As we tentatively turn the early pages of 2022, it puts me in mind of the recent launch of the latest novel by Kevin Ansbro – a moment of exciting expectation to be savoured. Ordinarily the author has a distinctive flair for storytelling and perhaps a connection to the Blarney Stone, which has the reader suspending any shred of disbelief, to simply revel in the warmth and feel-good vibe radiating from the page. Yet, with each new book, the author needs to deliver anew.
In his latest book, “In the Shadow of Time”, Mr Ansbro utilises the device of time travel, albeit sparingly, but the presence of a machine opens the door to the prospect of extraterrestrial technology and the possibility that alien beings walk among us, or at the very least, have a ringside seat to the soap opera that is humanity. Still, in this incarnation, ‘they’ are more than bystanding viewers, able to influence individual lives and the impact for the clutch of main characters is profound. I have commented in earlier reviews of the author’s penchant for the unusual melding of elements from multiple genres and here too Mr Ansbro has created a kaleidoscope of literary colour, borrowing from romance, scifi, thriller, contemporary history and the paranormal, embroidered together in a unique style, which also shares with the reader the author’s twinkle-in-the-eye humour and fondness for the absurdly macabre.
Hugo Wilde is of noble birth, yet plies his trade as an assassin for British intelligence, supported by his loyal friend and sidekick, Vincent O’Toole. Meanwhile, also residing in 2020 England, Sophia Ustinova is a leading physicist, married to a Russian assassin backed by the Kremlin. It’s an unlikely match, not so much ‘made in heaven’, as enabled by the distance of fifty years and the sanctuary provided by the intervention of benign, but mysterious benefactors. Starting from different spots in time and space, ‘fate’ conspires for the lives of two remarkable youngsters in the story, Pablo and Luna, to also converge in a new home in Mexico City, 1970. The gathered cast are all integral to the plot and for a series of reasons appear to have been granted the chance for a fresh start, unhindered by disparate pasts, but with the means to influence a series of wholly different future outcomes. Indeed, the theme of salvation is strong within a story that oozes a sense of karma at play.
It is to the author’s credit that the intricate choreography of the central characters is understated and yet the attention paid to developing the supporting cast, as well as reference to authentic time and place detail, is also admirable. The reader instinctively wants good things to happen to good people. but through the trade-mark elegance of Mr Ansbro’s prose, even the resident villain is not begrudged the potential of a second chance. In common with many good books, this fine addition to Mr Ansbro’s growing body of work may evince different responses in the reader. For myself, the range stretched from the simple enjoyment of masterful storytelling evoking a range of emotions, to a thought-provoking tease, which I fancy may also have been the author’s intention. Bravo!
In any event, the New Year is off to a good start.
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