Stefan Petrucha's Time Tripper Quartet

I love time travel books, but the older I get, the more they make my head hurt. This was true of Yestermorrow, Inrage, Blindsighted, and Futureimperfect, all of which were wonderfully complex, if hard to describe. (Like Lawrence's Crack in the Line, which is about different levels of reality. When I tell students that, they want to know what happens. Well... in which dimension?)

Since Harry's father died, he has trouble holding on to reality. There are voices, premonitions, and odd behavior. He's been institutionalized and medicated, and still, he doesn't feel right. When he starts seeing snail-like trails of people's lives on the ground, and finds he can go into them and experience the lives... things become really complicated. Then there are the Quirks and Glitches, who mercifully just say "unk", but who cause everyone to go a bit mad in the second book.

Dang. I had these all worked out in my head after I finished them, but the plots have slipped away. What I really liked, however, was the dark, teenage tone, the swiftly moving plots, the quirky characters, and the mind-bending aspects of time travel. These were a great portrayal of a darker side of that thought, which is what I have come to expect from Razorbill. Petrucha, who has done a lot of Nancy Drew and novelizations, has done a great job with these-- so why only in paperback? I have about five heavy-duty fantasy/sci fi fans who will inhale these. Good stuff.

Only one complaint. It's about a Latin phrase, and I want to check with the expert first. Authors, don't use Latin unless you are really, really sure!