Shadows on the Aegean

August 3, 1998
The myth of Atlantis inspires the confident second novel in Frank's time-traveling romantic trilogy (after the popular Reflections in the Nile). Green-eyed Chloe Kingsley finds herself not in ancient Egypt, where the last novel ended, but on pre-classical Crete, inhabiting the body of an oracle headed for the doomed island of Aztlan. There she meets her soulmate and fellow time-traveler, Cheftu, now an Egyptian healer. Together, they experience a sensuous barbaric Minoan culture. Part Mary Renault, part Jacqueline Susann, Frank delights in re-imagining (sometimes pulpishly) lost rituals of love, power and religion, but she also finds moments of refreshing humor in the contrast between Chloe's modern sensibility and ancient manners. Longing for a cigarette or a bar of chocolate or a Diet Coke, Chloe is an easy heroine to sympathize with. Meanwhile, back in the 20th century, Chloe's nemesis now inhabits her body while Chloe's sister encounters ferocious magic in an unknown tomb. Fans will stay tuned. Editors, Susan Sandler and Jessica Papin. (Aug.) FYI: Warner is issuing a paperback edition of Reflections in the Nile in July; Sunrise on the Mediterranean, Frank's next volume in the trilogy, will appear in 1999.

July 1, 1998
Shadows on the Aegean marks the return of time-travelers Chloe Kingsley and her husband, Cheftu. Waking up in the persona of the oracle and priestess Sibylla, Chloe finds herself stranded in the decadent island civilization of ancient Aztlan (a.k.a. Atlantis) during the time of Joseph's sojourn in Egypt. Neither rumbling volcanoes nor a mysterious plague can separate her for long from her beloved Cheftu, but can they manage to save the people of Aztlan from impending destruction? Frank somewhat randomly mixes Greek mythology, the Old Testament, and her knowledge of Minoan civilization to create the mystical world of Aztlan. Her characters are passionate and exuberant, but the narrative flow suffers from frequent changes in point of view. Worth buying only if your public library has her first book (Reflections in the Nile, Warner, 1997). Otherwise, the time-traveling novels of Diana Gabaldon are preferable in their more believable settings, suspenseful plots, and plausible, likable characters.--Laurel Bliss, New Haven, CT

August 1, 1998
The follow-up to Frank's popular "Reflections in the Nile" (1997), this imaginative time-travel romance is meticulously researched and lavishly told. The heroine, twentieth-century American artist Chloe Kingsley, is thrust from ancient Egypt into the lost civilization of Atlantis where she encounters gods and goddesses known from Greek mythology walking the earth as living rulers and priests in a society veering toward violent self-destruction. This is not a world for the meek of heart or the weak of stomach. The decadent setting provides ample opportunity for richly described licentious behavior of all kinds, as well as nauseating rituals involving cannibalism, raw meat, and sex-charged bloody baptism. Although the dialogue seems strained at times and much of Chloe's cynical twentieth-century commentary comes off as being more contrived than irreverent, Frank does create a fascinating world. And the love story of Chloe and her time-traveling husband, Cheftu, adds depth to this stimulating interpretation of myth and history. ((Reviewed August 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)