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Claire Willett
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The Rewind Files: From the Archives of the United States Time Travel Bureau Kindle Edition

by Claire Willett (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 560 ratings
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“An Incredible Adventure That Is Impossible to Put Down." - Tim Kring, Creator of HEROES
"Fans of Connie Willis will LOVE this book!" - Mary Lee Albee

Step into a thrilling time-travel adventure like no other in "The Rewind Files" by the award-winning author Claire Willett. Brace yourself for an exhilarating journey through the corridors of history, where one woman's actions could rewrite the fabric of time itself.

In the year 2112, Reggie Bellows is an unassuming agent at the prestigious U.S. Time Travel Bureau, assisting skilled operatives in rectifying pivotal moments in the past. But when Reggie is unexpectedly thrust into the heart of the action, her world turns upside down.

Transported back to the bustling streets of 1970s Washington DC, Reggie's first mission goes disastrously wrong. In a single misstep, she inadvertently triggers the infamous Watergate scandal, igniting a chain of events that threatens to dismantle the very foundations of history. Trapped in a past that is no longer her own, Reggie finds herself entangled in a web of conspiracies and double-crosses.

As she races against time itself, Reggie must navigate a treacherous landscape of shifting loyalties and unexpected allies. Unsure who to trust and with the fate of time hanging in the balance, she must uncover the truth hidden beneath layers of deception. But Reggie is a rookie, unprepared for the dangers that lie ahead, and every decision she makes could have catastrophic consequences.

"The Rewind Files" is a pulse-pounding page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the very first chapter. Claire Willet weaves a mesmerizing tapestry of suspense and adventure, blending intricate time-travel mechanics with heart-stopping action. Prepare to be captivated as Reggie's desperate race to save the fabric of reality hurtles towards a mind-bending climax.

Join Reggie Bellows on her extraordinary journey through time, and discover what it truly means to hold the destiny of the world in your hands. Will she unravel the secrets of the past and set history right, or will her actions irrevocably alter the course of time? The answers lie within the riveting pages of "The Rewind Files."



REVIEWS
*****Hundreds of 5-star reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. ****
“... a fun, fast-paced mystery adventure…”
“...fully realized, believable future and lots of great time travel gadgets.”
“I inhaled this book. It was just what I needed to read: fast-paced, historical, scifi, clever and quirky.”
"This was excellent. As a debut novel one simply could not expect better”
“An immediately intriguing time-travel adventure, with likeable, vivid characters, Willett’s skilled writing makes quick work of drawing you in to the complex plot of The Rewind Files.”
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  1. Print length
    518 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    September 14, 2015
  5. File size
    2925 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Rewind Files, a first novel by Portland playwright Claire Willett, is probably flying under your radar. It's out of the mainstream of the publishing world. And this is a bad thing, because it's an absolutely stunning debut novel, filled with time travel and a snarky heroine and a perfectly paced storyline with an absolutely logical big reveal at the end that's somehow also a complete surprise . . . Willett handles the intricacies of time travel particularly well, with all the theoretical loops being neatly tied up in the end. I particularly appreciated how each world - be it the modern 2112 or the Washington D.C. of 1972 - was fully realized in the tiny details."
--KLCC 89.7: NPR for Oregonians (read full review here: tinyurl.com/klccreview)

"One of the best debut novels I've read, and a damn fine time travel story, too . . . A fast-moving, first-rate time travel adventure with unexpected twists and surprises . . . Excellent premise; solid plotting; swift-moving story with lots of unexpected turns and surprises; crisp, clear, confident writing . . . Willett somehow manages to outdo many spy thrillers by keeping the story moving forward even while she ratchets up the tension." 4/5 stars
--SF Signal (read full review here: tinyurl.com/SFSignalReview)

"This was fun. If you're at all a history buff, you really ought to read this . . ..The book was painstakingly researched, and that degree of care is obvious in all elements of the story. The plot keeps you moving at all times . . . For a debut novel, that's impressive. I would heartily recommend giving this one a read." 5/5 stars
--San Francisco Book Review (read full review here: tinyurl.com/sfbookreview)

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B014VMIVDU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Axiomatic Publishing (September 14, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 14, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2925 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 518 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 560 ratings

About the author

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Claire Willett

Claire Willett

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Claire Willett is an award-winning playwright from Portland, Oregon. Her newest project is HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING?, a play about the intersection of Catholicism and queerness commissioned by the University of Portland. Her most recent work, THE BROKEN HEART SPREAD, a one-woman play about a day in the life of a tarot reader pulling cards for her clients, was produced as a streaming film in 2021 by The Theatre Company (Portland, OR). Her other works include DEAR GALILEO, a play about fathers, daughters, God, science, and Jesuit astrophysicists; CARTER HALL, a Scottish folk musical; THE WITCH OF THE IRON WOOD, a Norse mythology opera; THE DEMONS DOWN UNDER THE SEA, a sapphic retelling of “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe; and RED SKY AT MORNING, a play for high school students about nerd communities, internet culture, and a fictional pirate role-playing game.

