"Sleep. And when you awake everything you know of the twentieth century will be gone from your mind. Tonight is January 21, 1882. There are no such things as automobiles, no planes, computers, television. 'Nuclear' appears in no dictionary. You have never heard the name Richard Nixon." Did illustrator Si Morley really step out of his twentieth-century apartment one night -- right into the winter of 1882? The U.S. Government believed it, especially when Si returned with a portfolio of brand-new sketches and tintype photos of a world that no longer existed -- or did it?
My take: 2 looks
My goodness. I'm glad that's over. Not that this is a bad book ... or badly written. It is neither. Maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea. First of all, I am a very literal thinker, and to suspend belief that self-hypnosis will actually and literally place you in the past was something I could never quite attain. If I am reading about vampires, I know that they don't exist, so there is really no suspension of belief needed. There was never any belief to begin with. With this one, though ...
Si is a likable character, as is Julia. Rube and Dr. Danziger are likable enough on the periphery. Kate played a big role in the beginning and then just disappeared. I never felt any compassion or affinity for any of the characters. I was never invested in whether or not the project continued, whether or not Julia married Jake, or whether or not Si ever accomplished his goals. The twist at the end left me neither hot nor cold.
I can't say that I don't recommend the book, but there are so many other books out there with time travel which I found to be more engaging. I would recommend those, instead. I will not be reading any further in this series.
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