Author Bio:
Megan Edwards is the award-winning author of FULL SERVICE BLONDE, GETTING OFF ON FRANK SINATRA, and STRINGS: A LOVE STORY. All three novels were first-place winners of Benjamin Franklin book awards in 2018. Her forthcoming novel, A COIN FOR THE FERRYMAN, will be released in March, 2022. Edwards is also the author of ROADS FROM THE ASHES: AN ODYSSEY IN REAL LIFE ON THE VIRTUAL FRONTIER, a memoir of her five-year adventure living and working on the road during the dawn of the Internet. At home in Las Vegas, Nevada, where there’s never a shortage of fascinating material and inspiration, Edwards is working on her next novel.
Learn more at https://meganedwards.com
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeganEdwards
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganfedwards
Book Blurb:
The story can now be told.
In 1999, an elite interdisciplinary team headed by Nobel laureate Andrew Danicek gathered in California to carry out a ground-breaking time-travel experiment. While the rest of the world remained unaware, Julius Caesar was successfully transported from the last day of his life to a specially-constructed covert facility. Four days of conversation with historians and Latin scholars were planned, followed by Caesar’s return to the moment from which he was extracted. But despite the team’s meticulous efforts to maintain secrecy and plan for all possible exigencies, a kidnap attempt plunges Caesar into peril. Fully aware that the future of civilization may hang in the balance, one team member must summon strength she didn’t know she possessed to return Caesar to the Ides of March.
The shocking details of Caesar's visit and its effect on subsequent events have been protected by draconian nondisclosure agreements....until now.
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Editorial Review:
I shouldn't have been on that mountain trail. I should have been in rome, in the arms of my lover or out at the Theater of Pompey, working on his dig. If I hadn't uncovered that odd Las Vegas coin, itself so strangely out of place, had set in motion a horrible chain of events. Had it done so from the future? Was there an explanation?
Stretching 2000 years, the scene opens with the Ides of March... the day of Julius Caesar's death, and the warnings spoken to him to 'Beware'... yet still, he goes. He stands proudly before the Senate, that is, until something quite unexpected happens. No, not the onset of several knives plunging into his body, instead, he opens his eyes and sees a beautiful young woman standing before him. But where is he?
Forward in time, a young woman, Cassandra, opens a book and reads a passage about the discovery of an odd coin found near the location of where Julius Caesar died. The coin? A gold coin embossed with the words “Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas”.
From there, this whirlwind tale, which would be a perfect Spielberg movie, an elite team of time travel and Roman history experts, including Nobel laureate Andrew Danicek are on course to perform the world's first time travel experiment. Everything was planned to the second, the conversations, the questions, and the subject – Julius Caesar. But as is the case in the most perfectly planned scenario, secrets are spilled and Cassandra, whose former work at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and an affinity for Latin brings her into the fold of the secret experiment as the 'hostess' for the transported emperor.
Once you were in and knew all the secrets, you couldn't leave. And even if he had been able to bow out, he couldn't revert to ignorance of the work that would continue without him. There was no way he could turn his back on an experiment that would ultimately attempt to transport a human being from the past to the present. So much could go wrong, and too much was at stake.
And the experiment is a success, until someone outside of the team discovers the presence of the legendary Caesar and plots to kidnap him for his own ambition and greed. Now, Cassandra must save Caesar and find a way to return him to his time... and a little side trip to Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas seems the perfect place to hide a 2000-year-old Roman emperor.
Of all the ridiculous places to take Julius Caesar, Caesars Palace topped the list.
But how could she possibly explain Las Vegas? Wouldn't Danicek deem a 500-mile detour an unnecessary risk? He'd been worried about the distance between the IDES Lab and Sonia's house, after all. Now here Cassandra was, doing sixty on Interstate 10 in a red Corvette with Julius Caesar riding shotgun. Was she out of her mind?
This book is a fun ride, very enjoyable romp through the 1990s, a time period immersed in the 'Back to the Future' craze, as well as very convincing historical detail dealing with Julius Caesars life in the past. From the outset, the story line intrigued and captivated me, especially with the incredibly well-developed characters. The way Ms Edwards wove the details of each character, their history, their experiences, into the narrative was flawlessly done, and not once did this take away from moving the story forward on its path. When a story, especially a fantasy based historical can transport the reader into wondering if this actually happened, then that spells success. The believability factor is ten stars, in my opinion and is a first-class read filled with serious moments framed in some very clever and funny situations and very visual atmospheric descriptions.
The sun had just come up, its emerging rays mingling with the man-made glitter of the Strip. Vegas loses its magic at dawn. The neon spell is broken, leaving a wake of dirty bathrooms, empty wallets, and full ashtrays. Even the buildings wake up with halitosis and a headache.
And not only are your presented with a cast of modern-day characters, but the way Ms Edwards presents Julius Caesar, himself, is brilliant, especially in relation to his reaction to the world in which he is transported. While the team had a plethora of questions to ask him, he strides through the IDES Lab and takes control of the situation exactly as you would expect an aloof emperor to do. Not to mention the hilarious way he takes control of the remote control of the TV and ends up watching hour after hour of car racing or World Wide Wrestling, or the moment he has to dress in sweatpants and a t-shirt to disguise himself as he and Cassandra escape a gang of thugs intent on kidnapping him.
By the time Andrew entered the room thirty minutes later, Caesar was operating the remote control as though he'd been doing it for years. “He's enjoying The Price is Right,” Cassandra said. She hesitated, waiting to see whether Caesar would scold her for speaking English. He didn't even give her a momentary glance. “He's been switching between that and World Wide Wrestling.” Andrew watched Caesar for a long moment. Cassandra was amazed, too, but she didn't say anything. What could anyone say? “Wow” wasn't enough, and “Holy sh*t” wasn't polite.
This book is imaginative, clever, fun, and thought-provoking, and a brilliant success highlighting Ms Edwards skill as a storyteller. You will enjoy every moment of this time travel ride!
*****
“A Coin for the Ferryman” by Megan Edwards receives five stars from The Historical Fiction Company
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