THE REWIND FILES is her first novel. The second book in the trilogy, ALL THINGS FALL, is scheduled to be released in September of 2022, followed by the third and final installment in the trilogy, ZERO HOUR, in early 2023.

Claire holds a B.A. in Theatre from Whitman College (Walla Walla, WA) and currently lives in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. In her free time, she yells about politics, feminism and science fiction on the internet, where her pop culture criticism has appeared in Vice Magazine and on StarTrek.com, as well as podcasts on topics ranging from queer politics, to Oscar Wilde and "Jesus Christ Superstar", to recaps of "Black Sails", "Good Omens" and "Lost."

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
560 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Samantha Coley
5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic characters, exciting adventure, delightfully refreshing.
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2015
Verified Purchase
The Rewind Files is an absolute treasure. This book has everything, a delightfully witty female protagonist, fully developed characters and relationships, complete worlds both in the past and the future, and time travel. Though time travel isn’t actually possible right now, I feel Willett’s writing is as close as we can get to the real thing. She builds the worlds of both the past and the future in a way that makes you feel as if you’re actually there, you can see everything as it happens. Time travel can be a sticky situation to describe, but Willett does so beautifully and clearly, the science actually is understandable.

The protagonist Regina “Reggie” Bellows is such a refreshing and relatable character you can’t help but love her. As you take this adventure with her she is both clever and funny, as well as highly intelligent, brave, and wonderfully honest. Her relationships with the other characters, both friends and family, tug at your heartstrings in ways that make you care about all of them as much as Reggie does.

Hilarious and heart-wrenching by turns, The Rewind Files will have you howling with laughter one minute and tearing up and reaching for the Kleenex the next. I absolutely love this book and I look forward to whatever else Willett has in store for us.
14 people found this helpful
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Maris Mapolski
5.0 out of 5 stars Competent characters and complex plot? Where do I sign up?
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2015
Verified Purchase
So, yeah, The Rewind Files. Where do I begin? Actually, I’m going to begin in the middle, as befits a novel that weaves time travel with action and a touch of noir. The Rewind Files is actually, spoilers, three separate stories, and one of them is over before the book even begins. Not every author could handle telling one of her three plotlines mostly in a series of flashbacks, but Claire Willett has woven together a painstakingly researched historical thriller, time travel through an alternate universe, and, yes, a love story (oh god, I have so many feels about that) and stitched them up with a needle borrowed from Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy Sayers.

Disclaimer: I spent thirty seconds downloading this book and then three hours binge-reading it in an increasingly cold bath, which may somewhat color my perspective. I admit it: I’m as much a sucker for deft writing as I am for good stories, and this book is chock-full of both. From the first time I read the word “chronomaly” (seriously. Can you do a better job inventing a term for that?) I was hooked. It doesn’t hurt that her heroine, Reggie Bellows, is simultaneously competent and awkwardly relatable. I often spend a good portion of my reading time cringing over the terrible decisions that main characters have to make in order to have there be any plot at all; there’s only one passage in this book where I wanted to shake Reggie and point out that she’s actually trained to do this job and maybe this would have been covered in a class? Probably? OK, two passages but I’m willing to concede that not every woman stocks her desk at work the same way my office does.

Disclaimer #2: It’s really hard to review what is, at its heart, a mystery novel without giving out too many spoilers. On reread, all the clues are there for a motivated reader to assemble, but Willett is a master of redirection and it’s unlikely that you’ll pick them all out the first time. You’ll just have to trust me when I say that Carstairs and Bellows are the greatest team ever, that saving the day doesn’t always mean the day is saved, and that there are enough solidly written, complex and diverse characters to drive an entire fanfiction archive for a year.

