A Book A Week

The older I've gotten, the more I've come to appreciate the value of time. It may be cliche to say, but time really is the one commodity that we can't get more of. As someone who sets a time-based reading goal each year, I always feel the pressure of the weekly clock resetting, urging me to finish my current read, publish my latest review, and move on to the next book for the next week. It can be quite overwhelming. I can't tell you how many times I've wished for just one extra hour to finish a book or polish a review before publishing it. With age comes the realization that there will never be enough time. There will always be a book to read or a review to write and I'm okay with that. But what if we could travel back in time? Would you take the chance to revisit your past, have one extra moment with someone you loved, or even place yourself directly in a historical event? In Rob Hart's latest novel, The Paradox Hotel, he imagines a future where all of that and more is possible. 

Years ago, the science behind time travel was perfected. It was hailed as the kind of innovation that would define generations for years to come, a once-in-a-lifetime breakthrough of social, cultural, and technological clout. The possibilities of time travel seemed endless, but in the hands of the US Government, they quickly did what governments do best. They monetized it. The Paradox Hotel was born, a place where only the wealthiest of tourists could pay to visit different time periods. They each come dressed in the various garb of their destinations, eager to pay whatever price necessary to tour the past. 

January Cole, head of security for the hotel, is no stranger to unusual happenings. They come with the territory. The occasional stowaway from a bygone era or the random blip in the timeline is inevitable. That's just the price you pay when you are in such close proximity to the ever-continuing timeline. Recently though, things have been getting more and more stressful. You see, like all good government services, the Paradox Hotel is running at a deficit. The promise of time travel, even at astronomical prices, isn't what it used to be. Just like space travel years ago, the government is looking to privatize time travel and sell off the hotel. The world's wealthiest citizens each salivate at the idea of taking control of such a powerful resource. 

That's not the only headache ringing through Cole's brain. Before she was head of security, January guided the tours through time, ensuring each of the guests behaved and did nothing to alter the timeline ahead. She was pulled off of this job when she became "unstuck" from the timeline. Now she falls into a kind of limbo, never fully stuck in the past, present, or future. These episodes of involuntary time travel are getting worse, causing her to see things that others can't. Today, January has stumbled upon a corpse in one of the hotel rooms, though she's uncertain of who or when the crime took place. For all she knows, this may be a glimmer of things to come. One thing is certain. January is the only person equipped to solve the case. 

I first became aware of Rob Hart's writing when I read his 2019 novel The Warehouse. That work of speculative fiction was a modern Orwellian tale that perfectly captured the predicaments of our modern times. I enjoyed it so much that I eagerly accepted a copy of The Paradox Hotel when his publisher offered it to me earlier this year. This new book falls more into the science fiction category than what I'd normally read, but I couldn't help but be drawn into the premise. Hart grounds the more fanciful concepts of time travel with character motivations of greed, regret, and grief that are universal to past, present, and future. I found myself having to really focus on the plot to fully understand the complexities of the world more than I was prepared to. Still, I found myself invested enough in the main character to keep the pages turning. The end left me feeling more perplexed by my response to it all than anything else. On one hand, I was glad to be finished with a book that challenged me to grasp the intricacies of the mechanics of the world, especially as the genre was outside of my normal reading habits. On the other hand, I can't help but feel as if spending more time becoming acquainted with the world and the characters would have increased my enjoyment of the story on the whole. I loved the concept and idea behind the novel, but I can't say that I ultimately loved reading it. Your results may vary, but I do believe that Hart's skills as an author make this one worth the effort. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2021, 12)