What a fun ride! The protagonist, Beth, invented a machine with her husband to be able to time travel. But after her husbands death, she has to balance grief, being a single parent, and continuing on with their research. With her boss breathing down her neck, she is constantly having to prove she can do the job. But soon Beth starts to notice that the more she time travels, her own timeline begins to fray and she's at risk of losing everything.

I finished this book in less than 24 hours because I could not put it down. I just had to know what happened next. The way the plot unfolds and the way certain characters reveal themselves is a bit predictable but it didn't take away from the enjoyment of reading the story.

The Third Rule of Time Travel is my first book by Fracassi, and WOAH, what a phenomenal read it was. I'm a sucker for all things related to time travel, and this novel didn't disappoint. The Third Rule of Time Travel has a serious hint of horror in it, a creeping sense in the background that something has gone horribly wrong. It's like a discordant humming in your ear -- you know something is coming, you know it, you can sense it, but you're not quite sure what it is. Just amazing writing by Fracassi.

The main character, Beth, is a bit flat when it comes to characterization, but it doesn't really matter because the rest of the book is so interesting that you don't care. Gah. This was so well done. I highly recommend this one -- especially if you're like me and love time travel stories.

I really enjoyed reading this book!! I love a good time-story science -fiction story, and this one did not disappoint!!! I think it was well written, and the pacing of this book was good. I don't want to spoil anything, but the ending was enjoyable! iliked it!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

The story meandered for a bit before picking up. The first few chapters were a bit rough with too many detailed descriptions of people and the main characters morning routine, but by the halfway point the writing got better and the last half was quicker paced and more exciting overall. I enjoyed it but not my favorite in the time travel story genre.

This is an interesting book, particularly about time travel and the constraints around it, a lot of technical detail (at least I found there was). Beth is a scientist in the not too distant future, she is still mourning the loss of her husband who was killed in a car accident while out to buy her something, she still feels guilt about it. Beth works for a high tech company that is trying to develop a number of different technologies, none of them very successful, except for the interest in Beth's work around time travel, the company is a shadow of it's former self, very few employees, and pressure on Beth to perfect the machine to be able to program it to go to a specific time rather than somewhat random. Beth and her husband had developed and built the machine, a large machine that a user lays down in and a beam is aimed at their head, this beam then takes them back to a time where the person has been and the person can watch, not interact, with the moment for about 90 seconds. Controlling what the machine shows has been troublesome, Beth thinks she knows how the machine picks the moment, but would have to test it, and the management is putting a lot of pressure on her to make it happen, the company is at risk of going under if they can't market the machine. Then she starts to get messages from her husband, pre recorded (it looks like) giving her warnings about the machine. Overall if you like very science based books you would probably enjoy this. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Orbit for the ARC.

***I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this upcoming book in exchange for a honest reviw***
Philip Fracassi has quickly jumped to the top of my list of favorite authors, and I was super pumped when I saw that he was coming out with a sci-fi novel tackling the forever interesting topic of time travel. He has delivered a tight, face paced and emotional story that I enjoyed from start to finish.

The story centers on Beth, a widowed scientist who along with her deceased husband cracked the mystery of time travel after a decade of research. The time travel that they have discovered is unique (or so they thought) in that it randomly drops you into a moment in your past. You can’t interact with the past to change anything, but you are in your mind and can see/smell/hear everything and relive up to 90 seconds of that specific memory. Everything is going well until Beth starts being transported to ONLY traumatic and painful memories from her past and discovers that her time machine isn’t exactly what she thought it was.

That’s all I’ll say about this one as I would like to avoid any spoilers. I really enjoyed this one and the writing is fantastic, which is typical of Fracassi’s work. Time travel can be tricky to write or make a movie about since thinking too hard about the loopholes and what have you can leave you with a headache and more questions than answers. You get an explanation of how the time travel works in this book and it is satisfying but briefly explained. Anyone looking for lots of nuts and bolts and gobbledygook about how time travel works here might be a little disappointed.

It wasn’t my favorite thing that he’s written, but this book was extremely satisfying and a great read. I had pre-ordered it before getting early access via NetGalley and I will be keeping my pre-order as I collect everything he comes out with. Give it a read!

The Third Rule of Time Travel was an interesting book. The story was very compelling, even if the characters were not.

