Brenda W. Clough

Forty-ish private detective Tim Coates falls head over heels in love the minute young Ellie walks into his office, seeking to hire someone to find her mother Ruby, who Ellie left behind two years earlier. It's the late 1960s, and soon Tim discovers that Ellie is only 17 but already famous, a world-class beauty working as a model; soon, too, he learns that she and her mother share a secret: they both have a "gift" that enables them to see the strongest, deepest desires of the people around show more them who are driven by obsessions. Unfortunately, the gift also makes them feel a reciprocal desire, to give those obsessives what they want. This has served Ruby poorly, in that she works as a prostitute and from time to time must flee from one town to another, sometimes because of murder. Ellie, on the other hand, has turned her gift to a more lucrative life; but while at the Temple of Ephasus in Greece, the place dedicated to Demeter searching the world for her daughter Persephone, she suddenly feels an overwhelming need to find her mother, whom she had left behind at age 14. And Tim is determined to find what Ellie needs, to make her happy, whether by his own will or hers.... Well. What to say, given this was a free e-book provided to me from Early Reviewers at LibraryThing? I hated this book. I hated both main characters - Tim's whole attitude toward Ellie is that of a middle-aged man's wet dream, his whole understanding of her is limited to her looks and having lots of sex with her, which is creepy on the face of it (remember, he's 40, she's 17). And Ellie has no personality of her own at all, she's just Ruby's cipher and then acting the way Tim wants in order to get what she wants. At least she's more honest about that than he is, but both of them are horrible people. The concept of the "gift" is an interesting one, and I can think of many authors who could (and have) explored it to much better effect than this. Me, I'm just left with this sour taste in my mouth after reading this, and I wish I hadn't. Read it, that is. show less

Not what i was expecting at all. I was envisaging something along the lines of Amelia Peabody - instead it was more Victorian social commentary than high adventure. Granted it involved bigamy, anarchists, The Great Stink, murder and Victorian Family Values, and rattled along at a fair pace (it did involve a last minute marriage - literally), so it fulfilled expectations in that sense but I felt somewhat let down in the high adventure department. An enjoyable holiday read - I shall have to show more see how the others pan out. (I was reading it at Cley Marshes while the other half was bird watching - I prefer wildlife to be neatly trussed, cooked appropriately and placed on the dinner table.) show less

1912: Titus Oates, an actual member of Scott's doomed South Pole Expedition, is dying of starvation and gangrene and walks into the blizzard to die and give his comrades a better chance to survive.

2045: Titus is revived by scientists attempting to prove the efficacy of time-travel without altering the past. Oates' body was never found in Antarctica, and knowing this, the scientists have traveled back to snatch him before he dies in the blizzard. The reason for the time-travel experiment? - show more to determine if a faster-than-light, time-traveling drive is safe for use in space travel. The specifications for the drive have been received from a distant planet, and modern society would like to visit the alien civilization and return to report to Earth within the span of only a few years.

Titus awakens into a world he cannot comprehend. The language is the same, but usage and terminology for all the intervening years renders most sentences unintelligible. Constant and instant communication, medical miracles (his rotting limbs have all been cloned and replaced), total equality of race, gender and orientation, and scientific marvels, all are a challenge to his notions of reality, propriety, and his place in life. Much of the books is concerned with his struggles to find trust and purpose again. His rescuers fear for his sanity, and there are many times he must readjust his judgments and attitudes lest he succumb. At one point he tries to find a way to return to the past and die as was meant. He falls in love with one of his doctors, makes friends and some enemies, revolts and runs, tries again, watches his lover sail off in space for a years-long mission to the distant planet, decides to try again to be an explorer and meaningful member of society. The last third of the book takes place 8 years later, with Titus almost fully integrated into 21st century life and embarking on a final huge adventure.

Titus is a fascinating character, an Edwardian gentleman adjusting to an egalitarian, space-age, consensus-ruled society. The author has researched the realities of early 20th century Antarctic exploration, and her imagining of a far future life for one of them is creative and realistic, with natural dialogue. The 500 pages go by quickly, and the last 100 are almost guaranteed to be read in one sitting. Highly recommended! show less

I read this third one out of order, which doesn’t affect the storyline much. And does let you see how nicely Clough has foreshadowed future episodes. This is Marian’s first overseas adventure, a rescue mission that leads to exploration of indigenous Mayan communities in the former British Honduras. Are there some Mary Sue-ish moments? Yes. But they’re amusingly tongue-in-cheek. And the continual culling of their “real” adventures in each installment into a further distilled set of show more sensational novels in the book is a blast. The Marian Holcombe saga continues to be a great ripping yarn. show less