Time Runners is a series of fantasy novels written by the British author Justin Richards. The books chronicle the adventures of schoolboy Jamie Grant who falls through a "time break" and becomes a Runner along with the mysterious Anna, with power to control time and a duty to protect it from malign interference by the sinister Darkling Midnight. The first novelFreeze-Framed was released in March 2007, and since then three further books have been added to the series.
Plot
The novels are narrated in the first person by the schoolboy Jamie Grant, who at the start of the first book is twelve years old and has just started a new school. The Time Runners of the series title are people who fall through a time break and who therefore "no longer exist": they cannot be seen and are not remembered, but they continue an existence outside time, with some degree of power over it. The Runners comprise an alliance from many places and times who work to protect time from the interference of those such as Darkling Midnight, an Adept who the Runners see as their enemy, and who is assisted by evil time creatures called Skitters. The Runners appear to remain fixed at the age they were when they fell outside time, so once Jamie becomes a Runner he remains at twelve years old throughout the remaining books.
''Freeze-Framed''
In the first book of the series, the narrator, Jamie Grant, is introduced, along with his mum and dad and little sister Ellie. Jamie is having trouble settling at school when he meets Anna, a Runner who appears to be fourteen years old but is later revealed to have many years of experience as a Runner. She attempts to protect Jamie from his first encounter with Darkling Midnight, but Jamie falls through a time break and is rescued by Senex, Anna's partner in the alliance. He becomes a Runner, and is revealed to be very strong, and he starts to learn how to exercise his control over time.
''Rewind Assassin''
The second book of the series recounts the first mission on which Jamie and Anna are sent as Runners. They go to 1596 to prevent an assassination, and in the process meet William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I.
''Past Forward''
The third book of the series is set in America in 2021, at a time when civilization has broken down after the assassination of the President. Jamie and Anna discover that someone is tampering with time, and sacrificing children in the process.
''Wipe Out''
The fourth book is set in the 1950s, in Britain during the Cold War. Jamie succeeds in returning Anna to her own time, along with twenty years of time in which to live. Both Darkling Midnight and Jamie arrive at the end of this time interval to meet the now-adult Anna who has no recollection of the Runners, and the book ends on a cliffhanger.
