1812 and a battlefield in Spain. Lord Nicholas Falcott, Marquess of Blackdown is fighting for his life, literally. A Frenchman bears down on him, sword in hand and Nicholas knows that this is the end. Only… seconds later Nicholas has jumped forward into the future, by 200 years and has been picked up by a mysterious organisation called the Guild. Nicholas has to learn how to live in the 21st century and accept he has left his family and friends behind in the past. The Guild supports Nicholas in his new life and by 2013 Nicholas is now living in America and has created a new life for himself. That is until the Guild summons him and asks him to do what he had previously been told was impossible – go back to the past.
The River of No Return is a thoroughly absorbing and fascinating time travel story. Without going into too many confusing stories, it casually and carefully weaves a tale between two centuries and allows the reader to become fully involved in the story. All the characters are well written and believable. The story runs along smoothly and doesn’t become too bogged down in historical details. Alongside the time travel, political intrigue and general sense of adventure, the author has managed to fit in a love story as well, one which fits gently into the rest of the story.
Overall it was a fascinating novel, with a real sense of enjoyment. The pace of the novel is strong and the action moves along at a steady pace, without a sense of dragging it out. Nor is there the sense of everything happening too quickly, even towards the end of the novel when some books seem to rush to get everything sorted in the final chapter. I also liked the fact that there is a conclusion to the story, and some loose ends have been tied, meaning it works well as a stand alone story. However, should the author wish… there could be scope of a second novel without it taking away from this one.
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