Virtual Evil

Senior Time Rover, Jacynda Lassiter finds herself in a bit of a mess when she averts an assassination attempt at a lofty London dinner party in the year 1888. After all, she is from the future and is supposed to heed the rule of being just a visitor, never a participant. The real shocker though is that the failed assassin appears to be the man who had pioneered time travel, Harter Defoe.

Oddly, there is hardly a ripple in the time line from the botched murder attempt. It should have triggered a Time Incursion Warning at the company she works for, TEM Enterprises in the year 2057. Her boss then changes her mission to finding his business partner and friend Harter.

Suddenly there is further pressure to reach him and send him back to the future whether he wants to go or not. In the meantime, enemies in both periods are intent upon causing Jacynda grief. Trumped up charges are being brought up to put away Jacynda, in her time in the future, while the game is deadly here in the past.

With the mysterious shifters called Transitives in the mix, even familiar faces can be suspect. Thankfully, she has two friends Dr. Alastair Montrose and Detective Sergeant Jonathon Keats to stand by her side while she makes her search in a very dangerous time.

VIRTUAL EVIL is a wonderfully crafted and ambitious story. Though enjoyable as a stand alone read, one is better off having the background from the first book SOJOURN. The blend of genres, fully fleshed characters, and various subplots will keep readers riveted. There is something for nearly everyone with time travel for science fiction fans, a type of shape shifter for fantasy fans, the setting of London’s East End during Jack the Ripper’s time for those who love historical fiction, mystery for armchair detectives, and a bit of romance to round it all out.

The future as described in the story seems frighteningly invasive of privacy but fascinating in the development of technology. There are Essential Subject Records Chips which hold nearly all information about a person, Personal Security Interface Units which can read ESR Chips so that one can learn about anyone in the vicinity, and Time Interfaces to initiate time leaps. Yet with all of the terminology used we are always able to follow the tale without any confusion.

Transitives are those who have the ability to mimic other forms, mostly other people. The complications of having such exist are described well as is the mythos and the handling of how the trait is passed.

Both of the heroes are Transitives, friends and competitors in Jacynda’s affections. Readers will certainly find them to be suitably qualified to fit the term hero with their strong senses of duty, loyalty, determination and loving hearts. They are also both deeply entwined in problems of their own. Jon is with Scotland Yard and is intent on finding and stopping anarchist and Irishman Desmond Flaherty from using stolen explosives to cause untold damage and harm. Alastair has had to give up his clinic for the poor due to threat of bombing and has stumbled into work in the developing field of forensic medicine. He had also stumbled in the previous book into being a member of the governing body of Transitives, The Conclave.

Jacynda is not anyone’s damsel in distress though she might well get by with a little help from her friends. She is suffering serious Time Lag, enough that she is aware her days as a Rover will soon be coming to an end. Our heroine is very capable and intelligent with a decided suspicion against authority. One can only sympathize with her problems in trying to blend in with her environment, not that she is always successful.

Deft plotting keeps all of the threads straight and the only loose end is an intentional one with a substantial cliffhanger that will lead us headlong into the next instalment in the Time Rover series due out in October 2008, MADMAN’S DANCE.

February 2008