Behind Time

What would you do if your 70-something mother showed up and looked as young as the college co-eds you're used to helping in the university library where you work? There are already too many secrets in this relationship. Emma's mother had disappeared 40-some years before when Emma was only 1 and left Emma's father to raise her. Oh, and let's not forget that Mom's legacy to Emma was magic that Emma's only now learning to use. Then, her Mom goes unconscious and the only way Emma can recover her is to go to this world's equivalent of Hell to get her back. This book is a lot slower moving than the first, but is interesting. I love the quandary that Lynn Abbey's placed our heroine in, plus I am intrigued by the atypical heroine as well. Kudos to Abbey for making this book stand on its own. That's hard to do in a serial. Her third book "Taking Time" is not as good.

I didn't realize that this was a continuation of another of abbey's novels until I was half way through, and I wasn't about to quit reading in order to get the first part. Turned out not to matter. The book does a good job of giving enough of an overview of the previous book that you understand completely what's happening, though I imagine reading them in the proper order would give you even more empathy for the characters. Of course, reading this book first spoils the ending of the other, but go figure. All in all, it's a good book and if you can't get your hands on Out Of Time, you'll still enjoy this one.

Emma is struggling to save her mother, who has fallen into a coma, though the use of her psychic powers as she accesses a world which Eleanor introduced her to, which has consumed her mother. As she travels between worlds she becomes increasingly involved in a handsome man's life and in a world frequented by supernatural forces. A haunting, multi-faceted story powered by strong characterization.

This is an author I picked up browsing the book store shelf, I fond the material intresting being from Michigan and an insomniac. Although the premise is considered typical the writing is very good and the characters believable. I love that the heroine is not some twenty year old but someone with experience, who uses both her mind, education and new found abilities. I do wish that the details of her mothers background and the organization she is involved with were explained in greater detail. I am definetly looking forward to Lynn Abbey's next book.