Robert McMackin

The Time Traveler Robert McMackin

A gripping tale of memory and identity explores the mysteries of friendship, family, death and the meaning of life. Mute and in a state of traumatic shock, Peter Young awakens to the dulcet Buddhist chants of evening prayers at the Kunde Monastery. "Nepal. I'm in Nepal," he thinks, while studying the maroon robes of the monks to either side of him, his rag socks, and soiled fleece pants. Inhaling the rich aroma of yak butter candles, the initial pieces fall into place, "I've been climbing in Nepal." Yet, why he is alone? How did he arrived at the monastery? What Himalayan peak he was trying to ascend? And, most importantly, what happened to his climbing partner, Jay Brody? He is amputated from his past and now must reconstruct it. Borne upon the currents of the monastic chant, Pete begin the arduous process of reassembling his life. His forty-year relationship with Jay provides the guideposts, leading him through their shared childhood to alpine meadows, Cascade summits, and Khumbu glaciers. He must endure the lures of suicide or abandoning himself to catatonia, as the route back to the present entails coming to grips with himself and his past in new ways.