Myriad

by Joshua David Bellin Narrated by Coleen Marlo

Overview

Myriad has been in so many time streams she's lost count-hiding from her feelings about her brother's death, she works to prevent crimes from happening but finds herself committing one instead ...

Agent Miriam Randle works for LifeTime, a private law enforcement agency that undertakes short-term time travel to erase crimes before they occur. Haunted by the memory of her twin brother's unsolved murder at the age of six, Miriam thinks of herself as Myriad-an incarnation of the many lives she's lived in her journeys to rearrange the past.

When a routine assignment goes wrong and Miriam commits a murder she was meant to avert, she is thrown into the midst of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of LifeTime. Along with her partner Vax, Miriam flees into the past in an attempt to unravel the truth before LifeTime agents catch up with her.

But then her brother's killer reappears, twenty years to the day since he first struck. And he's not through with the twin who survived, not by a long shot.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

High-octane whirlwind thriller…like a Mission Impossible or a Minority Report with the addition of time-travel. Readers of sci-fi will enjoy this new take on a classic idea from Bellin”
– Library Journal

"Minority Report meets The Fugitive in this breakneck thriller that kept me guessing—and madly flipping pages—until the bitter end. The devious plot zips nimbly through wormhole after wormhole, but Bellin shines brightest in his nuanced exploration of the light and dark in all of us. Myriad is an antihero for the ages."
– Kat Ross, author of the Gaslamp Gothic Victorian Paranormal Mystery series

"Bellin weaves a spellbinding mystery with this timetravel, detective noir."
– Booklist

"Exciting and thought-provoking, Myriad posits a truly original twist on time-travel. Joshua Bellin’s first adult novel hits all the right notes from its conflicted main character trying to undo a tragic, life-changing past event to multiple twists, turns, and surprises the reader won’t see coming."
– Larry Ivkovich, author of The Sixth Precept and Magus Star Rising

"Joshua David Bellin’s Myriad blends the time-travel genre with a compelling cast to tell the story of Agent Miriam Randle, a woman caught up in the Gordian knot of her brother’s untimely death. As Miriam begins to unravel the strands of her tragic past, Bellin masterfully weaves suspense with non-stop action to create a heroine and a story that will be impossible to forget."
– Ginger Smith, author of The Rush's Edge

"Joshua Bellin's protagonist is traumatized by her past, and because of her job as a time cop, can't avoid reliving it. Myriad is a dark and clever exploration into the horror of getting answers to all your questions and, worse maybe, getting a second chance to make things right."
– R.W.W. Greene, author of The Light Years, Twenty-Five to Life and Mercury Rising

"Joshua David Bellin is a master craftsman. In Myriad, he's reached an all-time high for plot twists that rock your understanding of what has come before... and after. Enjoy the fast-paced action that will leave you dazzled."
– Diane Turnshek, Carnegie Mellon University astronomer and science fiction author

"Myriad is a clever time-travel premise wrapped up in a very human story of surviving trauma. An action-packed sci-fi thriller told with depth and heart, this book will grab you and not let go."
– Cadwell Turnbull, bestselling author of No Gods, No Monsters

Booklist

Bellin weaves a spellbinding mystery with this timetravel, detective noir."

Library Journal

03/01/2023

In this high-octane, whirlwind thriller that combines crime fiction and sci-fi, LifeTime, a private law enforcement agency, uses time travel to prevent crimes. Agent Miriam Randle expects her current assignment to go like any other for her and her partner. But when the routine assignment goes wrong, it opens a Pandora's box that will throw everything Miriam believed about her life into chaos. She must hop through different time periods, following a shadow from her past while at the same time unraveling a possible conspiracy at the highest levels of her organization. Readers will enjoy trying to piece together the various timelines that transpire, not only currently, but through various years and situations, trying to figure out what actually happened. While it can be confusing at times, the book is an interesting take on the time-travel trope and the philosophical thought experiment of what would happen if the past could be changed. VERDICT Like a Mission Impossible or a Minority Report with the addition of time-travel. Readers of sci-fi will enjoy this new take on a classic idea from Bellin (Scarred City).—Laura Hiatt

Kirkus Reviews

2023-03-28
An attempt on her partner’s life forces a time-hopping cop to go on the lam in search of answers.

When she was just 6 years old, Miriam Randle witnessed her twin brother's murder, and the event has colored her entire life. If Jeremy had lived, her mother would not have abandoned her. She would not have had to manage her father's alcoholism on her own, and there would be someone else to care for her estranged mother now, in the wake of an early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis. At 26, Miriam works as a “travel agent”: a private law enforcement officer who goes back in time to stop murders before they happen. Hours after a mission goes sideways, she narrowly misses the chance to stop a would-be assassin from gravely injuring her partner, Vax. These back-to-back failures would be enough to unsettle any agent, but they fall on the 20th anniversary of Jeremy’s death. The ensuing debriefing reveals Miriam and Vax’s affair as well as his belief that Miriam may be losing her grip. All signs indicate that Vax’s assailant is a rogue agent, but the duo's handler does not give Miriam time to testify. He fires her mere moments before the killer strikes again, leaving her in possession of a literal smoking gun. Shades of classic science fiction permeate Bellin's neonoir, to both positive and negative effect. The central mystery keeps the pages turning well into the third act, but the author doesn't provide readers with the necessary tools to stitch the case together for themselves, resulting in several eleventh-hour reveals that feel unearned. In spite of the lack of signposting, however, readers familiar with Bellin's SF predecessors will spot many of the plot twists coming from miles away. That may please eagle-eyed speculative-fiction fans, but Bellin's decision to forego the trail of breadcrumbs may disappoint readers who approach this genre blender as a thriller.

A twisty time hop that never fully escapes the shadow of its influences.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159660664
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	05/23/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

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