Cast the First Stone: The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone

Warren’s captivating time-travel novel introduces Rembrandt Stone, a retired Minneapolis police officer who took many of the homicide cases he investigated to heart and often still wishes he could somehow change the past. After the death of his former boss, police chief John Booker, Booker’s estate sends Stone a box containing the folders from Stone’s cold-case files, a physical manifestation of his failures. One unresolved investigation stands out—three fatal bombings of coffee shops in the Minneapolis area carried out within 48 hours of each other, with no obvious motive. The box also contains Booker’s old watch, which Stone at first can’t get to work. But after he twists the dial in the same way its previous owner did, Stone is thrust into the past, specifically 1997, just in time to respond to the first of the serial bombings. Stone’s efforts to revise history result in some surprising turns, and Warren cleverly sets up a sequel. Fans of the TV series Life on Mars will be intrigued. (Self-published)