Review: Doing Time

Doing Time by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

If you enjoyed Jodi Taylor's Chronicles of St Mary's series then I'm sure you'll love this new series too.

For centuries the Time Police have brutally stopped any time travel, the last ditch attempt to stop the universe imploding from the meddling in history of corporations, countries and individuals who just want to know Saturday's winning lottery numbers. But now the major threat has gone the Time Police find themselves dinosaurs, the proverbial sledgehammer to crack a nut. The Commander is trying to change the Time Police, less killing of anyone in a five mile vicinity and more proportionate response, but the old guard don't want to change.

Three oddball new recruits join the Time Police: Matthew, a man who was kidnapped by a time-travelling criminal who took him to Victorian England and sold him as a chimney sweep. Matthew is the son of the notorious Max (from St Mary's) but has eschewed St Mary's for the Time Police. Then there is Luke, the spoilt playboy who's own father bribed the Time Police to take him for two years to teach him a lesson (think military school in the future. Finally, there's Jane, a runaway from her grandmother, she is short and timid - hardly the image the TIme Police want to promote.

Inevitably Like, Matthew and Jane become a team, because none of the other recruits want to work with them, their approach may not be orthodox but somehow they manage to successfully complete their first two assignments.

Who doesn't love a group of misfits succeeding despite their ineptitude? Throw in Julius Caesar, a giant rabbit and a 21st Century family and I was hooked. Loved this start to what promises to be a fun new series with all the humour of St Mary's.

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