Like Doug Adams’ Restaurant at the Edge of the Universe, Hart takes his gorgeous Hotel and sticks it at the edge if time, specifically two miles from the timeport where the ultrawealthy dress in period garb and head off to their favorite places in history. For the most part, they make minor ripples, but for those who make (often purposefully) more of an impact, there are Time Agents who go back and fix things. It’s kind of like the original Westworld where the rich can indulge their fantasies and nothing can go wrong.

Of course, there wouldn’t be much of a story if nothing ever went wrong. Here, the star of the show is January Cole, house detective and head of security for the Paradox Hotel. The only thing is January has become Unstuck in time and she is slipping between present, past, and future, half in ghost world with her deceased girlfriend and fast becoming less and less dependable in the real world. Accompanying her on her rounds around the hotel by is the drone Ruby, but January is like Alice in Through the Looking Glass, half in the game and half lost in time.

More to the point, everything is quickly becoming Unstuck and there are those ready to bid for control of the timeport for their own nefarious ends. Thus, we get Jurassic Park with velociraptors.

One of the difficulties in reading this novel though is that we have an unreliable narrator who is half in reality and half out. Unfortunately, often the reader will feel lost in time as well as the storyline seems to meander often.

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart is excellent and an engrossing read with well-developed characters and plot. Well worth the read!