The Skin Map

In the first of a new series about traveling through time and space, Kit Livingstone's very ordinary life takes an abrupt turn when he meets his great grandfather, Cosimo, whom he thought to be long dead. Together they travel to seventeenth-century England to search for a map that holds the key to inter-dimensional travel. Simon Bubb's facility with accents is an integral component of his narration. Nuanced accents and tones reveal the various social classes of the characters. He moves easily between the subplots, which take place in various times and locations. With subtlety, he depicts the villainous Lord Burleigh as close to respectable, except, of course, when he's being absolutely despicable. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

July 5, 2010
A promising tale of interdimensional voyaging disintegrates rapidly into a clunky and incoherent mess. Londoner Kit Livingstone and his unpleasant girlfriend, Wilhelmina, are separated and sent back to an alternate 17th-century England. There Kit's great-grandfather Cosimo reveals secretive time travelers are racing the evil Lord Archelaeus Burleigh to locate a map holding an earthshaking secret. Stranded when Cosimo vanishes into a portal, Kit falls in with the beautiful Lady Fayth while Wilhelmina struggles to survive on her own in Prague. Lawhead (The Endless Knot) has come up with plenty of clever concepts and colorful settings, but they can't compensate for thinly drawn, incompetent characters and the lack of a coherent story line.