Set in Stone, like the previous books, asks us to think about one thing – What would happen if you changed your past? If you’ve read the first three books in The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone series by David James Warren, you know the answer for our hero is disaster. Rembrandt Stone is a retired police detective/novelist who inherits a box of cold cases and a watch from his former boss. In an unexpected twist, Rembrandt discovers the watch is a time-traveling mechanism that takes him back in time so he can solve the cold cases.

It seems straightforward, but Rem’s had a little problem with not altering the past. His life is completely upended and maybe just solving the cases changes everything about his future. This future he’s living is one he didn’t want, and his quest changed from solving cases to regaining his old life. Rembrandt says, “This is personal. I know that sounds crazy, but fate and I are in a war, and I don’t know about you, but to me, it feels like fate is up on the scoreboard.” Total understatement.

There are two important lessons for us all in the series. First, be happy in our circumstances. Two, appreciate the life we have. Unlike Rembrandt, we can’t go back in the past and correct our mistakes. And even if we could, like Rembrandt, we might find the new reality isn’t something we want.

Set in Stone Lesson One – Be Happy in Our Circumstances

If you’re like me, you think if you could correct your past mistakes, you’d have a better life. But would we? This aspect of the series, Rem’s quest, to right all the wrongs that have happened in the past and his new futures, is most intriguing because things just seem to get worse for him. With each installment he has to work harder and harder to accept his circumstances and let go of regret.

At the end of Sticks and Stone, book three, Rem loses the watch, and is stuck in time. Yes, he has Eve, but his life is still in chaos. “I don’t need to get back to my timeline,” Rembrandt says. “I know that’s long gone. I just need a world I can live in.” Wow! And then heart-stopping tragedy strikes once again. It’s imperative Rem find the watch so he can make another trip back in time to intentionally change his timeline. One of the most gut-wrenching scenes so far in the series involves his desperate attempt to find the watch.

In one pivotal scene, he’s talking to his mother-in-law who gives him some wise insight. “And if I live in fear of the what-ifs, it just leaches the happiness out of what I do have.” Rem’s lived his life with what-ifs, in fact, he’s still living it that way. He has so many regrets that robbed him of the beautiful life he had and they still plague him.

Set in Stone Lesson Two – Appreciate What We Have

In book four, Rem has reached a point where he sees what a good life he had before he made the first trip back in time. The problem was he didn’t appreciate it. This is possibly his great Aha moment because I think if he gets his old life back, he won’t take it for granted again. He’ll be thankful for what he has. And that’s a lesson I know I need to learn, too. Maybe this isn’t the life I would have chosen for myself, but there are still so many blessings I can count.

Final Thoughts

Rembrandt and Eve are married. in Set in Stone. She’s the perfect picture of sacrificing for love and she’s still solid and dependable. I like her more and more because Rem’s not been the easiest guy to love. But Rem’s growing and becoming a better man. He’s finally learning to make sacrifices. He doesn’t think only of himself. Now, other people factor into his decisions.

I’m also more invested in the secondary characters. They’ve changed throughout the series, but in this book, their lives are good and who knows what will happen next. I don’t want their stories altered.

I’ve taken on the role of armchair detective. I know there have been clues I should have paid more attention to, but I’m starting to catalogue and I’m thinking I know who the killer is. Okay, I’ve narrowed it down to two possible suspects. But, these authors are clever, so the killer may turn out to be someone I least suspect. Oh the suspense!

Even if time travel stories aren’t you’re favorite, I think you’ll find these books intriguing.  There are so many twists and turns that keep you guessing about what will happen next. And the stories aren’t really about time travel. They’re about how we value our lives and how we treat the people we love.

I do have one word of caution. While you get a little backstory in each installment, you need to read the stories in order because some things won’t make sense if you’ve not read the earlier books. I’m on pins and needles waiting for October when the next book releases.

Have you read this series? What’s been your favorite aspect of it?

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