July - Book of the Month: Hard Time
A Year of reading with Jodi Taylor
Hard Time is the second book in the Time Police series and it’s the one where I tried to flesh out the characters a little by showcasing the supposed talents of each member of Team 236. Hence, Luke and Jane go undercover while Matthew revisits his relationship with the Time Map.
I enjoyed writing this one – especially because it enabled me to imagine the far future, with its intelligent fridges, airships, SmartGlass and so forth. I wrote it in 2019/20 – a Covid book! – and a lot of the ideas I came up with seemed a very long way off but now, looking back, actually weren’t. I sometimes think the future is enveloping us more quickly than we ever dreamed possible. Whether this will turn out to be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing remains to be seen.
It’s also the story where Imogen Farnborough makes her first appearance. Initially she was only supposed to be an ex-girlfriend of Luke’s and a bit of an airhead but I really liked her attitude. Imogen has a lot of attitude! Especially towards Luke. And it really won’t do him any harm at all to know that not every female falls for his supposed charms.
There are some serious themes as well. Not everything is well in the future. For a start, there’s Site X, Temporal Tourism and its impact, together with another appearance of a couple of bounty hunters being their usual enigmatic selves.
And speaking of enigmatic, what of Major Callen? Exactly whose side is he on?
Enjoy …
Enjoy an extract read by Jodi Taylor
Turning Unlikable characters into Fan Favourites
There have always been idiots who want to change history. But now temporal tourism is on the rise. Highly illegal, highly risky - and highly lucrative.
The Time Police despatch their toughest undercover agents to take out the perpetrators. Then the unthinkable happens. Replacements are needed fast and who better than three young officers who barely look the part?
Step forward Team Weird - Luke, Jane and Matthew. They might still be in training. Their methods might be unorthodox. But, as the Time Police face their greatest ever threat, Team Weird might be their only shot at survival.
Next Month’s book will be Saving Time: Book Three in the Time Police Series
Like all Jodi’s books in whichever series they belong it causes you to neglect everything else until you come to the end of it,
I started the time police book a month challenge but I'm afraid it turned out to be a book a week/ day depending on whether I could put the book down. It doesn't matter how often I read Jodi's books, I always get sucked in to the story and often notice things I've missed or forgotten.