The Chronocar

A young man finds a research paper in a 1901 issue of the "Negro Journal of Science" explaining how to build a time traveling machine. In 2015, all the parts are now available, so he builds the "chronocar" and goes back to meet the scientist who wrote the article. He happens to arrive in 1919 just as Chicago's worst race riot breaks out, and he wants to save the scientist and his lovely daughter. But things just keep getting worse. Innocent good intentions are not enough.This fast-moving book mi [...]

Bored students will get into trouble. Always. In this case, Tony, a gifted young engineering student, has stumbled across an obscure article dating to the early 1900s, discussing how to build a vehicle to move through time – and has built a successful prototype. Determined to meet the genius whose idea it originally was, Tony sets his first journey through time to the time and address of Dr. Johnson. However, his arrival sparks a brutal race riot, and in his efforts to fix the fallout caused b [...]

The high intelligence that Simmie Johnson was born with could be the very reason he would meet his maker given the time he lived in. He was born the son of slaves. When his parents were sold, his grandmother took him in and raised him as her own. Growing up, Simmie knew he was smarter than most and begged a teacher in the white school to teach him how to read. It was during this time that he became interested in physics and time travel. As an adult Simmie knew it was extremely dangerous to be a [...]

I'm not a SF fan, but this was actually a pretty good tale of time travel and all the possible issues caused by it. Liked the ending, not at all what I expected.

Quick and satisfying novella about time travel based about Chicago. Extra points for the discussion of racial history in Chicago, which was integrated pretty seamlessly into the storyline.

Intriguing premise, surprising twist. A good, quick read.

(Note: a complimentary copy was provided for review)To be honest, I started THE CHRONOCAR shortly before the electiond couldn't quite get into it. Traveling back and forth downtown the next day I managed to read it through both trips on the Midway Orange Line. Steve Bellinger's THE CHRONOCAR is a really good, brisk science fiction novel about time travelbut its focus is on the African-American experience. When Tony, a student at IIT, discovers a paper about time travel by a man who lived almost [...]

A thrilling page turner. Like a little boy trying to clean up spilled cereal things go from messy to just plain chaotic for Tony, the novel's main character. Meanwhile, the reader enjoys watching it all go to hell. The vintage Chicago setting is quaint and the pacing is good. However, some of the story feels forced, like the use of the Chicago race riots, while interesting, at times the historic event felt jammed into the story.

The Chronocar is about Tony Carpenter, a Tech student who discovers an old article written by Sammie Johnson. Sammie was born a genius, but because he was born a son of a slave his ethnicity kept him from publicly sharing his ideas on time travel. Sammie was able to publish his theory in the Negro Journal of Science and this is where Tony found it almost a century later. With modern technology, Tony created the Chronocar and traveled back to 1919 to meet the man whose theories made time travel p [...]

Excellent time-travel novel with a brilliant twist.

As reviewed by Francine Zane for Readers' FavoriteIn The Chronocar, science fiction meets history in a dynamic tale of time travel. When Tony finds a science journal about time travel, he combines this new found knowledge with his own near genius talents to design a Chronocar. His first trip is to meet the gentleman who wrote the paper, a Dr. Semmie Johnson who was once a slave but escaped a harrowing ordeal in search of an education. Through trial and error, Tony learns the true dangers of time [...]

Dark Ending.