This was a historical thriller and not my cup of tea. The writing was good but I didn't enjoy the plot and did not finish the book in the end

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately it’s not the book for me. DNF @ 11%.

Really enjoyable historical read. Not normally one I would actually pick up and it did take a little while to get into the writing style, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

I TRIED with this one - so many starts and restarts and just gritting the teeth and plowing through before I decided that this was good money after bad. Sometimes a book just doesn't do it and this book and I will never be friends. That being said, other reviews are quite positive so I don't want to libel a novel that could work for a majority of readers - give it a shot, I guess?

From the moment I finished the opening chapter of this book I knew it was going to keep me enticed. Having grown up in Oxfordshire I instantly felt a connection as there were many places I knew and have visited. My mind painting a picture of each place, setting the scene for every chapter, making me feel like I was actually there.

My only criticism is the multiple points of view set out throughout the book, sometimes this led me to become confused as to what was going on, when it was going on and why the character was relevant to the plot. This doesn't however detract from the fact that the plot itself was intriguing and unique and very well written, keeping me on my toes the whole time and wanting to keep turning to the next page. This book is well worth your time.and I hope to read further novels from David Impey in the future.

#TheOctoberMen #NetGalley

I ended up DNFing The October Men because I was not enjoying the writing style or the plot. Plus I just wasn't overly interested in what was going on. This was really unfortunate as it did sound like a good sci-fi read. My main overall issue was that this was written in more of a mystery/thriller style of writing and it just didn't have the pace to keep me intrigued. Apart from a few chapters, there isn't really a sense of much time travel actually happening, or if there is we don't actually see it and there's a lot of mystery around who we're reading about in that time period.

Another issue I had is that there was so many POV's that I didn't feel attached to any of them. I was also confused a lot about who I was reading about. Plus, where we are in the time line was not really talked about either. It made me think the plot was extremely disjointed from the start, and because I didn't finish it I can't say if this ever improves. The pace was also slow, so I didn't feel like we were ramping up for a big reveal which would have helped me to continue reading.

I did like that we were shown some historical figures like Van Gogh. It's clever of the characters to have gone back in time, or forward in time in order to fund their research and is something that I've rarely seen in books because of time travel 'rules'.

I think this is a book for fans of thrillers who have a wish to move into sci-fi books. As someone who enjoys very deep sci-fi world building this just wasn't what I expected or what I wanted to read at that time. I do think I will try to read this again in the future though.

POSITIVES
+ Historical figures are included



NEGATIVES
– Personal dislike of writing style

– Too many POV's

– Extremely slow

This is a great concept, written by an author who is clearly talented and erudite, and full of intricately interwoven plots - the problem I'm having is that the weaving of which isn't immediately apparent and I found myself having to persevere from the opening chapters... The multiple narrator format is not usually an issue for me, but this time I found the voice of each to feel not only unique but so distinct that it was almost like it was written by different authors. That's a testament to Impey's skill as a writer, but I will confess that it made the reading slow-going and disjointed for me because some of those voices were just not to my taste/style at all and I struggled to slog through their details.

I'm sorry to say I gave up on this one. I think it is definitely a book I will come back to, but right now, I just couldn't focus through the challenges I found in the multiple voices. The concept is so great, and the other reviews so resoundingly positive, that I know I'll come back to it - but for right now, it was not a good fit for me...

