The 13th Hour »

Richard Doetsch is the bestselling author of The Thieves of Darkness, The Thieves of Heaven and The Thieves of Faith, as well as Half-Past Dawn and The 13th Hour. He is also the president of a national real estate company based in New York, where he lives with his family.

Nick Quinn is in jail, accused of the murder of his beloved wife, Julia. The police say they found the murder weapon, with his fingerprints, in the trunk of his car. Nick is confused, grief-stricken -- and completely innocent. Then a gray-haired gentleman visits Nick in the interrogation room and offers him a talisman that allows Nick to go back in time, one hour at a time, for twelve hours. Nick has the ability to save Julia, but failure would lead to a far greater catastrophe.

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Doetsch's tricky thriller, an innocent man, Nicholas Quinn, is in police custody, suspected of murdering his wife, Julia, at their house in upscale Byram Hills, N.Y. Then a stranger gives Nick a watchlike device that allows him to change the past by sending him back, one hour at a time, for half a day. When Nick goes back in time, he discovers single events are the result of a complex web of causes. Saving his wife means untangling a plot that includes a robbery committed by corrupt cops, a horrendous plane crash and a mysterious family secret. Julia's fate seems to be inevitable, one way or another, and Nick's tampering brings death to friends and allies along the way. At times Doetsch (The Thieves of Faith) oversells Nick's anguish with breathless prose, and no character emerges as more than a cardboard cutout, but readers will enjoy the clever razzle-dazzle of a story whose parts fit together like clockwork. (Jan.)