We are often told time travel stories that reimagine history; what if Hitler was never in power? That kind of thing.
But in this story, there is a team of time specialists who travel up and down the stream on behalf of people willing to pay for the service. What often happens is that small players, who have no bearing on history, are helped to avoid tragedies or bad luck. Victims of accidents are prevented from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Our protagonist, Mike, is an operative for the Harris Agency which specializes in small cases. He is sent back to the 1950s to unravel a number of missing person cases, which is thought to be the work of a serial killer.
While he investigates, by following the victims, he becomes entangled in the life of one of them.
I found the story confusing in the first quarter as it refused to settle into a narrative but once it did, I was hooked. Gerrold can write compelling characters and situations that are just a small twist away from being comfortable. I liked that.
In the last quarter, the story takes a big leap to one side, this was frustrating and yet welcomed at the same time. It was like being interrupted by a commercial right at a crucial time. I guess that was the point.
It was terrific fun and explored underground societies in a compelling way.
Stick with it because it is worth every page.
David Gerrold's website - https://www.gerrold.com/
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| David Gerrold |
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