A strange talisman slips through time enhancing the lives of various individuals. Is time a continuous event with no beginning or no end? Lucius Fabius Antonius thought this might be true of the first century A.D. Lucius was an olive oil merchant in the Roman empire when disease ravaged the production in Italy. He was forced to look outside the empire and found a better product in Spain.

Two thousand plus years later Anthony Lucas waits patiently for a time capsule to be opened after it is discovered in a cornerstone of his old school. He is lucky to be chosen the recipient of the unusual talisman in the small copper box.

He discovers a five inch key like object near an Italian restaurant which is intricately carved into the figure of a two-faced man. Tony tosses the key in his backpack and proceeds home. The box he won in class had an old newspaper clipping from 1906. Weird events continue to happen to the eighth grader as he progresses through life.

This entire story is a very engrossing tale of what could be. As I read the book, I was drawn into the whirlpool of potential events in the confluence of time. I was so engrossed I could not put the story down but zipped through it. Start the book and you too will be all consumed! 5 stars – CE Williams

In Rome in 52 AD Lucius Antonius will be in financial difficulties if he cannot meet his debts, but fortunately the mysterious intervention of a stranger enables him to pay his creditors. In some way the key to his strongbox, which he had had made in the two faced image of Janus is involved in this. Although much is made of Lucius' ability to foretell the future it seems to play no part in these events..

In 2018 Tony Lucas' (note the similarity in names) wife is dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and obviously he is desparate to do anything he can to find a cure. Luckily way back in 1965, when he was in the eigth grade at school, he won a draw to take home a newspaper found in a time capsule buried in 1905. On the way home he found a strange key with a shaft shaped like Janus. When he looked at the paper that evening he was amazed to see that it is now dated 2025. He took.notes of some of the lead stories, among which was one about the discovery of a cure for ALS.
Back in 2018, when he remembers the story in the newspaper he embarks on a quest to find the scientist credited with the discovery of a cure and the bulk of the novel is taken up with this search.

Like Lucius, Tony has the ability to foretell the future on occasion but this ability plays little part in the book and I wondered why the author bothered to give this ability to both Lucius and Tony and why their names were so similar. In fact this irritated me as I felt it should either mean something, in which case it needs to be explained, or it is a meaningless coincidence in which case it should be omitted. Also, I wondered how the key got from ancient Rome to 20th century Brooklyn. However the story rattles along and I found it a pleasure to read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers foe an ARC in return for an unbiased review.

The novel traces the history of a Janus ring that foretells the future for whomever wears the ring. I liked the ancient Roman start to the book. Every owner of the ring has a unique special interest in time. The book from 1905 to present is about a man trying to save his wife from dying of ALS. It's a engrossing book, well worth the read.

Chasing Time is an interesting story of a boy with a special awareness of time. The story begins in 1905 with Lucius and Appia Antonius then picks up in 1965 with Anthony Lucas’ eighth grade class opening the time capsule from 1905. Anthony, known as Tony, He has won the chance to take it home and share with his family. As they explore the time capsule they read the newspaper that was placed inside. Tony questions the stories printed as not worthy of being mentioned. His mother reminds him that the US was not the powerful country it is now and was somewhat isolated in it's thinking. The next morning Tony will look at the newspaper again but will see a different date with the year of 2025, sixty years in the future. Tony writes down the stories of interest, one involving a future President Bill Clinton becoming a Special Envoy for Sudan. The next is a story about the Yankees hopeful rebounding for the season and referencing fall from grace in 1965. And finally a story about a miracle cure for a crippling disease referencing the name of George Janusowski and some strange letters 'BMAA'. And just like that the newspaper changes back to the year 1905. All of this is hard for him to understand but he knows it must be important somehow.

As time moves on several of these things prove to be correct such as the Yankees, and President Clinton being elected. Tony will continue to have an uncanny sense of time as he pursues a cure in order to save his wife diagnosed with a crippling disease.

This is a fascinating adventure from 1905 to 1965 and the present. But it is also hopeful that someday there may be cures for these dreaded diseases.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an unbiased review.

We first meet the protagonist as an eighth grade student when he wins a drawing at school. The newspaper that he brings home is from 1905, but magically it reports of events sixty years in the future. Could the unusual key he found (and then lost) have something to do with it. As the years pass, Tony marries Ann, they get jobs, raise a family, and retire. When Ann gets ill, the mystery/adventure takes off. Interesting, informative, and enjoyable to read.