Audiobook Review: Unclaimed Legacy by Deborah Heal

It's like being there... only you can fast-forward and rewind.

"I call it time-surfing," Abby said. "It's like being there, except no one can see or hear us."

"Whatever you call it," John said, "that was crazy - what we just did. Beyond realistic. I mean, I was in that guy's head and knew everything he was thinking."

Abby's weird computer program is working again. And it comes in handy when she and her friends agree to help the Old Dears with their family tree.

Except Abby and John learn more about one of the ladies' ancestors than they ever wanted to know. Convicted in 1871 of murder and arson, Reuben Buchanan is a blight on the family's reputation. But was he really guilty? Abby and John must get inside the mind of a murderer to find out.

And while they're rummaging around in the Old Dears' family history, they also find Nathan Buchanan, a heroic relative connected to the Lewis and Clark Expedition - and a legacy waiting to be reclaimed. But the most important discovery they make is that God's promise to bless a thousand generations is true.

 

Series: History Mystery #2 | Narrator: Michelle Babb  | Publisher: Write Brain Books| Genre:  |Length: 7 hours 3 minutes  | Source: Narrator| Rating: Performance: 4 Cups  Plot: 3.5 Cups

When Abby and Merri agree to housesit, they find themselves using their odd time surfacing computer program, Beautiful Houses, to help their neighbors the ‘Old Dears’ with their family tree. They soon unearth a secret that the elderly twins have kept from each other for several decades as well as the truth behind a ‘bad apple’ on their family tree.

 

The ‘Old Dears’ believe that Reuben Buchanan was a murder and an arsonist and there’s no way he was getting an apple on their family tree project. Although things are not always what they seem and soon Abby, Merri, and John find themselves in a crumbling stage coach inn called Shake Rag Corner looking into the life of a possible murder and discovers a trail that leads them straight to Lewis and Clark.

 

Okay, so I struggled a bit with this one. While it was a great read, it sort of felt that some parts were a bit draggy, I think it was because the author was trying to squeeze so much information into parts of the book rather than just slowly revealing them that it made it bogged down. Thankfully, that cleared up 1/3 way into the book.

 

I found I really enjoyed the characters more in this book. There’s been a lot of growth with Abby and Merri. Both are so much more likable in this book then they were in the last. They have both changed for the better and I really enjoyed seeing a more mature, accepting version of them both.

 

Merri’s dealing with some tougher issues in this book regarding her father so it was nice to see the ‘Old Dears’ acting as grandmother’s to her. With her mother working so much and the problems with her father, the only person she has is Abby, so I liked that she has other people to shower her with attention and affection.

 

Abby and John finally start their relationship. It’s a very, very slow start. Abby wants more and John seems to be taking a step forward then two steps back, which occasionally became annoying. It was a nice build up but I found myself wanting to yell at him to just kiss her.

 

The time travel aspect is still the same in this book. It’s not actual time travel where the characters go back in time. It’s referred to in the book as ‘time surfacing’ and it actually takes place on a computer. So it’s actually more like watching a movie. Abby and Merri are starting to learn more about the program and how it operates and were thrilled to discover that you can use it in different places. They’ve also let John in their time surfacing.

 

Where book one was more about learning about the people from the past, this one has a bit of a mystery to it. Abby and Marri are searching for answers about what happened with Rueben and they end up stumbling over some unexpected finds.

 

So, while this book is geared more so for young adults, it has some heavier issues in it although I found them to be nicely handled.

 

This is the second book the History Mystery series. Like the first, it doesn’t really fit into a genre. It’s a nice mix of contemporary, historical, mystery, coming of age, romance, time travel (sort of), and inspirational. Even though that combination sounds like a jumble, it actually works.

 

Michelle Babb does an amazing job at bringing each character life. She’s such a delight to listen to.

 

Overall, once the pacing problem evened out, I enjoyed this one. The mystery was interesting as was the other discoveries made.

 

History Mystery Series

1-Time and Again

2-Unclaimed Legacy

3-Every Hill and Mountain