Undo the Deed [Paperback]

Adam-Michael James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 22, 2002

The year is 1987. Physically and psychologically beaten down by her father Matthew all her seventeen years, Amanda Grant is fast approaching the end of her rope. After one particularly brutal beating, Amanda escapes, only to crash her car into a tree. Suddenly, it’s no longer 1987, but 1965. When Amanda meets the teenage version of her father, she discovers he is being similarly abused. Compelled to take advantage of her extraordinary surroundings, she decides to infiltrate his life to ultimately better her own. But she doesn’t count on coming to care for Matthew the boy, or coming to see him and the adult Matthew as two different people. And when Matthew falls in love with his future daughter, Amanda’s efforts to Undo the Deed start spiraling out of control....

Product Details

• Paperback: 409 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (June 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588517950
• ISBN-13: 978-1588517951
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,899,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Reading....., September 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Undo the Deed (Paperback)

This is a fine novel by a new author. Although the book is a quick-reading page-turner, the underlying subject matter is not treated glibly. There is an important message delivered here, making this enjoyable read something more than just another story. The delicate and upsetting topic of child abuse is treated with sensitivity and deep understanding, yet great realism. I heartily recommend.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Explores what it means to be human, June 5, 2003

By 

Robert J. Sawyer "Science Fiction writer" (Mississauga, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Undo the Deed (Paperback)

To the general public, science fiction is about science: stories not so much about people as about gadgets. But Adam-Michael James knows that good SF uses its suite of very special literary tools to explore what it means to be human in ways other forms of storytelling simply can't. His novel Undo the Deed is a classic example of this, using time travel not to illuminate logical paradoxes, but rather to let an abused woman meet her abusive father when he was a child. The result is gutsy and heartwrenching, and, as with all good SF, it wonderfully illuminates the human condition.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Speculative fiction that deals with a sensitive subject, January 15, 2003

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Undo the Deed (Paperback)

Adam-Michael James takes an interesting twist on family cruelty and poses a big "what if?" What if you could undo all the bad things that happened to you? Would you be better off, or would you make matters worse. What if you could be transported in time? What would you do, what would you not do? That's the premise of "Undo the Deed."

James' speculation makes for an interesting novel. In some ways, it is reminiscent of the famous book by Marge Piercy "A Woman On the Edge of Time" --in that novel a woman in an abusive relationship finds herself transporting back and forth in time. Here, the protagonists get choices, take chances. If you like speculative fiction, and fiction that deals with an emotionally charged subject such as abuse, you will find "Undo the Deed" fascinating. I did. (The subject can of course be disturbing if you are a victim of child abuse--so be forwarned. )