Mr. Was Paperback – February 7, 2012

This book was fantastic! I'm a lover of all types of time travel books and I must say this has been one of the best. I will not go into plot because it will just give too much away. Suffice to say there are enough twists here to keep you guessing. Just when you say what the..? something comes around the corner that will make you stop for a second and say whoa now I get it( I think). A wonderful historical time travel mindbender.

This book has opened a way of thinking for me no other book could. I may be only 16 but this book is a revelation and meats all the requirements I could ever want in a book. I will never forget the tale of Jack Lund.

Plot/Description: 4 StarsThe plot was very interesting. Having the protagonist be a teenager who time travels at a young age was an interesting twist. The issue of not being able to travel through time because it would cause paradox was handled in an intelligent manner that was very believable. The storyline never dragged and continuously forwarded the plot in different ways.There was one major issue in the middle of the book that caught my attention. The main character is assumed to be dead at one point and, while I knew he could not be, it was never explained how he survived. I'm assuming this is not a spoiler simply because, as I said, I didn't think the main character would die only halfway through the novel. So, I never once thought he was dead, but I did wonder how the author was going to 'save him.' Unfortunately, it was never revealed. This anticipation with no payoff took away a lot of my enjoyment of the second half of the novel.The story was fast paced and kept me enthralled throughout. The ending was satisfying, if a little creepy.Character Development: 5 StarsThe main character had terrific depth evoking plenty of empathy. While not without his flaws, he was still a strong, likable person.The rest of the characters were also developed nicely. Each was unique with their own personality and voice.Writing Style: 5 StarsOn the description page, I saw that this was a Young Adult novel. However, it is imminantly suitable for adult reading. I would even venture to say that the description is incorrect. The tone and sentence structure seemed geared more for adults. The descriptions were extremely vivid. The dialogue was great, not stilted like I have noticed in many YA novels.Editing/Formatting: 5 StarsBoth were of professional quality.Rating: PG-15 for Violence and Language

I usually read Pete Hautman for is poker and casino themed books, and I almost didn't buy this one. I'm glad I did! It's a great story that keeps you engaged. I had a hard time putting it down.

The book was very exciting but at times confusing. I did find myself getting lost every once and a while but in the end it all came together. Keeping track of everything was a bit challenging but overall i love the book and could not put it down.

I read this book in high school and it has always been one of my favorites. I would love to see this turn into a movie.

Mr. Was was interesting from beginning to end. It was difficult to follow in some parts because it jumped back and forth in time, but the premise is intriguing and the ending was satisfying.

Mr. Was by Pete Hautman is: A mystery? A time-travel tale? Historical fiction? A survival story? Amazingly, this engrossing story of Jack Lund's life after his first visit to Memory, Minnesota as an adolescent is all of these things and more. Caught between his abused mother and alcoholic father, Jack discovers an escape from the confusion of his life when he finds a hidden door in the run-down mansion his mother has inherited from his grandfather. When he steps through the portal, he finds himself in 1941, before the U.S. has entered World War II. That's where he meets and falls in love with Andie, a vivacious green-eyed redhead, who encourages him to tell his strange tale of a life lived before being born. It's also where he meets Scud, his friend and rival for Andie's affections, who later attacks Jack in a jealous rage on the battlefield at Guadalcanal.But what Jack wants most in 1993 when he steps into the past is to someday make it back to that fateful day in the future and prevent his father from killing his mother. Will he succeed?This fascinating and well-crafted story will leave you reviewing all the events to see how all these lives fit together and questioning which life Jack really lived and where he is now.

Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down and read it all in two evenings. I loved the way the author put all the pieces together. So enjoyable.

What an amazing story. I Finished reading this last night and I felt truly shocked with tears stinging my eyes. I actually began to shiver through to the end. It's not scary, it's just so incredible, leaving you shell-shocked at the possibility of what is happening and what you are believing as you read and comprehend the information and details.KEYWORDS:Time-travelling, door, abuse, memory, boggs's end, strange, violence, war.

I really liked this book. Jack's mother inherits a large house stuck on a bluff overlooking a town. As she has had enough of Jack's fathers drinking and beating, she takes Jack and moves in. Jack starts exploring the house and, after a dream, finds a secret panel in a cupboard which leads to a door. He is too scared to open the door and retreats back to his room. His father gets help and sorts himself out and eventually moves back in with Jack and his mother. After a terrible argument, Jack's father kills his mother and starts after Jack, so he runs to his room and to the only safe haven he can think of - the secret door. He goes back in time and emerges at the side of his house but in a different era! He meets the former occupants of the house and realises he can go upstairs in their house, find the secret door and go back even further in time! This book is about his time in the past and what he does with the knowledge that his father will eventually kill his mother.I genuinely liked this book and was suprised at the low cost for such a good read. It's a sort of time-travel book as he goes back years in the past, but not the sort where he's travelling and changing history.