Rob Hart's trademark melding of mystery, science fiction and a soupçon of supernatural elevates his seventh novel, the highly entertaining The Paradox Hotel. Set in 2072, the novel treats time travel just like a normal vacation--as long as one is mega-wealthy.
The top one percent's new indulgence is the Einstein Intercentury Timeport, for which adventurers are charged a fortune by the U.S. government to go back in time to watch "the first-ever public showing of Hamlet," visit the building of Stonehenge or see real dinosaurs. But the costly project isn't profitable, so the plan to go private has several trillionaires coming to a summit, vying to buy the Timeport. Hotel security head January Cole wrangles the prospective buyers, complaining guests accustomed to ultra-luxury, and smugglers who somehow bypass the strict border checks to bring in dinosaur eggs (which have a habit of hatching). January keeps secret her deteriorating mental health, which includes hallucinations. She's "Unstuck," unsure what is reality because she's made too many trips on the timestream. Her mental state could get her fired, but she's more worried about losing visions of her late lover, Mena, who was a Paradox waitress. January also investigates sightings of a murdered guest, unsure if the death is real or an apparition.
Hart (The Warehouse) cleverly builds an alternative world in The Paradox Hotel, making each aspect of time travel believable while creating realistic characters, both human and artificial, such as January's "googly"-eyed AI assistant, Ruby, who's more cynical and smart-mouthed than she is. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer