What is this book about? Time travel? Intelligence organizations? Government cover-ups? Diplomatic immunity? War? Dealing with loss? Mental illness? Maybe all of it and then some. Definitely more of a mystery than sci-fi, with twists and turns, additional pieces of the story around every turn of the page.
I really, really liked Mullen's first novel, which was a fairly straight-forward narrative about the Influenza epidemic, logging and unionization. I was not so crazy about his second novel, which was about bank-robbing brothers in the 1930s, with a paranormal twist. So you might think the convolution of so many different themes and genres would turn me off even more, but it didn't.
Unlike The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, I believed these characters. I liked these characters. Even Leo, the former CIA agent who reveals himself multiple times to be a selfish asshole, isn't without his redeeming qualities. All of the characters are confused (who wouldn't be, when you don't know who's watching you or who you can trust?), emotionally wounded, and torn between what they are supposed to do and what they think is right. They have depth that I thought the Firefly brothers lacked.
About 100 pages from the end, Mullen throws a curve ball that left me stunned, but I liked it. The ending is left rather open to interpretation, which I usually hate, but it didn't bother me here. I picked the version of the truth that suits me, and I'm good with that.
In short, I really, really liked this book, couldn't put it down, and look forward to reading whatever Mullen comes up with next.
I really, really liked Mullen's first novel, which was a fairly straight-forward narrative about the Influenza epidemic, logging and unionization. I was not so crazy about his second novel, which was about bank-robbing brothers in the 1930s, with a paranormal twist. So you might think the convolution of so many different themes and genres would turn me off even more, but it didn't.
Unlike The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, I believed these characters. I liked these characters. Even Leo, the former CIA agent who reveals himself multiple times to be a selfish asshole, isn't without his redeeming qualities. All of the characters are confused (who wouldn't be, when you don't know who's watching you or who you can trust?), emotionally wounded, and torn between what they are supposed to do and what they think is right. They have depth that I thought the Firefly brothers lacked.
About 100 pages from the end, Mullen throws a curve ball that left me stunned, but I liked it. The ending is left rather open to interpretation, which I usually hate, but it didn't bother me here. I picked the version of the truth that suits me, and I'm good with that.
In short, I really, really liked this book, couldn't put it down, and look forward to reading whatever Mullen comes up with next.
