SOJALS rating:

Good (3/5)

I first read this on the 4th December 2020.

There is an infinity of Earths in the multiverse. Adam Bosch invented a device to allow us to travel to these alternate earths. He created a company - Eldridge - to exploit this device. Although Eldridge does collect data from these alternate Earths for scientific research that's not all it does. There's some useful business information to be filched from these alternate worlds that can pay off mightily back home. In fact it's got very powerful indeed.

Until now, we on Earth Zero have traversed to 380 of these Earths. But it's tough work and very risky. Traversing itself is physically damaging. If you try to access an alternate Earth where an alternate-you is alive, you will suffer severe injuries in the traversal, up to and including death.

So the most successful explorers turn out to be those people who were lucky to survive to adulthood. Those with tough childhoods living in poverty and ill-health, in dangerous areas. The more likely it was that you would die growing up, the more worlds you will have died on and those worlds will be reachable.

Cara is very, very successful at this. So far she's reached 197 worlds.

That's because Cara had a very difficult childhood. She's dead on 372, surviving only on eight.

Cara is going up against the Eldridge and Adam Bosch. You'd think she has no chance. But Cara has a very big secret. She's not exactly who she seems to be. And she's a lot smarter, more single-minded and more determined than anyone could expect.

I just fell in love with Cara's no-nonsense, somewhat abrasive, tough-as-nails personality. This is a great novel. Chock full of adventures, conspiracy, exhilarating ideas, dangerous people and all thundering along in a great locomotive of a plot.

Read it at once!