Bought at Goodwill in North Huntingdon, Pa., to read and release in the wild. I love the series on ABC, so I couldn't pass this up!

For fans of the sadly short-lived television series, this book may be a disappointment. About the only thing it has in common with it is a character named Lloyd Simcoe and a worldwide disaster caused by a flashforward in time. That's not to say that the book isn't entertaining, however. Written in 1999, it takes place in 2009, and Robert J. Sawyer's vision of the future is equal parts scarily accurate and laughably far-fetched.

In Sawyer's 2009, there is a Pope Benedict XVI; in our 2009, Pope Benedict XVI wasn't elevated until Pope John Paul II's death in 2005, and who would have ever predicted, with all the names of previous popes, that the next one would choose Benedict? Goosebumps, right?

In Sawyer's 2009, Lloyd Simcoe and his fellow physicists at CERN are chasing the Higgs boson; in our 2009, the Higgs boson is still elusive and won't be discovered until 2012.

In Sawyer's 2009, people don't wear blue jeans anymore; in our 2009, blue jeans are still ubiquitous.

In Sawyer's 2009, computer technology is both more advanced and more archaic than in our 2009.

Overall, it's probably these glimpses into my real future—now my past—that were the most intriguing aspect of the book for me. In a head-to-head contest, however, the TV show gets the win from me.

This book is travelling backwards in time (thanks to time-zone differences) to fulfill a wish. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for the surprise wishlist RABCK!

I haven't seen the TV show, so I'll let you know what I think.

I wonder who the mysterious "NC" (written on two edges of the book) is...