The Third Rule of Time Travel

By: Philip Fracassi

Published by Orbit, 2025

<p><b>Rule One: You can only travel to a point within your lifetime.</b><br> <br> <b>Rule Two: You can only travel for ninety seconds.</b><br> <br> <b>Rule Three: You can only observe.</b><br> <br> <b>The rules cannot be broken.</b><br> <br> <br> <br> <b>In this electrifying science fiction thriller from acclaimed author Philip Fracassi, a scientist has unlocked the mysteries of time travel. This is not the story you think you know. And the rules are only the beginning.<br> <br> <br> <br> "Tense, fast-moving, surprsing, and above all else, entertaining." - Owen King, <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author<br> <br> <br> <br> "A clever premise digs its heels into a sci-fi thriller that breaks into a fast gallop from the first page - exciting, haunting, compelling stuff." - Chuck Wendig, author of <i>The Book of Accidents</i></b><br> <br> <br> <br> "<b>Fracassi weaves a tightly plotted story... a solid new entry into the time travel genre." -- Kirkus</b><br> <br> <br> <br> Scientist Beth Darlow has discovered the unimaginable. She's built a machine that allows human consciousness to travel through time--to any point in the traveler's lifetime--and relive moments of their life. An impossible breakthrough, but it's not perfect: the traveler has no way to interact with the past. They can only observe.<br> <br> <br> <br> After Beth's husband, Colson, the co-creator of the machine, dies in a tragic car accident, Beth is left to raise Isabella--their only daughter--and continue the work they started. Mired in grief and threatened by her ruthless CEO, Beth pushes herself to the limit to prove the value of her technology.<br> <br> <br> <br> Then the impossible happens. Simply viewing personal history should not alter the present, but with each new observation she makes, her own timeline begins to warp.<br> <br> <br> <br> As her reality constantly shifts, Beth must solve the puzzles of her past, even if it means forsaking her future.<br> <br> <br> <br> <b>"Part Crichton, part Bradbury, and all Fracassi, <i>The Third Rule of Time Travel</i> further demonstrates why Fracassi is one of the best writers working today, regardless of genre." - Tyler Jones, author of <i>Midas</i><br> <br> <br> <br> "Probes the endurance of grief, the importance of memory and the ultimate malleability of reality and perception." -- The Wall Street Journal</b></p>