MYRIAD

An attempt on her partner’s life forces a time-hopping cop to go on the lam in search of answers.

When she was just 6 years old, Miriam Randle witnessed her twin brother's murder, and the event has colored her entire life. If Jeremy had lived, her mother would not have abandoned her. She would not have had to manage her father's alcoholism on her own, and there would be someone else to care for her estranged mother now, in the wake of an early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis. At 26, Miriam works as a “travel agent”: a private law enforcement officer who goes back in time to stop murders before they happen. Hours after a mission goes sideways, she narrowly misses the chance to stop a would-be assassin from gravely injuring her partner, Vax. These back-to-back failures would be enough to unsettle any agent, but they fall on the 20th anniversary of Jeremy’s death. The ensuing debriefing reveals Miriam and Vax’s affair as well as his belief that Miriam may be losing her grip. All signs indicate that Vax’s assailant is a rogue agent, but the duo's handler does not give Miriam time to testify. He fires her mere moments before the killer strikes again, leaving her in possession of a literal smoking gun. Shades of classic science fiction permeate Bellin's neonoir, to both positive and negative effect. The central mystery keeps the pages turning well into the third act, but the author doesn't provide readers with the necessary tools to stitch the case together for themselves, resulting in several eleventh-hour reveals that feel unearned. In spite of the lack of signposting, however, readers familiar with Bellin's SF predecessors will spot many of the plot twists coming from miles away. That may please eagle-eyed speculative-fiction fans, but Bellin's decision to forego the trail of breadcrumbs may disappoint readers who approach this genre blender as a thriller.

A twisty time hop that never fully escapes the shadow of its influences.