I’m fascinated by the whole concept of time travel, and the ramifications it could have on history and the future, so when I saw the publisher’s short blurb about The Revisionists, a new thriller by Thomas Mullen, I really wanted to read it. This is a very different way of looking at time travel than I had expected. What if bureaucracy were in charge of time travel? What if their purpose in traveling back through time was to ensure historical events took place so they could protect their power in the present? The very idea gives me the creeps but it makes for one hell of an interesting novel!

Zed works for the Department of Historical Integrity, Disasters Division, in a future time known as the Perfect Present. His job is to keep that present time exactly the way it is (perfect) by going back to historical times and ensuring disasters occur which have helped shape his Perfect Present. Sound complicated? It is but it quickly begins to make sense. For now to be the way it is, the past has to have happened the way it did.

When he goes back, Zed immerses himself in that time, using information from historical documents to ensure he can function as seamlessly as possible while he’s there. He is tasked with doing whatever it takes to enable past events to occur as they were supposed to occur. We’re talking about events like the Black Plague, the Holocaust, 9/11, etc. Horrible, horrible events costing thousands or millions of lives. Zed is convinced what he does serves a very valuable purpose. He never hesitates to do what he must to protect history and he’s proud to perform his duties. It has never occurred to him to question what he does. Zed is, in many ways, the perfect bureaucrat and secret agent. To read the rest of my review, use this shortlink: http://popcornreads.com/?p=1850.