The Hourglass Door
Read The Hourglass Door Online
Authors: Lisa Mangum
Tags: #Romance, #Fiction, #Good and Evil, #Interpersonal Relations, #High Schools, #Schools
| The Hourglass Door | |
| Lisa Mangum | |
| Deseret Book Co (2010) | |
| Rating: | **** |
| Tags: | Romance, Fiction, Good and Evil, Interpersonal Relations, High Schools, Schools |
Grade 9 Up—Abby's whole life has been planned: she is dating the "boy next door," whom she met shortly before she turned four, her parents are organizing the same bowling birthday party they've thrown for her for 14 years, and she and her best friend plan to be college roommates. Then Dante, a tall, dark, and handsome Italian foreign-exchange student, arrives at her high school, and everything gets turned upside down. Suddenly, she is having passionate feelings for him that she never had for her boyfriend, and she is willing to entertain possibilities that she never before considered. The closer she gets to Dante, the more her life spins out of control. Dante has secrets: He always wears leather gloves that cover his wrists, he disappears for days, and time literally stops when Abby is with him. The more she finds out about Dante, the more danger she is in. This novel has an exciting premise and moves along at a brisk pace. Unfortunately, the supporting characters are all caricatures of high school students, Abby and Dante have very little real chemistry, and the dialogue is stilted and frequently either clichéd or superfluous.—_Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO_
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A Time Travel Thrill Ride!!!!
, April 23, 2009
By Teri
I was sent an ARC of this blockbuster of a book two months ago to review and it totally blew me away!!! This is the first of a trilogy, of which I am excited about. This series is going to be HUGE!!! Abby Beatrice Edmunds is starting her senior year of high school, is wanting no limits in her already set life, with a boyfriend who's always got things planned. In walks Dante Alexander, a foreign exchange student from Italy, to turn her life upside down. He disappears for days, strange things happen when he's around. Abby finds herself drawn to Dante and the mystery that seems to go back to sixteenth century Florence that could be dangerous for her and her loved ones. If you love time travel stories, this is a very must read!!!! Don't be left out when this spellbinding novel comes out on 13 May!!!
This is a great book!
, May 11, 2009
By Will
Ok, so . . . I'm a guy. And guys aren't supposed to LIKE, let alone READ this kind of fiction book. Well, I haven't read TWILIGHT, but I did see the movie. However, I DID read THE HOURGLASS DOOR by Lisa Mangum. This is really a wonderfully creative story, and you really feel like to get to know and relate to the characters. Abby and Dante feel like real people, and I really cared about them and their growing relationship. I'm WAY out of high school age, but reading this story took me back to the emotions and experiences of that time. Lisa Mangum is a brilliant new writer, and I'm sharing this book . . . and her future books . . . with three of my daughters who love to read, and who love romantic fiction. I cannot tell you how MUCH I loved this book. Bravo, Lisa! I can't wait to read the next one!
--April 23, 2009
By Teri
Quotation on pages 63–64: From
The Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, translation copyright © 1980, 1982, 1983 by Robert Fitzgerald. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.
Quotations on pages 240–41, 262, and 263: From
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno
by Allen Mandelbaum, translation copyright © 1980 by Allen Mandelbaum. Used by permission of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Quotation on page 394: From
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Paradiso
by Allen Mandelbaum, translation copyright © 1984 by Allen Mandelbaum. Used by permission of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
© 2009 Lisa K. Mangum
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Shadow Mountain
¨
. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of Shadow Mountain.
All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mangum, Lisa.
The hourglass door / Lisa Mangum.
p. cm.
Summary: Dante, a prisoner sent from fifteenth-century Italy into the
present time as punishment, meets and falls in love with Abby, a high
school senior who may be the only one who can save him.
ISBN 978-1-60641-093-6 (hardbound : alk. paper)
eISBN 1-60641-608-1 (eletronic)
[1. Time travel—Fiction. 2. High schools—Fiction.
3. Schools—Fiction. 4. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 5. Good and
evil—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.M31266537Ho 2009
[Fic]—dc22
2008053555
Printed in the United States of America
Worzalla Publishing Co., Stevens Point, WI
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For Tracy
Presto
— track 3
Prologue
It is the counting that saves him.
The darkness has robbed him of nearly all his senses; he fears his sanity is next. The fear is a suffocating weight on his chest, turning his limbs to lead, making his once-nimble fingers clumsy and useless. No, not entirely useless. He can still use them to count.
In the darkness, the space between the sounds he hears is filled with potential, pregnant with hidden life. He willingly chooses to live in this non-space if it will keep his sanity intact.
So he counts the drops of water falling from the rotting ceiling overhead . . . the number of times the prisoner next to him proclaims his innocence . . . the crumbs of the crust that the guards toss at him as if he were an animal . . . the steps it takes to circumvent his cramped cell.
He counts the days he lived before coming to this place—how many days in seventeen years? How many years in a lifetime?
It’s hardest to keep track of the time. Without light, without variation, all the days blend into one seamless stretch of
now.
He longs for the uncertainty of the future.
~
The light hurts his eyes. The unexpected bustling of activity beyond the bars rattles through his ears like chains. He dares a glance, wills his eyes to focus.
Two guards run past his cell. One more trails behind them, a blanket clutched in his fist.
He knows he shouldn’t be interested, shouldn’t be curious. It will only make things worse, distract him from his counting. But he can’t help himself. He stands on his toes, pressing his face to the cold bars.
And then he sees her. All the numbers run out of his head like sand through a sieve. All the images in his eyes fade until he can see only her. His heart beats in uncountable rhythms.
She is what he imagines the angels would envy. Her heart-shaped face frames brown eyes soft as newly turned earth, red lips full as blushing rosebuds, pale cheeks smooth as unmarked vellum. Dark brown curls tumble over her shoulders.
She stands on her toes too, her hand holding onto the door frame for balance. She scans the room, looking but not seeing. Her eyes touch his for a moment, move on, then return. Her rosebud lips bloom into a smile, and a wave of warmth rushes through him. He feels as though he is standing on the summer sun.
The guards stop her in the open doorway, wrap her in a blanket, rush her out of the dungeon. But not before the sight of her is burned into his mind. Hope lies thick on his tongue. He swallows it down, where it lodges, hard as a diamond, behind his heart. Against all reason, he holds onto that hope.
It is enough to keep the darkness at bay.
For a time.
~
When they come for him, he counts the keys on their rings, the stars on their collars. These are the court’s men.
Is it time for his trial so soon?
He counts the number of steps to the courtroom. The number of people clustered in small groups, whispering. Fewer than he thought there would be.
For a moment he dares to hope they will let him go.
He counts the seconds it takes for that hope to die. More than there should be.
The guards throw him to his knees. The judge speaks a string of words—too fast to count. Only one matters anyway. One word that changes him forever.
Guilty.
He shakes his head. How is it possible? There’s been a mistake of some kind. Don’t they know who he
is?
The judge steps aside, gesturing to a black doorway that stands in the center of the room—tall as a man, but narrow, thin; it is a coffin, an open grave.
Crushing fear robs him of his sight, his breath.