Three Days to Never
by Tim Powers
If you like your genre novels neatly cut and dried, Three Days to Never is probably not for you. It combines
the classic spy thriller with paranormal and fantasy. Frank Marrity's mother has just died, and he expects nothing
more than the usual sibling squabbles over property with his sister's greedy husband. Instead, he and his daughter
are slammed into a worldwide hunt for an invention that could change everything about time itself. If you mention
elements of the novel: the Kabbalah, shadow organizations, psychic spies, Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, and quantum
physics, it's hard to believe they could come together in a coherent narrative. But Powers creates even more - this
is a tension filled, completely believable trip through one man's worst nightmare. The only downside is Frank's
daughter, whose characterization is uneven. Is she a staggeringly precocious twelve year old who thinks and reacts
like a college-educated adult? Or is she a little girl with a teddy bear who screams for her Daddy when things get
bizarre? Both depictions read eerily convincing but somehow didn't convince me they were different sides of the same
person. Still, it was only a mild distraction on an otherwise exciting and compelling reading ride. |
The Reviewer |
Jan Fields |
Reviewed 2008 |
NOTE: Reviewer Jan
Fields is the editor of Kid Magazine Writers emagazine and has written dozens of
stories and articles for the children's magazine market. |
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