But you don’t have to take my word for it.
6 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Political or Social Message, you decide???
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2019
Verified Purchase
Good book. Wasn't sure when I first started reading, but by about 100 pages it was moving along nicely. Great characters developed in this story. Let's see: 1. A time travel fix-it agency 2. A somewhat dysfunctional family 3. Watergate 4. Feminist element 5. Apartheid touched on 6. Reagan a power grabber 7.A greedy antagonist. This story used the classic good against evil.
Social\political issues lightly touched on. Interesting the author decided to make Ronald Reagan a bit of a villain President, at least that was how it read to me. Worth reading of you like time travel stories, but if you hate political slants probably not for you. Young writer, young to me, so I ignored some of those clear biases. She is a good writer in my opinion.
One person found this helpful
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Fenders
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding new author
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2023
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Excellent story for fantasy/sci-fi/history nerds. The premise is fun, the characters are deep and interesting, there’s lots of fun built in, story is fast paced, and it added so much depth at the end that I had to read it over again right away. Also, I didn’t see any typos (an increasingly rare phenomenon). HIGHLY recommend!!!
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Top reviews from other countries

Joana
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Characters and a Trip through History
Reviewed in Spain on May 26, 2019
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I read this book back in the beginning of the year and I LOVED it so much!! I was a bit nervous, since scifi is not my favorite genre, but that side of it definitely does not overpower the story, but compliments it in the best way possible. Time-travelling is explored in one of the most realistic way possible, where people interact with it, like humans do, which means mistakes happen and you get to see the repercussions of it, and how it works into building this world and the Time Travel Bureau
With time travelling comes history, of course, and it was so interesting to have this parallel of a history set in the past and at the same time in the future, and to see how things have changed. For me it was also so interesting to learn more about the history of these moments, especially considering one of them is one of the most spoken about in the world
Finally the characters are amazing, and especially the relationships built between them. I really love and appreciate how important the theme of family and of friends as family are in this story
So I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you love history, and you're looking for an action packed book with great characters :)
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TatLip
5.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced , engaging, lightweight but certainly not shallow
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2017
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What a delight! This is a lovely crossover between sci-fi and historical novel. It is based on real historical accounts of Watergate, yet it manages the speculative side masterfully. If the story is only as strong as its villains, then there is no surprise this book is so engaging! That is all I am going to say on this topic, no spoilers! The richness of character, both protagonists as well as secondary, combined with the fast-paced plot and the intriguing subject, make Rewind Files one of the best modern sci-fi books I have read. It also manages to pack a massive volumes of social commentary without becoming too preachy. One of the strongest points, which I found that worked so well within the story, was the demonstration of white privilege and racism - probably the best one I ever read.
Claire Willet's background as a play-write is palpable and she puts her skills to use in creating engaging dialogues that feel real. Although this is a quick read, full of humour and banter, it isn't shallow. I am going to leave the unpacking and interpretation to the reader. I know this isn't the last time I have read it; the story has many layers, which (due to the fast pacing) don't immediately jump out of the page. I can't wait for the possible sequel or even some TV/film adaptations.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in India on March 14, 2017
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Brittany Rae
5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible Trip Through Time
Reviewed in Canada on September 14, 2015
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Claire Willet's The Rewind Files is an excellent example of how well-researched history can intersect beautifully with an imagination that constantly asks not only the 'why", but the 'what if'. With bright, dynamic characters that feel refreshingly modern, and the entirety of human history as a playground, The Rewind Files explores the very best of time travel storytelling at a pace that keeps the reader turning page after page, long after they should have been asleep.

A science fiction book with a tense mother/daughter relationship and a found family dynamic at its heart, this book does as the very best of sci-fi has before it: questions the nature of technology and its consequences, and how it impacts not only ourselves, but the people we love. How far would you go to save your family? How much of human history would you alter to change the future?

It's these questions that make The Rewind Files such a compelling read, and it is the excellently used humour and banter between the characters that give the reader a deep, emotional connection to them and the choices they make. It is a rollicking trip through time that will please both casual, and hardcore science fiction readers alike. One can only hope a second instalment of this wonderful universe is in the cards.
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Book Monitor
5.0 out of 5 stars History, Future, Politics and a job to do. Great.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2023
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This is a great book; time-travel with historical accuracy, a believable future, plenty of twists and turns, action adventure and well-rounded characters.
The story was engaging from beginning to end and was told with wit, and emotional integrity. I will look out for more from this author.
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