Beth seemed very cliche (a driven career woman who puts her child second), the founder of the company was evil and sexist (a lot of characters seemed this way when interacting with a professional scientist who was a woman). Beth's best friend also gave off weird vibes in how she talked with Beth when there was any kind of crisis (very scolding in vibe--it was a strange, almost paternalistic tone for a close friendship of equals).

I didn't really connect with the writing, even if the story was intriguing. That said, in all fairness, I stayed up til 3am finishing this book because I wanted to see what happened next.

Would I recommend this? Yes, if you like time travel, it's probably worth your time. But it's not one that I would reread or buy to own a copy. The idea was great, I just wish the execution was more fleshed out and developed.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Fricassi’s The Third Rule of Time Travel reminded me of how much I truly miss Michael Crichton.

After the death of her husband, Dr Beth Darlow continues their work on a time travel machine which allows her consciousness to travel to indeterminant points in time, becoming the human Guinea Pig for the scientific exploration. It soon becomes apparent, something isn’t going to plan.. How and why is the machine picking where she goes? With each trip, it becomes apparent there are consequences when playing roulette with forces greater than humankind’s finite comprehension. Time and money are running out. When the stakes become the greatest, Beth finds herself surrounded by adversity on all sides.

Most importantly, where there are rules, rules will be broken.

Making sci fi accessible, Fracassi possesses a gift for adrenaline-fueled, visceral sequences that plunge the reader nose-first into realistic terror with tremendous emotional impact. The opening sequence is Wow! I can’t remember the last time a book sucked me in from the opening line. I couldn’t swipe pages quickly enough.

Fast paced, I devoured this book in less than 24 hours. The writing is fantastic. Transitions between timelines are seamless, intuitive, and smart. The story and plot left me with no glaring holes. The cast of characters are well-developed and plausible. The expertise of the various scientific characters and their function was one of my favorite parts of this book. Keep in mind, I’m not generally a sci fi reader.

Dr. Darlow is a very interesting character—a woman written by a man I know—but she worked for me and I’m a woman. Living in a male dominated scientific world, Beth needs grit and gumption. She’s brilliant. Much more brilliant than her male counterparts in many ways. She’s also deeply flawed and, at times, perhaps a tad unlikable yet still wholly relatable and believable as she fights against opposition, subterfuge, and her own mind.

I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy Michael Crichton’s legendary works.

5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Orbit, for the free eARC!

This was such a good read! I was expecting some heavy scientific reading, which I’m fine with, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very accessible.

Beth Darlow is a scientist who, with her husband, has discovered a form of time travel, where you can send your consciousness through a wormhole and travel back in time to past memories. The person doing the traveling can only watch. There’s no changing the past. It’s one of the three rules. All of this is very top secret, of course, but the CEO of yer company needs more funds to expand research, so he gives permission for a reporter to interview Darlow and announce to the world what she’s been working on.

Beth’s husband, Colson, was killed in a car accident, so it is up to Beth to continue their work and raise their daughter.

This grabbed me from the beginning. It was a fast paced read. Would definitely recommend this!

You know how sometimes a book sounds amazing but the execution is less than. This is that book for me, and I knew it right away. I struggle hard with male authors who write female characters. It feels disingenuous (looking at you Riley Sager). This book had the same feeling. Beth was just a caricature of a driven career women, getting up to run 10 miles while her 4 year old daughter sleeps alone at home and having to be tough even though she was the brain of the husband/wife super duo. The overall story was compelling but the lack of a relatable main character was disappointing. About 2/3 through the time travel situation really heats up and one thinks it’s about to come to fruition. But the ending feels rushed and a bit too woo-woo for the sci-fi it’s trying to be. Not a bad story just not as good as it could have been. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book..

There has to be more than Three rules for Time Travel, right? How about the Fourth Rule: Start reading a Philip Fracassi book and, before you know what hit you, you've travelled to the future and finished the book.

That fact is true of pretty much everything that he writes, but maybe most evident in The Third Rule of Time Travel. It is probably best classified as a Sci-Fi Thriller. However, fans of all genres will get a kick out of this one (it's fairly light on sci-fi, no advanced degree necessary). The premise and the people and the mysteries within will keep you turning the pages.

