“Time has no meaning. Birth, death, and everything in between. We are simply in debt, paying for every mistake. You may not realize it but you are paying for things that haven’t occurred yet.”

Blurb

A man wakes up in present-day Alaskan wilderness with no idea who he is, nothing on him save an empty journal with the date 1898 and a mirror. He sees another man hunting nearby, astounded that they look exactly alike except for his own beard. After following this other man home, he witnesses a wife and child that brings forth a rush of memories of his own wife and child, except he’s certain they do not exist in modern times—but from his life in the late 1800s.

After recalling his name is Wyatt, he works his way into his doppelganger Travis Barlow’s life. Memories become unearthed the more time he spends, making him believe that he’d been frozen after coming to Alaska during the Gold Rush and that Travis is his great-great grandson. Wyatt is certain gold still exists in the area and finding it with Travis will ingratiate himself to the family, especially with Travis’s wife Callie, once Wyatt falls in love. This turns into a dangerous obsession affecting the Barlow’s and everyone in their small town, since Wyatt can’t be tamed until he also discovers the meaning of why he was able to be preserved on ice for over a century.

My review

The Ancestor is an absolute thriller about present-day Alaska. Goldberg has a slightly poetic style to his writing, and the writing easy to follow.  Like –“The nightmare vanished along with the sun rising like a bride’s pretty little hand on his grizzled cheek.” The story is unique. The concept of being frozen in time- I have to admit, I had never heard of this kind of fiction with its raw human emotions and the description of rugged and wild Alaska.  Humans' very nature has been explored in-depth, where your ancestor might want to harm you to have what you have.

Among the characters, Travis was my favorite. He was strong; he was gentle, noble, and kind. He had a thirst to make it big, he was trusting, and he immensely loved his wife. The characters were well developed, and their background building was also engaging.

The mystery of what will happen to Travis, will Wyatt be able to come clean, who was responsible for Bobby and was there any Gold left, kept me turning the pages. The pivotal twist was Wyatt’s lust for Callie. But I found the whole incident and the ending slightly unbelieving. Callie, I believe, should have known her husband better.  You can’t blame everything on drunkenness. What happens when she was sober?

“Chase for whatever it is you truly want and don’t’ stop until you have it firmly in your grasp.”

Final Verdict

And the end, oh the end. It pinched my heart. Doesn’t good always triumph over evil? Well, I leave it to you to find out the rest of it. I had to rate the Ancestor a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars for its page-turning, full of suspense and intrigue building qualities.

Who Should Read This

I have to warn younger readers, though. The content is most definitely adult with themes of murder, prostitutes, and sex.

Fans of thrillers and mystery will most definitely enjoy this unique tale. Do read about this quest for the shiny metal that surpasses generations and centuries. And see if you can find the answer to the question the author puts- It was all worth the sacrifice?

Happy Reading!