Customer Reviews

Necessary Heartbreak: Book One of the When Time Forgets Trilogy

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As a novelist, I get frequent requests to read and review other books. Most of these I turn down due to time constraints, but I decided to give "Necessary Heartbreak" a chance after seeing its Jerusalem connection. In fact, with my own Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy, I suspect this is what caused M.J. Sullivan to contact me in the first place.

The book arrived in the mail, and the first thing I noticed was the vibrant cover art and nice layout. In packaging alone, this stands above the other iUniverse books I've seen. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the writing, too, is superior to most books I've read from this format.

M.J. Sullivan draws us quickly into the story of a widower and his teen daughter. They love each other, but have shared and separate griefs that sometimes divide them. These issues are brought to the forefront and also given a chance to heal when the pair find themselves passing through a portal into Jerusalem during the days of Christ. There, they face lecherous and violent soldiers, a kind single woman, and even Judas on the night he betrays Jesus.

It sounds farfetched, yet Sullivan manages to provide detail and heart that make us want to believe. There is real emotion here, as well as genuine care for the characters. I don't always find that in the fiction I read, and I was impressed by the author's balance between the plot's forward motion and the character development. The dialogue trips up a few times, but works overall, and there's really no explanation for the portal's existence. In this rich setting, it seems there's a lot more to be explored, but a second book is in the works, and I can only assume it will take us back into the heart of the Holy Land.

I applaud M.J. Sullivan for bringing his story to life. He's obviously put forth a lot of effort to present a beautiful book, and I look forward to reading book two.

just read necessary heartbreak and realized how true to life that story is for me. I have known much rejection and heartbreak and disappointments in my life and over the years have discovered how the Lord has been healing me by bringing me through the pain, heartache, illnesses and has sustained me and helped me to forgive and overcome bitternesses and disappointments in my life.

I highly recommend this book!!!

I won't waste your time with a synopsis of the plot - as the other reviewers have done a fine job of summing up Mr. Sullivan's story. However, I will say that after meeting Michael at a book club meeting I was thoroughly impressed with the man as an author, and my esteem for the book rose even further.

The story goes by quickly, as the dialogue keeps the plot moving. Time travel and meeting historical figures can prove problematic for authors, as writers of fiction are not historians and often do not hold the proper respect for historical events. That is not the case with "Necessary Heartbreak." Mr. Sullivan treats the story of the last week of Christ's life with much respect, and it is clear that his own research into the subject taught him to "not go there" by altering the events, as recorded by the gospels. While the characters have important interactions with figures from the past, Mr. Sullivan does not presume to insert them into the narrative in a garish or overly opportunist manner.

The book is definitely worth reading, and I look forward to the next installments.

You MUST read this book! I was so enthralled that I literally read it in one marathon session over the course of an evening. It is a great action/adventure story with a time traveling twist (admittedly, a favorite literary device of mine)... but it is so much more than that! Full of complicated love stories (husband/wife; parent/child, etc.) and questions of faith and belief. I hate to sound trite, but it really did make me laugh and cry at turns... and truly made me think as well. I can't wait for the rest of this trilogy.

An almost entirely different world can have far reaching effects. "Necessary Heartbreak" is the first of Sullivan's trilogy, which opens with quite the proverbial bang. Michael and his daughter Elizabeth find themselves back in the first century after exploring a tunnel too deeply. They soon find biblical times are not the most friendly, dodging Roman soldiers who have plans for them that they don't agree with, and their only friend is a single woman named Leah. A riveting and spiritual tale, "Necessary Heartbreak" will make readers anticipate more to come.

I actually finished this book a month ago, but it got stuck under another book that I hadn't picked up yet. Hence, I'm somewhat late on the review... Necessary Heartbreak: Book One of the When Time Forgets Trilogy by M. J. Sullivan. This was a book I accepted from the author, and I didn't come in with particularly high expectations. But it turned out to be a very good read, both in terms of characters and story, as well as giving the reader a different perspective of Christ's final week in Jerusalem...

