The Gideon Trilogy #2: The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer

My name is Kate, and I had promised Peter that I would never leave him alone in 1763. Now, I find myself back to the future, without Peter, and the Tar Man roaming somewhere in London. Heaven help anyone who gets in the way of this vicious cutthroat. I can't believe my dad is seriously considering destroying the time machine and leaving Peter in the past. I can't accept that thinking even though I know Gideon is probably taking care of Peter. I need some help to carry out my plan, and there's only one person I can think of to ask. If I can get back to 1763, I can rescue Peter and keep the time machine safe too. However, my dad thinks there may be unforeseen consequences of time travel; what if he's right? I'll just have to take that chance to save my best friend. 

You should read the first book before reading this one. I'm often leery of reading about time travel due to the potential for paradoxes and the need to establish ground rules. What if a character goes back in time and causes the death of a parent so the character was never born? This book adds an interesting twist when the time-traveling characters blur at random times, causing them to appear ghostly to others. One character chalked up Kate's blurring to witchcraft. The uncertainty of side affects of time travel added unpredictable blips to the story. Did time travel actually create parallel universes? The interaction of unique personalities made for interesting conversations, although the ease with which characters accepted time travel was unrealistic. How many people would be willing to take a trip into the future or past only hours after hearing about the idea? The subplot followed  the Tar Man and his efforts to gain power through violence and intimidation. My biggest issue with the plots was that they didn't have a sense of urgency, so the tension never got very high. Problems occurred, but there wasn't really a deadline where the events built up to a climax. It felt like the events in this book just connected the happenings in books one and three. Overall, the book was good, but not great. You may enjoy it more than I, so give it a shot if it sounds interesting.