A Fold in the Tent of the Sky

by Michael Hale

When today is interchangeable with yesterday, tomorrow may never come at all. Struggling actor Peter Abbott is about to land the biggest role of his life -- and of the future, past, and present of everyone around him. His audition for Calliope Associates requires only proof of his psychic skills, no dramatic monologue. When a government needs to know what weapons its enemies are hiding or the FBI needs to find an elusive criminal, they call Calliope, a clandestine private investigation firm made up of men and women with highly developed psychic abilities. Business is booming -- until members of the group begin disappearing at the hands of fellow psychic Simon Haywood. His genius is matched only by Peter's, but Simon alone discovers a unique way to use his extrasensory skills to travel back in time, committing crimes without any trace. His trips become increasingly more dangerous than they appear on the surface. Simon's mind grows warped and paranoid as the universe strains against his tinkering. Terrified that his extracurricular voyages will be curtailed, he plans to "erase" his colleagues. But Simon's methods are not exactly cold-blooded; instead he goes back to the moment of his victims' conception and prevents them from being created. Because no one in the present day recalls they ever existed, he's not caught . . . until Peter realizes what's happening. Through a lucky fluke, his life is safe for the moment, but his girlfriend is on Simon's short list, and time is running out. Simon's sociopathic travels are disrupting the universe, folding and twisting the constraints of matter to a near-breaking point and threatening to spin the entire cosmos out of control. A Fold in the Tent of the Sky takes murder into a new dimension as it races toward its electrifying, time-twisting climax.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 1998

About the author

Michael Hale lives in Elora, Ontario. He was born in Liverpool, England, and at the age of seven emigrated with his family to Canada. He grew up in Aurora, Ontario before moving to Toronto to attend The University of Toronto and the New School of Art. In the early eighties, while earning a living as a graphic designer, he wrote his first novel, "The Other Child." It was short-listed (under the title "Wakings") for the 1984 Seal Books First Novel Contest and was later published (in 1986) by Avon. The Globe and Mail called his most recent novel “[…] a suspenseful tale that skillfully weaves details from the characters' lives into a driving narrative that bounces back and forth through time while never losing its forward momentum.” He is working on a new novel with the help of a grant from the Canada Council.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a lifetime of suppressing his powerful extrasensory abilities, actor Peter Abbott receives a job offer too good to pass up from Calliope Associates, a professional psychic agency in the Caribbean. However, it isn’t all sunbathing and psychometry; one of Peter’s new colleagues has a dark side, which is dangerous indeed when mixed with such powerful abilities. The prose is overripe, but a greater problem is one of misrepresentation: the jacket gives away major plot points from halfway through, implying a much faster-paced game of cat-and-mouse than the slow (glacial, really) build of suspense that actually occurs.

[Elly Stroo Cloeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uitstekend boek over een stel paranormaal begaafden die middels een vorm van tijdreizen de overheid helpen om mysteries te verklaren. Ik vond het goed geschreven, met heel veel aandacht voor de activiteiten én de emoties van de hoofdpersoon. Best geloofwaardig, eigenlijk.
Heel erg jammer is dat de flaptekst een samenvatting geeft van minstens de helft van het plot, als je dat leest, heeft de eerste helft van het boek geen verrassingen meer, alleen verklaringen. Het boek komt wat langzaam op gang, met wat moeilijk taalgebruik, maar dat wordt al snel beter.

[Susan Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unique spin on time travel - a company of recruited psychics learning and practicing new skills. Would have enjoyed this more if several of the characters had been further developed. Page-turning final chapters.

[JRentz · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting idea that unfortunately seems to get lost in the ether of its own possibilities. There are some bright spots, but ultimately these are too few to overcome the fog created by underdeveloped characters and plot lines.

[Karen Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written book about a time jumping serial killer (which surprised me!). I didn't finish the whole book though simply because I wasn't in the mood for murder. I will return to it though at a later time. Fascinating characters.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time traveling with a twist.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the beginning was difficult to stay with, I managed to push through and glad I did. Can we change the past to alter the present? At what cost?

[Emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story compared to the cover description was a disappointment. I found instead of a game of cat and mouse between to equals there was a child playing at being a villain. There was no being driven mad by the chaos he as causing it was the fact that he was mad that allowed him to create chaos. And our hero, frankly he was so flat I could care less that his life was in danger. It was the people he could bring back. The people who in the small descriptions were so much more interesting that I was hoping would be revived. I rushed though the last hundred pages just so I could get to the end and have things return to normal.

[Jody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a weakness for good time travel books and this one was pretty good. It wasn't the best I had ever read but it was still interesting. I would have liked more time travel and less present day situation developments but still I enjoyed the book. It could also have used about 10 more pages to give us some good closure but I will use my imagination. I found this book in the library by accident and I am glad I did. It is a quick easy read that will get you through the traffic jams or lunch hour.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time travel and the FBI and murder all wrapped up in a fast-paced story.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good! ESP adepts gather to test their spy capabilities.