Michael Stewart is a single father raising his 13 year old daughter, trying desperately to keep her safe and buffered from all of life's harms. Of course, the harder you hold a teenager, the more they push away. But the father and daughter are thrown together for survival when they find an old tunnel underneath a church where they're volunteering. Exploring the tunnel leads them to a different place and time, that being Jerusalem during the final week of Christ's life. Needless to say, 21st century clothing and style does not blend in with 1st century fashion, and they're immediately on the run from Roman soldiers intent on jailing them (as well as taking Michael's daughter as one of their wives). They are befriended by Leah, a godly young woman who is also a widow. Michael is forced to reexamine his beliefs and faith as history plays out in front of him. He also has to take a number of chances to find the tunnel exit once again, so that he and his daughter can go back to their own place and time.

The characters and dialogue in Necessary Heartbreak were quite solid. I quickly grew to like Michael and identify with his efforts to protect his daughter at all costs. But even more than that, I was intrigued by how the final week of Christ's life would look to someone who had read about it, but now got to see the events in all their horrific detail. Viewpoints like that always make me stop and think, dropping my normal mental motion picture for a new version of the film. I enjoyed this book, and would definitely pick up the follow-ons to this series.

Necessary Heartbreak by M.J. Sullivan is the first book in the When Time Forgets Trilogy. The genre of Christian fiction has been expanding by leaps and bounds. Necessary Heartbreak is a moving novel about a father's love with a twist involving time travel. Michael Stewart is still suffering from a gaping wound in his heart after the death of his wife. He's been raising their daughter, Elizabeth, alone for thirteen years, and the pain of trying to do it all by himself has left him bitter toward God and overprotective of Lizzie. While the two of them are volunteering at a church event, they discover a door in the floor of the church's basement. Lizzie's unrestrainable curiosity brings them down a ladder into a dark tunnel that seems to go on forever. At the end, they stumble blindly into what they think is a Passion play, but they quickly discover is 1st century Jerusalem where a man can be arrested just for questioning a prisoner's beating, and a young girl can be forced to marry a Roman soldier who wants to own her. Michael and Lizzie are taken in by a young widow named Leah who helps them navigate this strange world. Michael's disbelief in God is put to the test by encounters with Jesus himself. The father and daughter have to learn both to let go of and lean on each other in new ways. Sullivan's writing is clunky in a few spots, but Michael is a powerfully sympathetic character. The reason for Michael and Lizzie's travel into the past isn't made clear by the end of the book, but I'm sure that Sullivan will clear that up in the second book. Michael does use some strong language in the book, but it's always in character. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series and learning more about the Stewart family and their mysterious tie to the past.

In this outstanding work by author, M.J. Sullivan, we meet Michael Stewart and his thirteen year-old daughter, Lizzie. Immediately in the story we are shown that there are some deep valleys separating the two caused by past hurts that neither have found peace with. Despite these trenches that life has dug you still sense, know and understand that there is a deep love between the two and a joining of father-daughter that is waiting to be unleashed into a strong unity.

While helping out their church LIzzie and Michael unknowingly find a portal through a door in the floor of their church basement that takes them back to Jerusalem at the time of the Crucifixion of Jesus. At first they believe they have stumbled onto an underground passage way that has taken them to another town that is having a Bible town play. Soon they find out that nothing can be further from the truth as they are thrown into a fight for their lives, battling forces they never imagined, and they are forced to reevaluate what is truly important in their quest to return home. Thankfully a kindly woman, Leah, befriends them and becomes an important part of their lives and their escape from the past.Her own life and trauma's help Michael and Lizzie with their personal emotional and spiritual battles and she becomes a needed bridge of understanding in many areas.

I enjoyed this first book in this, When Time Forgets Trilogy. The author did an outstanding job in character development. To me, the characters were vivid in my mind's eye, and the local descriptions were well done, definitely plunging me into the worlds the characters were dwelling. The story held my interest right from the start, catching me up in the lives of the characters, their emotions, trauma's and their quest to return to their time in history. I also liked the spiritual impute of the book, not overly played, but sprinkled gently, giving just the right touch in the storyline, at the right time, to bring it depth that touched my very soul. Well done. All in all this is one outstanding read that I am proud to recommend.