Well, this was something a little different for me. And in a good way, I hasten to add. Every so often a book comes along that defies all expectations I may have and delivers a really rather good read that I wasn't quite expecting. This was one of those books and I am so glad that I took a gamble on it given that it is way outside my usual reading comfort zone.
It's a strange book all told. Initially we get chapters that appear to be completely unrelated to anything else going on. But they must mean something, they must fit in somewhere, eventually so I duly read and tried to remember them. Hold the information until a later time when I was sure it would all come clear. Around these chapters, we have the story of a missing person. Otto Parsons is a brilliant physicist. He never shows up to a social meeting and when his home is investigated, blood is found. We go on to learn that he is part of a team who is working on creating zero gravity for use on Earth and meet Prof Dan Sibley, another member of the team who is desperately trying to get more funding. Exhausting the more legitimate ways, he finds the means from another source but will he live to regret the new partnership that comes hand in hand with the money?
And that's all I am saying about the plot as it is such that it needs to be discovered as the author intended, at the time he wants the reader to know things. It's a completely new and very novel story to me but then I am not over familiar with the genre so I guess it would be.
Characterisation was also interesting for me as there was a vast cast of extras, some real historic characters, who only had small, albeit crucial, parts to play. The main players were all well defined and, within their roles, cast to perfection.
On the face of it all, it's not really the best book for me as I do struggle with some of the elements contained within; namely the isolated chapters at the start. But having been advised by a book buddy to carry on, I started making a few notes along the way to help me and it wasn't too long before I was able to abandon that need and things started to just click nicely into place.
Some of the side stories and dips into the past were absolutely fascinating and added much interest and intrigue to the rest of the narrative as it played out in the present. It definitely gave a different spin on some of the more well known incidents as it delved through the historic annuls!
All in all, a very different book for me but one that I thoroughly enjoyed. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A cleverly written book does end in a clever and an intriguing manner. David Impey's The October Men is a blend of science fiction and the clever imagination of a writer.

A brilliant young physicist goes missing. A professor is desperate to secure the funding for the experiment running that yields into unexpected results of time travel. However, the experiment does fall into the hands of men who have different agenda the professor and the physicist. A series of historical events are revealed and the truth of the experiment is known to all humanity. What will happen now? Who will have the access to it?

The plot starts a bit slow in my opinion. The switching of narration that depends on different characters point-of-view to move the plot further without revealing those characters fully to the reader does create a surprise for the reader but it also makes the start a bit slow. Even though it did show sign of being a science fiction work from the start, the genre of science fiction is not heavily invested and I think it can lure a lot more readers rather than just the regular audience of the genre.

The narrative voice has a steady pace. The storyline did spike my interest as it move furthers and reveal more events. The building of a good story with elements of suspense and science fiction is there. The characterization in this novel is like the heartbeat of a human being. Some characters are fully developed while few of them did feel like they need more time.

The writing style is exquisite. In a simple manner, David Impey has introduced the concept of time traveling what looks like from the start, in a suspense novel. This is the talking point of the book. Not only he blends those two elements, he uses them to drive the plot further. This is the reason I enjoyed reading it and I consider this novel to be a result of clever imagination.

I recommend this novel if you always wanted to read a book on time travel but never had the heart for going into many details. Do consider this one, if you are looking for a great piece of a writer's imagination.

4 out of 5

I really rather enjoyed this book and could not put it down once I got about halfway through. The beginning can be a bit confusing to follow because it switches characters every chapter, although all of these stories connect and are building a base for the end of the book. I suggest you do your best to pay attention to this part (it is still interesting, just not addicting like the rest of the book) but don't give up! The book gets really good once the story is established. I kept having to put it down to do other things but found that I gravitated right back to it immediately after I finished whatever pulled me away. For my family-minded readers, this is pretty solidly an adult book, although it'd be fine for older teens as well. There is cursing throughout, although not heavily, and a bit of violence but nothing really graphic, just enough of a description to build the story. Personally, the time-travel part fascinated me and I definitely enjoyed having a bit of science fiction with my suspense novel. Overall, a solid book that should not be passed by, but not really one for kids or younger teens, in my opinion.

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A clever and intriguing read. Having inadvertently invented a time machine, advantage starts to be taken of events in human history. Disappearances of members of the team involved, and the arrival of UK and US special services ramp up the intrigue. The plot unravels slowly and carefully, with short chapters aiding the narrative structure, and making this hard to put down. Really enjoyed it.