When it comes to seemingly impossible capabilities, two of the most wished-for ones must be time travel and the ability to meet notable figures from the past. In this engrossing novel, both of these wishes become a reality, delivering profound rewards and significant dangers, some of which could reverberate across time. The result is a gripping and thought-provoking read.
At the center of the novel is twenty-six-year-old Cassandra Fleury, who hopes to get a degree in classics, furthering her studies of Latin, which she speaks fluently. But she doesn’t have the money to realize this ambition. As the novel opens, she’s just getting by by working as a cocktail waitress on the Las Vegas Strip. Then, a friend suggests that Cassandra follow her into a more lucrative profession: working as a call girl on the Strip.
Reluctantly, Cassandra gives the escort business a try, but she quits after her first date–not for the reasons you might imagine. It turns out that her first customer, Alex Hunt–still grieving the loss of his wife and daughter in a plane crash four years earlier–had been reluctant about the date himself, and he seems to want nothing more than (platonic) company. When Alex learns of Cassandra’s dream of pursuing a degree in classics, he pledges to fund her education with proceeds from a foundation he set up in memory of his wife and daughter. No strings are attached to the promise, and soon, Cassandra is bound for the University of Southern California, and USC’s classics program.
As Cassandra’s story unfolds, we learn of a top-secret research project underway in Pasadena, California–one that would find a fluent speaker of Latin incredibly useful. (More on that soon.) After successfully transporting a project member’s pet dog from the past to the present then back again, the project’s leader, Andrew Danicek, sets his sights on a far more ambitious goal: to capture Julius Caesar just before his assassination on the Ides of March in 44 B.C., transport him to the present for a brief period, and then return him to the past and, thus, to his death. (Although it isn’t necessary to select a subject who’s near death, this choice is seen as a precaution, in the event that something goes wrong and the subject can’t be delivered back to the past.) Andrew has singled out Caesar because he wants “someone truly worth talking to … someone who might shed light on historic mysteries, or clarify scholarship.” Also, Andrew’s research has revealed that the further they go back in time to capture a subject, the longer this person could stay in the present: in Caesar’s case, four days.
Andrew wants experts in Roman history to be involved in the effort, soon dubbed the IDES Project. So he brings on two members of USC’s classics department, one of whom is an expert on Julius Caesar. On the recommendation of the Caesar expert, who has become Cassandra’s adviser, Cassandra also joins the IDES team. One big reason: she’s fluent in Latin, making her an ideal communicator with Caesar. But perhaps more important to certain team members is Cassandra’s beauty, which Andrew claims will make her a “nonthreatening” presence to Caesar. Though Cassandra comes to believe that she’s just being used as “bait” for the ancient-Roman statesman, she proves in time to play a far more important role.
Cassandra’s excitement about meeting Caesar is tempered somewhat by what she’s learned of the potential dangers of transporting him through time. Eric Barza, Andrew’s right-hand man, has told her in confidence, “Worst-case scenario, we might all cease to exist. Bringing Caesar here–or failing to get him back–might affect subsequent events.”
At first, though, everything goes to plan, and the time-travel technology delivers Caesar safely into the IDES Lab. One of the great pleasures of the book is getting to know him, chapter by chapter and page by page, and he’s portrayed so vividly that his presence in the novel feels like a true resurrection.
From his first appearance, he’s a force to be reckoned with. In preparation for her first meeting with Caesar, Cassandra dons a Greek goddess costume, hoping to put him at ease, but the effect seems to be the opposite: During their first encounter, he spits at her feet. And later, he exhibits other behaviors that put off IDES staff. For example, he insists on taking Andrew’s place at the head of the lab’s dining table, and he seems to be on a constant lookout for knives to secrete in the folds of his toga. Although these actions alarm the staff, they aren’t necessarily surprising for a renowned leader and military tactician, one who’s been kidnapped, no less. In keeping with his background, and in response to his new circumstances, Caesar searches for ways to gain control of every situation he can.
