Nick Jones (4)

First sentence: The smell of roasting chestnuts and sweet candy, the piercing screams of kids being thrown around at impossible speed.

Premise/plot: Joseph Bridgeman is haunted by the disappearance of his younger sister, Amy, even decades after the event. They were together at the fair. It was one second--maybe two--where his eyes were on a cute girl instead of his younger sister. A friend encourages him to see a hypnotherapist, I believe. He learns a few mindfulness techniques to help him show more relax, to help him sleep...and suddenly...he becomes an insta-time-traveler. (Not that I'm complaining). Now that he's figured out that he can travel to the past--be it ten minutes, two weeks, or ten years--he's convinced that he HAS to save his sister, Amy. His whole reason for being is to save Amy. And by saving Amy, perhaps, he can save his family....

But traveling from 2020 to 1997 isn't easy. And time travel has its own risks....

My thoughts: I enjoy time travel stories. I do. When time traveling is part of the premise, I'm going to be curious and want to read it. I enjoyed this one. There is a lot of set-up--which is to be expected--and the pacing may be slightly uneven. But I found it a compelling read. Definitely this one is more premise-driven and plot driven. But I don't mind that. It is the first in a series. I'm curious to read more in the series... show less

Favorite Quotes:

Money. When you have it, you don’t think about it, and when you don’t, it’s all you think about. Unless you’re me: Captain Denial of the good ship Penniless.

The walls are adorned with the usual “I’m really qualified” certificates, along with oil paintings depicting calm scenes of shorelines, sunsets, and gardens. The color of the room is soothing. I suspect it has some pretentious name like “Coffee Breath” or “Buffalo Turd at Sunset.” I guess if they show more just called it “Brown,” they wouldn’t be able to charge as much.

It’s just that I’m taking particle physics and applying it to hair ribbons. I’m struggling with my professional credibility and twenty years of dogma here. If you ever tell anyone about this conversation, I’ll kill you.

My Review:

I rarely read this genre, as in never, but I was intrigued by the synopsis while also feeling the need for a drastic change-up and due for a jackpot – bingo! I’ve struck gold, as this was an unexpected treasure chest of believable oddity that persistently taunted and poked at my curiosity while squeezing my heart.

The well-crafted storylines and agile writing style were engagingly emotive and deceptively evocative, yet despite the bit of imaginative world-building required, it is easy to follow and highly absorbing. I may have done a bit of time traveling myself as I fell right into Mr. Jones’s clever arrangements of words and was lost in Joe’s story for hours before looking up. I vastly enjoy witty snark and the main character of Joe was assembled with a heaping helping. And while it wasn’t a cliffhanger, there is obviously more to come and I will be eagerly awaiting Mr. Bridgeman’s return.

As a bonus, I scored a new addition to my Brit Words and Phrases list with lovely jubbly, which Mr. Google indicated is an exclamation of joy or delight to good news, which is an apt expression of how I felt about stumbling upon this peculiarly compelling tale, it was indeed lovely jubbly. show less

The disappearance of Joe’s younger sister Amy has been resolved and now he thinks he can settle down to his new life, replacing the 'other' Joe whose sister never vanished to begin with because of Joe's intervention. Of course that's not going to happen.
This is the second entry in the Joseph Bridgeman time travel adventure series and, if anything, it’s even better than the first. It touches on some of the paradoxes of time travel but for me the big draw is the way it shows how time show more travel changes the characters by changing the environment that shaped them. It also has another suspenseful mission for Joe to complete and this time it's set in the organized crime scene of London in the '60s. Can't wait to find out where (or when) the next one takes us. show less

A wonderful start to a promising time‑travel adventure series. There are no complex scientific theories, parallel universes, or overused tropes in this, just an emotionally suspenseful story with great character development. The title, And Then She Vanished, is a big tip‑off to the nature of the plot – it’s a mystery at heart - and even though it gets resolved with nothing left dangling, I got snagged by that surprise hook at the end.

I've already got the next audiobook lined up even show more though I have mixed feelings about Ray Porter’s narration. His accent is clearly American while this is set in England and his female characters sound cartoonish. On the plus side he spoke clearly and his voice was well modulated. At any rate, I'd be hearing his odd accent and female voices even if I read the next one in print. show less