May 15, 2006 3 min read

If you could travel through time – forward or backwards – where would you go?

Before you answer, consider this first: your actions may accidentally change the course of a few lives. You certainly will surprise the people you’ll meet there, then. And you could be in extreme danger while you’re traveling. Still want to go? Then read “Chasing the Wolf” by Nathan Singer before you pack. Just as a warning.

It’s August, 2001, and Eli Cooper is on top of the world.

Eli is an artist, a “neo-post-impressionist”. He’s in high demand and his art has been featured in several successful shows. People clamor for his work.

Eli lives in New York City with his wife, Jessie. Jess is a dancer with an African drum and dance troupe, and her star is rising. Nobody in New York cares a bit that Jess is black and Eli’s white. That’s just the way it is. Jess is Eli’s little bitty pretty one, and life is pretty good.

Until the accident.

On opening night of a new show, a riser fell. It was a freak accident. Could’ve happened to anyone, but it happened to Jess. Her back was broken and now she’s dead. Grief-stricken, Eli runs into Central Park, out of control.

And right into Mississippi, 1938.

At least that’s what the headlines in the newspaper said. July, 1938, big and bold on the header. But how did Eli get there?

Realizing that his dreads, piercings, and tattoos would set him apart, Eli cuts his hair, removes his metal, and concocts a story so he can assimilate into the community. He finds a friend who helps him find a job and a rooming house.

And right there, working as a maid in the rooming house, is his Jess. But Ella isn’t really Jessica. Ella is a widow whose husband died under mysterious circumstances a few years ago, but she thinks that Eli sure is a nice man. He feels so comfortable to her, for some reason.

Jerome Kinnae watches all this unfold. He could get Eli back to 2001, but it’s going to cost some big money. Jerome is a time walker, and he’s been all over the country, all over the century. He’s seen everything. He knows how dangerous it is for interracial lovers in Mississippi, 1938.

He knows that there are people – things – that prey on time travelers.

This isn’t normally the kind of book I’d pick up, but the premise intrigued me, so I started reading. I can tell you that I was definitely glad I did. “Chasing the Wolf” is a fast read – not even 200 pages – but with so many levels of subtle action that you will want to savor each one. Author Nathan Singer is stingy with his words, which sets the stage well for Eli’s anger and confusion, Ella’s baffled serenity, and Jerome’s cocky malevolence.

If you want a book that’s tantalizingly possible, but horrifyingly real, you’re going to want this one. “Chasing the Wolf” is a book worth chasing down.