel story fan and longtime reader of the genre.

Finally, this suffers from the classic First-time-Author syndrome especially bad among new SF writers: One (or more) too many big concepts in this one story. We've got a future totalitarian society. We've got computer hacking. We've got present day Fringe science. We've got post-9/11 Homeland Security paranoia and suppression of civil rights. We've got the Catholic Church in a centuries-old conspiracy. We've got astrology. We've got ancient Hindu Brahmin special abilities. And we've got Mary the Magdalene. At least one of these should go. Poor Mary got short shrift.
I will look for the sequel, because I think Mackenbach has some great ideas in this conceptually-overloaded, characterization-underwhelming first novel. I hope with experience he''ll explore his unique ideas in a more readable manner.