Emma's Bookish Lifestyle

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is a time travel story with a thriller twist spread over three timelines. We join the story in 1967 with four female scientists who are developing a means of time travel however, on the cusp of becoming pioneers in the industry one of them suffers a mental breakdown calling the validity of the research into question. Along with the pioneers, we meet two further characters in Ruby, a grandchild of the scientist who had a breakdown and Odette a university student who discovers a body with no explanation for the preceding events. This story is beautifully written with a strength of character, purpose and plot so compelling, it was hard at times to put it down and return to the real world. @Katemascarenhas has an ability to interweve both plot and sub-plot seemlessly to draw you deeper and deeper into the story whilst the sub-characters add depth and detail to the overall story. I...

Retribution Road by Antonin Varenne translated by Sam Taylor This book begins in 1852 Burma where Sergeant Arthur Bowman, a member of the East India Company, is sent on a mission during the 2nd Anglo-Burmese War.  The expedition fails and he and his men are captured and subjected to horrible torture, only ten escape with their lives. Years later we join Sergeant Bowman in London, battling his demons through alcohol and opium.  When he finds a mutilated corpse in a sewer, the victim appear to have suffered the same torturous torments he was subjected to in the Burmese jungle.  Convinced that the culprit is one of the men who shared his fate in Burma, Bowman resolves to hunt the killer down. Plunged into darkness Arthur Bowman (now a transport police officer) will search for vengeance and redemption for the events that happened in 1852. Plot Development  "After I had found the main places and acts of the story and had ordered and read books about the...