Out Of Time Review

 

Writer: Dave Sinclair

Amazon Paperback: $13.94

Amazon ebook: free

Release Date: May 26, 2022

 

When a terrorist eludes MI6, Atticus Wolfe takes to the streets. The intelligence analyst needs to soothe his raging spirit after watching the assault team die in the Tactical Operations Center. Instead, Atticus spies Omar Ganim heading toward Sloane Street. How will Atticus' life change when he discovers the terrorist assembling a strange device? Let's leap into Out Of Time and find out!

 

Story

Atticus awakens in a London hospital, remembering the blast that should have killed him. The doctor attending him smokes a cigarette. A newspaper lists the date as Saturday, November 23, 1963. Then, he gets a visitor.

 

Oliver introduces himself as a member of MI6. He questions Atticus about his credentials, smartwatch, mobile phone, and a component that belonged to Omar Ganim's device. Oliver takes Atticus under his wing when the hospital discharges him. They journey down streets without CCTV cameras. Rockers dress in jeans and white T-shirts. Women wear bright dresses. Men wear stiff camelhair coats.

 

Oliver secures clothes and an apartment for Atticus. He introduces Atticus at the Minimax Fire Extinguisher Company as a transferring recruit from Naval Intelligence. All the agents worry about the implications of the Kennedy assassination in Out Of Time. Then Atticus learns that an agent has gone missing in East Germany. With the help of a woman desperate to escape the typing pool, Atticus and Oliver investigate the agent's home before embarking on a trip to East Germany.

 

Art

Traveling sixty years into the past is a lot to absorb. While musing on all that is different, Atticus intrigues his coworkers with references to future pop culture icons and events. The biggest challenge he faces is the color of his skin. Atticus is not alone in facing discrimination in Out Of Time.

 

In 1963, white upper-crust society dominated MI6. Oliver may be white, but other agents look down on him for two reasons. Maggie's sex traps her in the typing pool. His new boss wants to assign Atticus to the African desk. Atticus uses his 21^st-century skillset to convince Rathdowne to let him track down the missing agent. Atticus cannot change people’s first impressions. Still, he assembles a team of people no one else will work with and gets on with the job.

 

As Atticus investigates the agent's disappearance, MI6 personnel die in Out Of Time. Atticus wonders why he has never read about the murders. Before Omar activated his device, the terrorist mentioned his intention to redress inequities in the Middle East. Atticus wants to track down Omar, return the component from the device, and convince the man to travel to the 21^st century. But what would Atticus find? By traveling back in time, have Omar and Atticus changed the course of history?

 

Final Thoughts

Trapped in the 1960s, Atticus Wolfe discovers that MI6 differs from Ian Fleming’s novels. His predecessors are hidebound by class, race, ethnic, and sexual prejudice. Atticus is an analyst, not an agent. Still, this Black James Bond doesn't shy away from fieldwork. Atticus Wolve intends to lead his agency toward a more enlightened future in Out Of Time.

 

Rating: 9/10

 

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