Published by Subterranean Press on April 1, 2024

Time Out begins as a typical Last Man on Earth Story. It evolves into the story of a man who is forced to reflect on the content of his character.

The narrator wakes up on the morning after Christmas to discover that his wife and daughter are missing. He assumes they went for a walk. Then he notices that the internet isn’t working. Neither is the television. When he decides to look for his wife, he sees no other people. No cars are in motion. There are no airplanes in the sky. When he knocks on doors, nobody answers.

Within a day, animals have also disappeared. Yet things are different from day to day. When he breaks the glass in a door so he can enter a hardware store, the broken glass has been replaced when he visits the store on the following day.

Perhaps there has been a biblical rapture, but surely people exist who are less worthy of salvation than the narrator. Where are they? The narrator can’t understand why the electricity is still on and the water is still flowing, but cellphone service and the internet aren’t working. I was wondering that myself, but it turns out not to matter. This isn’t the kind of science fiction that’s supported by science, which makes it more of a fantasy, or perhaps a thought experiment.

As the narrator contemplates the new present, his thoughts turn to the past. He wonders whether he has been a selfish a-hole, too often absorbed in his own thoughts, too often unwilling to compromise with his wife and daughter. He knows he did something that could harm his marriage and, by looking at his wife’s cellphone, he knows his wife learned about it. Maybe none of this matters if he is the only person left on the planet, but it matters to the narrator, as it should. And that is perhaps the novella’s point. A time out — a period during which we are forced to reflect on our lives and consider how the absence of people we care about might make us feel — would benefit us all. The story makes that point in a scenario that is interesting and engaging.

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First time reading Michael Marshall Smith. Always heard he was good, but just hadn't tried anything. Now I definitely will. Nice to get a shorter read the first time. I enjoyed the character in the book. The story was great (different, at least for me), and the pacing was good also. #TimeOut #NetGalley

Novella in which a “moderately unsuccessful” TV writer wakes up the morning after Christmas to find his wife and daughter missing—and then, it turns out, everyone is missing. In that loneliness he confronts who he is and whether he wants to be that person. It didn’t grab me as much as the best of his writing does, but it was a solid “the fantastic reveals our true natures” story.

What would you do if everyone you knew vanished? That is a question that is explored very well in Time Out. I only wish it was longer.

#NetGally #TimeOut

Enjoyed reading this new book. It was short and very well written, wanted to read more from Michael Marshall Smith. Always enjoy his books. Thanks to NetGalley and @SubPress for the chance to read this.

I’m delighted to be the first person to rate and review this book.
I’ve long been a fan of Michael Marshall Smith, enjoying work produced under every variation of his name. Naturally, I was excited to see a new novella of his available on Netgalley and requested it right away. Read it almost right away too, though ideally it should have been saved for right around Christmas time.
So, then, remember that now old music video by Our Lady Peace where someone wakes up to find themselves the only person around? Everywhere they go, everything they do … there’s no one. All the places remain, and all the people are gone. Well, it’s kind of like that. But in a novella form. And with a moral, because after all, it is a Christmas story.
But what lifts it above average such fare is Smith’s talent for detail. In this case, a particularly creepy detail of people stuck midway through their actions, stuck in their tracks. That is such a haunting image/metaphor, and Smith nails it, making an almost cozy read into something considerably more unsettling. Still, it’s cozy enough for Christmas. And an entertaining quick read for any season. Thanks Netgalley.

This novella starts brilliantly -- I was hooked from the first page. Our main character wakes in a world where every human but him has vanished, including his wife and daughter. Soon animals also begin to vanish. The suspense builds -- what is going on? Unfortunately, the ending is a disappointment. I think the length is the problem here. The novella ends too soon. Maybe it should have been a novel?