From time to time, Edwards takes Caesar’s point of view, helping us gain a greater understanding of his reactions–including confusion and anger–to being pulled into an unfamiliar reality. Is he hallucinating? Has he been delivered by force to another country? Or has he died and entered the afterlife? The latter possibility brings us to his initial reaction to Cassandra, whom he’d first imagined might be Venus welcoming him to the next world … until he realizes that she’s a mere mortal.
Through scenes like this, Edwards rewards us with a Caesar who is as perceptive, cunning, and–when it suits him–charming as you might expect, and it’s a delight to see elements of his character and personality emerge in response to the goings-on at IDES and beyond it. (His reactions to certain elements of modern life are especially amusing–for example, his eagerness to ride in a “flying chariot”–i.e., a helicopter–and his enjoyment of stock-car races: not surprising for “a lover of speed,” one who’d “astonished his enemies by traveling a hundred miles a day with only horseflesh underneath him.”)
Soon, Caesar–and also Cassandra–face dangers more immediate than the ones Eric Barza had described. When a financial supporter of the IDES Project hosts an off-site party in Caesar’s honor, he finds an opportunity for escape that puts him in the sights of truly malicious kidnappers. Thankfully, Cassandra, who’d been trailing Caesar, helps him dodge the threat and then drives both of them to safety. But that safety proves to be only temporary. The man behind the kidnapping attempt–an influential figure with a connection to the IDES Project–is determined to capture Caesar for his own ends, which have nothing to do with scientific advancement and everything to do with financial gain. In response to this ongoing threat, Cassandra takes ownership of the situation, driving Caesar back to her home base, Las Vegas, where Alex Hunt has set up a secure location for the duo–at Caesars Palace (!). But, eventually, Cassandra must get Caesar back to Pasadena in time for his return to Rome.
Cassandra and Caesar’s escape to Vegas, and their race against time back to Pasadena, delivers multiple thrills. They find themselves in nearly constant peril, with no guarantees that they will survive in the present, much less get Caesar back to the past. Yet these challenges bring them closer, making a certain truth more and more uncomfortable for Casssandra: Caesar will be assassinated upon his return to Rome. This forces her to confront troubling questions: Should a man who’s about to be murdered be warned of his fate, even if that breaks the rules of the IDES Project? Or would that change the past in ways that could have unforeseeable and potentially dangerous ripple effects, ones that might extend into the future? As the present-day person who’s become closest to Caesar, Cassandra feels the most responsible for answering these questions in a way that poses the least possible harm. Edwards conveys this emotional weight, and also the evolution of the relationship between Cassandra and Caesar, with deep feeling.
Cassandra’s concerns build on those raised by Eric and another member of the IDES team, and collectively, their reflections add up to a thoughtful study of the ethics of time travel and how excitement over its possibilities might make it too easy to dismiss its dark sides.
Such excitement also leads to incaution. Although Andrew tries to assure IDES team members that Caesar’s time travel will have no effect on the present or future, it turns out that he is not justified in making this promise, as Cassandra eventually discovers. I don’t want to give away the longer-term consequences of the experiment. But I will say that they bring to light Andrew’s failure to account for factors that play a larger role in its outcome than he’d imagined: namely, everything that makes us human, including all of our fears and desires. By immersing us in Andrew’s thoughts, and in the thoughts of those affected by his ambitions, Edwards shows how little can truly be controlled under such circumstances, and she portrays the complexity of the consequences with insight and nuance.
A final word: I found Cassandra to be the perfect underdog, and I rooted for her throughout the book. Although she might first seem to be an unlikely member of the IDES Project (she lacks advanced degrees and years of experience in her field of interest), she has both practical and book smarts, doggedness, and an openness to adventure and risk, even during the most challenging times. It was a pleasure to follow along on her journey, and experience everything that this captivating and suspenseful novel has to offer.
Would My Pick be Your Pick?
If you're interested in ________, the answer may be "Yes":￭ Science fiction and fantasy
￭ Thrillers
￭ Historical fiction
￭ Latin and Roman history
￭ Historical fiction
