To Trust in What We Cannot See

By: Dennis Mansfield

Narrated by: Dennis Mansfield

To Trust in What We Cannot See is the first book in Dennis Mansfield's series of time-traveling, historical thrillers. The story builds a genre-bending, thought provoking plot around a little known historical fact: During the month of January 1913, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Josip Tito all lived in Vienna, Austria, near each other, and all regularly frequented the same coffee shop, Cafe Central. At the time, these five young men did not know one another-although some of them may have faced off in games of chess. This historical science fiction epic travels across space-time dimensions in an effort to prevent past horrors-in particular, the rise of the Nazi party and the Holocaust. Yet, a calculated act of murder to change the past winds up having an earth-shattering impact on the future. This audiobook version is ready by the author.

©2018 Dennis Mansfield (P)2020 Dennis Mansfield

Couldn’t stop listening

The most captivating and consuming historical fiction book I’ve ever listened to. Dennis’ attention to detail and passion is evident in every second of this book and it’s tough to stop to listening

Fascinating

Time/dimensional travel has always intrigued me. As does the question, "If you could go back in time in an effort to change the future, would you do it?" I most certainly would!

I enjoyed Dennis Mansfield's take on this fascinating subject, the historical figures included in the story, and the scientific explanation of TC's.

I look forward to volume 2.

Waiting for the Movie

Great book! I’m not usually drawn to historical fiction but this one once started could not be put down. Finished it in a day. The details are a little mind bending so so you have to pay attention. My only big problem with this book is the references to Liam Neeson making it difficult for the film adaptation to star Mr Neeson. Eagerly awaiting episode 2 and the eventual film Staring perhaps Harrison Ford and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Phenomenal story with great narration by the author

What a ride! To Trust in What We Cannot See combines the best elements of time travel and alternate realities with memorable characters, satisfying side plots, and an ending that leaves you satisfied yet wanting more. This audiobook version comes with a special preview of the sequel which was great and gives you a taste for where this trilogy is heading. The author’s narration is great, he helps bring these characters to life with supreme voice work. Overall I highly recommend this book and can’t wait for volume 2!

wonderful mix of history and storytelling

Loved how Dennis wove a fascinating mix of history and mystery along with a haunting question of what if you could change history...

Hire a narrator next time. And an author.

This novel is not narrated by the author on account of his excellent narration skills. His delivery is jerky, with a coarse and scratchy voice that makes listening an unenjoyable passage of time. He delivers one of the character’s voices as a dead ringer for Bill Clinton, which totally yanks me out of the story. His German pronunciation could be better, although this can be forgiven on the basis of the protagonist being American. I wish the German grammar were accurate, though. “Saw der Führer,” for example, would be better represented as “Saw den Führer,” or if you don’t want to bother with basics of German direct articles (my recommendation), “Saw the Führer.”
The narrative exposition is very tedious, often more suitable to a high school history and science texts than conversations in a work of fiction. I get confused about whether the characters’ goal is to prevent WWII or to get a GED. (Not as though preventing WWII would have been possible. Europe had wars once every generation, and killing a few key players in their younger days wouldn’t have changed that. But I digress.) In the end, encyclopedic exposition leaves a strong “tell, don’t show” flavor in the mouth of the listener.
The framework of autographed books likewise results in more information dumping than is enjoyable.
The book takes a confusing but campy detour when the author decides to change the composition of the Beatles (maybe he should have tackled Nickelback instead), shorten the Civil War, and save Mark Twain from making bad life decisions. But it steers back to stopping WWII just in time to find out that the story doesn’t end with the book; please come back for Book 2. No thank you; I’ll change the course of my future by not making that bad decision.