I dare anyone to open this book and not be overpowered by the gravitational force of Philip Fracassi. The Third Rule of Time Travel is a singularity in the universe, a glitch in the matrix, a force to be reckoned with. I was simultaneously wanting to read faster to devour it and slow down to savor it. Highly recommended!

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing an ebook. All opinions are my own. Releases on March 18, 2025.

Scientist Beth Darlow has built a machine that allows human consciousness to travel through time and relive moments of their life--essentially a limited form of time travel. She wants to continue with her research, but the company she's working for (and who is funding her work) has other, more capitalistic and exploitative plans. While dealing with the temperamental CEO and pushing herself to prove the worth of her technology, Beth slowly discovers there may be unanticipated and unexpected consequences to her technology.

This was an excellent sci fi/techno thriller. Beth was a strong character (although hot-headed at times, which got a bit irritating to read) and the imagined science was interesting. The author does a great job of slowly and subtly revealing more about the technology in a way that was really effective. The pacing was very quick and I flew through the book. I feel like the ending was a little unsatisfying, but I guess there's only so many ways you can end a time travel novel. Overall though, the book was excellent and thought provoking.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely mind bending 🤯 Time travel is never without consequences and this story is no different. Great characters and a plot that has a unique take on time travel makes this one a new favorite!

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in advance of publication.

This was a great read! I've read many books about time travel, but this one has a very different take on how it might work while raising many of the same concerns about what the repercussions might be. This is my first Philip Fracassi book, and it makes me want to check out his backlist. It grabbed me from the beginning and didn't let go.

I'll definitely be recommending the Third Rule of Time Travel to anyone who enjoys technothrillers and/or books about time travel, alternate realities, memory, and quantum physics.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in advance of publication.

I received an advance copy through NetGalley. I really enjoyed this book. I feel like if you’re a fan of The Martian or the Invisible Life of Addie Larue you’ll like this book. It got a little complicated toward the end, but we are talking about time travel here. I enjoyed it and it was a quick read for me.

This was a very well written time-travel novel that while borrowing elements from other romantic time travel novels properly flipped genders and had a compelling main character with some agency (though the end was a little weeby wobbly). This felt like a novelization for a movie so I do hope it does actually become one soon. Well done.

Sci-fi isn’t usually my genre, but when I saw that one of my favorite authors would be releasing a time travel novel next year, I couldn’t get my hands on it fast enough.

This story is beautiful. Beth feels like a real person; usually, the woman scientists in books are sparkling charicatures of a human instead of flawed and emotional beings. You truly feel her heartache and rage as she is faced with a gamut of impossible situations.

The science behind the time travel was SO. MUCH. FUN. Now, I haven’t cracked open a psychics book since my senior year of high school (thank god), but Fracassi has created a truly unique and believable scenario. I loved the idea of the neurological time travel, and each revelation about its mechanics was shocking and engrossing.

Let me also mention the biggest draw that this book had for me— its heart. Yes, it’s a time travel story, but it’s more so a story about the human existence. It’s about love and loss, life and memory, family and priorities. I’m a big old softie when it comes to those types of themes, and this book had my heart wrenching for Beth.

I can’t wait for people to read this book. It’s poetic, suspenseful, and just a ton of fun.

An endless thank you to Orbit and Philip Fracassi for the ARC!
Pub Date: March 18, 2025

THE THIRD RULE OF TIME TRAVEL is sci-fi at its best. A book about time travel runs the risk of falling victim to likely tropes, but fortunately for us, Fracassi is behind the pen of THE THIRD RULE OF TIME TRAVEL and what results is suspenseful, unpredictable in the best way with themes of grief and horror throughout. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and couldn't put this book down. Incredible and thoughtful world building by Fracassi makes THE THIRD RULE OF TIME TRAVEL accessible for readers. Philip Fracassi is a must-read author for me.

What a book. Fracassi takes you from his usual horror to the science fiction conundrum of “what if we can time travel? And if we could what effect would it have?” The story, the grief, the science and the suspense are all top tier! This was an amazing book from start to finish that kept me reeled in!

Sci Fi at its best! Both mysterious and philosophical, this novel follows Beth Darlow as she carries on the time travel research that she began with her late husband. Their machine allows ones consciousness to travel to any point in that person's lifetime to observe moments in their life. But, of course, things are more complicated than that...