The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone #1
“If I give them answers, then maybe they can stop hoping and start figuring out how to live with the wreckage of their lives.”
Rembrandt Stone
Disclaimer: Susan May Warren and David Curtis Warren are my sister-in-law and nephew. All opinions are my own.
Cast the First Stone is an intriguing intro to this time-travel universe. Rembrandt has trouble getting his feet under him, but questions raised and a cliffhanger will keep me coming back for more books.
Time travel is a concept that can end up feeling gimmicky or work well. In this case, the rules haven’t been fully explained, but the constraints shown so far work well. I got vibes of X-men: Days of Future Past while I was reading, and it will be interesting to see how the butterfly effect alters the present.
Rembrandt is not my favorite main character. His personality seems to change on a dime, and when he feels in control, his default attitude is cocky. I could see him growing into a character that I like, but that didn’t happen in this book.
The side characters have trauma in their pasts, and it’s neat to see them after and before tragedy strikes. It did strike me as odd that Rembrandt’s boss didn’t upbraid him for taking off without letting anyone know, but mitigating circumstances could account for that.
Rembrandt is just getting started on his travels to the past, but it will be interesting to see how everything pans out.
Affiliate Links
