Call Time by Steve Jones

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

This was a much-needed light summer read. This novel is about Bob Bloomfield, a single 49-year-old man working as the head of an Entertainment company. He’s detached, professional, and generally an asshole.

He comes across a phone which allows him to speak to his younger self. He uses this to save his brother Tom, who died 37 years ago. The events unfold of how he goes about this, but also what subsequent changes happen as a result, which doesn’t always go to plan.

Thoughts

I love a good time-bending plot as they’re always so clever and intricate. This storyline ended up becoming more emotional than I first thought, but was still done really well. Jones writes hilarious, sarcastic, sharp and over-the-top characters with perfect British humour. A fun novel that plays with that age-old issue of, ‘Would you change the past if you could?’. This is great if you’re looking for a light, quick-ish read but still an interesting plotline to keep you hooked. Happy reading!


Spoilers Ahead

It took me a few days to get into this book, but once the phone was found, I knew it was going to kick off. I found the fact that Tom’s character ended up becoming evil was a bit random and a surprise, but also was not something I was expecting. I appreciated the theme explored that when someone dies, we see through rose-tinted glasses and we choose to only remember the good parts. This was definitely the case in this story.

I loved the twist-ish at the end where they brought back Leo’s character. This meant the storyline for him wasn’t just a small sneak-peak. I found the writing sometimes quite crude and over the top, especially Bob’s conversations with Kirsty when she was Scotty’s wife. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just felt overdone and unnecessary sometimes. I loved how British the book was, with its reference to popular culture and even Debenhams. I would definitely read more of Jones’ books in the future.

Rating