Time travel. Every sober scientist claims it's utterly impossible. Of course, Phineas Templeton is no "sober" scientist, in any sense of the word. An arrogant English chap with a taste for fine scotch, Dr. Templeton also happens to be one of the finest minds the world of physics has ever known.
By the year 2032, with funding from his shadowy Benefactor, he put the finishing touches on his time machine. His mission? Travel to ancient Judea and meet none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
There's only one problem: upon his arrival, Dr. Templeton finds that "Jesus" is actually a time traveler from the future, a stoned grad student from Colorado named "Trent Albertson." Trent explains that history is fixed and immutable: "What happened, happened," no matter what meddlesome time travelers do during their stays in the past. The reality we experience is little more than the sum of the actions of countless time travelers that have already come, gone, and influenced the timeline, provided a very fickle universe allows them to.
Upon attempting to return, Phineas is presented with an unusual new mission: a "scavenger hunt" through time, where if he is able to decode his Benefactor's cryptic clues and complete the tasks at hand, then maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to return home.
But first, he'll have to meet his hero, Sir Isaac Newton, rescue a couple of American soldiers, survive an all-out attack by ancient Mayans, and even hunt dinosaurs millions of years in the past. Through it all, Dr. Templeton hovers on the fringes of his sanity, uncovers a vast conspiracy spanning thousands of years, and deals with existential questions that will shake you to your very core.
About the Author: Where do I start? Born and raised in St. Louis, graduated from Dartmouth in 2005 and the University of Virginia School of Law in 2008. Practiced law until 2011, when I quit to pursue my dream of writing.
I caught on as the St. Louis Rams Reporter for insideSTL.com and did some radio work for 590 AM the Fan KFNS and 1380 AM the Fan 2. As soon as the (very trying for anyone following the Rams) 2011 NFL season ended, I started working on my novels. The insideSTL gig ended in June, and I focused all of my attention on my fiction.
Other interesting stuff about me: I've forgotten how to ride a bike. I once swam so much over the course of a summer that my hair became green. I'm always fighting a three-pronged war between a paleo lifestyle and my love of wine and ice cream. And my dog, Sully, is maybe one of the cutest little shih tzu mixes around, though come to think of it, he's about 32 pounds and much larger than normal shih tzus...so let's go with "cutest bigger shih tzu mixes around." Much better!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via e-mail (djgelbooks@gmail.com) or on twitter (@djgelner).