I really enjoyed this book. Michael Sullivan is a single father of Elizabeth, a 13 year old girl on the cusp of maturity. They discover a trap door in the basement of a church where they are stacking boxes. They go through the door down a dark corridor, where they mysteriously wind up in first century Jerusalem during Holy Week.

The Roman soldiers don't take too kindly to them, and one of them wants to make Elizabeth his own. They must stay in this strange world until it looks safe to try and head back the way they came.

In the meantime, they befriend a sweet Jewish widow named Leah, and who guides them and gently and sacrificially cares for them while they are there. She is a godsend to Michael and Elizabeth, and there is a definite attraction between her and Michael. It is another tension point in the novel.

In addition, Michael is asked several times at different points in the book by people whether or not he is a follower of Christ, and he denies it each time. He realizes he has more in common with Peter and Judas than he wishes were the case.

Michael frequently says "Where the hell am I?" and "Damn it." It underscores the fact that significant portions of Michael's life have been rather hellish: The frightful account of his final conflict with his dad, the way things end for his wife, the loneliness and anger deep inside. He's trapped in the past both literally AND figuratively.

At a key moment in the novel, Michael in his outrage wants to stop the unfair treatment and abuse of Christ He volunteers to carry the cross. Jesus asks him, "Are you here to lift your burden or help me with mine?" and Michael has no answer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and eagerly await the volumes that are slated to follow. I should also say that there are a few issues with the book that will raise questions for some. First, we know from the extant New Testament writings that a man named Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry the cross, and yet he is seemingly replaced in this novel by Michael. This is fine, since this is a novel, but since the rest of the novel stays faithful to the historical setting, some may find this problematic.

Second, it is most unfortunate that Michael does not become more spiritually transformed. His daughter evens suggests "Let's stay for the resurrection so we can see it for ourselves," and Michael says basically "I've seen enough already." This is odd and troubling. Michael is clearly more interested in returning to his familiar 21st century life with his daughter than he is in seeing and experiencing the transformative outcome of the Christ event. Perhaps this is understandable after all he has been through, yet it is still a disappointment.

Thirdly, there are some loose ends that will hopefully be taken care of in the future volumes. There are mysteries that are left unexplained, and the reader could potentially be left longing for more resolution. The book is only 144 pages long, and the disappearance of the trap door doesn't seem to make much sense. Furthermore, the sneak preview of the next book is a big letdown and contrast to the excitement and romantic tension of the first installment.

In spite of these concerns, the book is fantastic, and I highly recommend it.

Michael Stewart has been a single parent for thirteen years. Time is slipping by, his daughter Elizabeth (Lizzie) is growing up fast, and Michael is trapped by a need to compensate for the pain of the past by trying to control the present. Lizzie and Michael stumble on a journey back in time when a door in the floor of an old church in present day America leads them back to Jerusalem in the week before Christ is crucified. Here they meet Leah, who helps them and has some painful past memories of her own with which to contend.

This first book in a proposed trilogy (entitled `When Time Forgets') provides an introduction to the characters and the issues they are facing, as well as insights into differences and similarities between lives separated by almost 20 centuries. Ultimately, this is promises to be a story about faith: in the capacity of others as well as the challenges of belief in a higher authority at a time when the Crucifixion of Christ is imminent in Jerusalem and its consequences known to Michael and Lizzie.

This novel contains enough for me to know that I want to read what follows. The plot, character development and the story itself is poised at a crossroads by the end of this first book. Can Mr Sullivan deliver a memorable trilogy full of realistic hope which is consistent with history? I hope so.

This promises to be an inspiring story for all who have faith in a higher authority and in the capacity of human beings to move beyond the pain of the past into a more hopeful future. I need to read more to judge whether Mr Sullivan achieves this: this is a good story - will it be a great one?

Jennifer Cameron-Smith