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Siggy Lindquist had a very strange experience when she was seven. She
watched as a classmate got trapped in a time pocket. Now she's one of the
few people in the universe who remembers that he ever existed. She saw him
again the night of her Senior Prom - still caught in the time pocket.
Because Siggy was only a B student in High School, she has to take
whatever work she can find in the galactic economy. Even if it means
leaving her home planet of Vail and traveling to Agate to get work. On
Agate, she becomes a janitor at the Institute for the Criminally Insane. There,
the prisoners on Monster Row taunt her daily as she scrubs the aisle between
the cells.
As you might guess, these aren't the most pleasant folk. In fact, they're
all mass murderers, and three of the worst begin to take a somewhat more
than casual interest in Siggy. When one of them escapes, killing a co-worker,
it really starts to hit the fan!
This book is a lot of fun. Being from Texas, myself, I can recognize
much of the cultural background. I'm especially fond of "El Dia De Los
Muertos" when Siggy and her Mom pack a lunch and go visit Dad in the
cemetary. Since Veil was colonized by a mix of Scandanavian and Mexican
peoples this is the sort of holiday which makes sense. The book has a
very complete (and assumed) cultural background. A background which never
once stumbles or becomes over-bearing.
I could have sworn that everything worth saying about
time had already been written years ago, but no, Ms Thomas has to prove
me wrong! In the author's information inside the back cover it says
that this is her first novel. I would never have expected such
a mature piece of work from a newcomer. This was like stumbling
over one of the early works of John Barnes, or maybe Earnest Hemmingway.
The writing's very, very good - but you can see how this person could
become even better in the future.
Ms. Thomas, please keep writing!
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