Just One Damned Thing After Another
Jodi Taylor
Night Shade Books
Trade Paperback $12.99
Ebook $3.99

I’d like to thank Brianna Scharfenberg at Night Shade Books for sending me the review copy of Just One Damned Thing After Another.  This is one of the most refreshing books I’ve read in a long time.  It’s a rare book that can make me laugh out loud (more than once) and a few chapters later nearly make me cry.

If you’re a fan of time travel, or if you’re a fan of madcap British comedies, or better yet if you’re a fan of both, then you’ll want to check out The Chronicles of St. Mary’s, of which Just One Damned Thing After Another is the first volume.  It goes on sale in the US today (June 7).  The title is from a quote by Arnold Toynbee.

Madeliene Maxwell, AKA Max, is recruited for a position at St. Mary’s Academy.  It’s not until she gets accepted that she finds out that her background in history is going to be put to use in a way she never expected.  She’s been hired by a time traveling outfit.

As is often the case with time travel stories, there are plots within plots in this book.  There’s another group of time travelers, and they aren’t nice.  They may have people planted in St. Mary’s.

It’s hard to describe the plot, because like I said, there are plots within plots.  Things loop back to previous details that you didn’t realize were important.  So I’m going to focus on other aspects of the story.  You’ll just have to take my word that most of the main (more immediate?) plotlines get resolved.

The thing that makes this book such a joy, at least for me, is the wonderful British sense of humor that comes through.  And yes, there is defnitely a difference between American and British humor.  I watched British comedies on Sunday nights on the Dallas PBS affiliate for years when I was younger, so my sense of humor is a little different than most and perfect for this book.

Earlier I said this book made me laugh out loud.  I’m a hard sell for humor.  I can often see the humor in a book, but I rarely laugh out loud.  An occasional chuckle is the best most humor authors can do.  I laughed more than once.

And, yes, at one point, when things for Max were the bleakest, I almost cried.  Off the top of my head, the only other author that has gotten that wide a reaction from me in a single work is Lee Martindale.

If you take the Marx Brothers and mix them with The Big Bang Theory, throw in a dash of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park, you’d have a glimpse of what this book is like.  It was loads of fun.  This is the first US publication of Just One Damned Thing After Another.  It’s been in print in England for a few years now.  There are seven volumes with more on the way.  I’m looking forward to reading all of them.

Jodi Taylor wrote on a page in the front of the book:  “I made all of this up.  Historians and physicists – please do not spit on me in the street.”  As a physicist who has a strong interest in history, I promise her I won’t spit on her.  But if we ever meet at a convention, I may just buy her a drink in the bar.

This one is highly recommended.