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Autumn in Carthage
The nether side of passion is madness.
Nathan Price is a college professor with crippling impairments, seeking escape from his prison of necessity. One day, in a package of seventeenth-century documents from Salem Village, he stumbles across a letter by his best friend, Jamie, who had disappeared six months before. The document is dated 1692—the height of the Witch Trials. The only potential lead: a single mention of Carthage, a tiny town in the Wisconsin northern highland.
The mystery catapults Nathan from Chicago to the Wisconsin wilderness. There, he meets Alanna, heir to an astonishing Mittel-European legacy of power and sacrifice. In her, and in the gentle townsfolk of Carthage, Nathan finds the refuge for which he has long yearned. But Simon, the town elder, is driven by demons of his own, and may well be entangled in Jamie’s disappearance and that of several Carthaginians. As darkness stretches toward Alanna, Nathan may have no choice but to risk it all…
Moving from the grimness of Chicago’s South Side to the Wisconsin hinterlands to seventeenth-century Salem, this is a story of love, of sacrifice, of terrible passions—and of two wounded souls quietly reaching for the deep peace of sanctuary.
Nathan Price is a college professor with crippling impairments, seeking escape from his prison of necessity. One day, in a package of seventeenth-century documents from Salem Village, he stumbles across a letter by his best friend, Jamie, who had disappeared six months before. The document is dated 1692—the height of the Witch Trials. The only potential lead: a single mention of Carthage, a tiny town in the Wisconsin northern highland.
The mystery catapults Nathan from Chicago to the Wisconsin wilderness. There, he meets Alanna, heir to an astonishing Mittel-European legacy of power and sacrifice. In her, and in the gentle townsfolk of Carthage, Nathan finds the refuge for which he has long yearned. But Simon, the town elder, is driven by demons of his own, and may well be entangled in Jamie’s disappearance and that of several Carthaginians. As darkness stretches toward Alanna, Nathan may have no choice but to risk it all…
Moving from the grimness of Chicago’s South Side to the Wisconsin hinterlands to seventeenth-century Salem, this is a story of love, of sacrifice, of terrible passions—and of two wounded souls quietly reaching for the deep peace of sanctuary.
333 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 3, 2014
84 people are currently reading
1162 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
June 11, 2014
I'm having a hard time categorizing how I felt about this book.
Pro's:
- I reminds me of a summer walk. Rambling. Descriptive. Non-intense. If you like a meandering read, you'll like this.
- Zenos does a great job of getting a different angle on time travel and witches. This is definitely not a book that you're going to read about anywhere else, and it's trope and cliche free. Bonus.
- I liked most of the characters. They had me from the get-go. He makes them multi-dimensional in many aspects.
- Zenos has a way with words that led to me dog-earing the pages so I could make them Goodreads quotes.
Con's
- The Salem Witch trials, which seemed to be a major tenant, have VERY little to do with this book until the very end. That disappointed me. I felt like the blurb wasn't quite accurate with the actual plot.
- I had to really push through this story because of the meanderingness of it. I'm used to faster, more intense reads, so it's not something I pulled the rating down for.
- I felt that the MC, because he wasn't a time-traveller with the rest of them, was just an aside in the book. He mostly floated along, going with the flow, not even understanding everything they explained at some points. I think the story would have been more engaging if he had more to do with it.
- This has a lot of characters that the reader rarely interacts with, so I didn't really know them and had a hard time keeping track of them, so by the end, when these characters came into play more, it meant less. While the ending picks up pace, it didn't do much to move me because there were so many characters that were mostly just names.
- His descriptions of time travel and other things started to ramble, IMO, and lost my attention in a few spots.
Overall, I'll give this book a solid three stars. I can see how it's not for everyone, but it's not a book that I regret reading by any means. I would look out for more of his work in the future.
Pro's:
- I reminds me of a summer walk. Rambling. Descriptive. Non-intense. If you like a meandering read, you'll like this.
- Zenos does a great job of getting a different angle on time travel and witches. This is definitely not a book that you're going to read about anywhere else, and it's trope and cliche free. Bonus.
- I liked most of the characters. They had me from the get-go. He makes them multi-dimensional in many aspects.
- Zenos has a way with words that led to me dog-earing the pages so I could make them Goodreads quotes.
Con's
- The Salem Witch trials, which seemed to be a major tenant, have VERY little to do with this book until the very end. That disappointed me. I felt like the blurb wasn't quite accurate with the actual plot.
- I had to really push through this story because of the meanderingness of it. I'm used to faster, more intense reads, so it's not something I pulled the rating down for.
- I felt that the MC, because he wasn't a time-traveller with the rest of them, was just an aside in the book. He mostly floated along, going with the flow, not even understanding everything they explained at some points. I think the story would have been more engaging if he had more to do with it.
- This has a lot of characters that the reader rarely interacts with, so I didn't really know them and had a hard time keeping track of them, so by the end, when these characters came into play more, it meant less. While the ending picks up pace, it didn't do much to move me because there were so many characters that were mostly just names.
- His descriptions of time travel and other things started to ramble, IMO, and lost my attention in a few spots.
Overall, I'll give this book a solid three stars. I can see how it's not for everyone, but it's not a book that I regret reading by any means. I would look out for more of his work in the future.
May 16, 2015
This is an odd one to review. Objectively it had a lot going for it...small town with a secret, time traveling, witch hunts in Salem, a love story. It just all added up to something like romance novel, with time traveling, kind of fantasyish. While the writing was fairly good and occasionally even really good, it nevertheless failed to engage, ending up a quick read of steadily decreasing interest. And for all the talk of author's struggles with sanity, the main character was presumably meant to reflect that and yet his mental state was barely grazed, brain barely being mentioned in favor of an anatomically lower located organ. Surely, there is a market for this type of story, just wasn't my thing really.
December 3, 2014
It started out all right, kind of intriguing. And just kept going downhill. TOO MUCH EXPOSITION!!!!! I cringed every time I read the word "groin", which was far too often. The love story was so sickeningly sentimental, it made me angry and took up way too much of the book. And the relationship was really shallow... Some mystical force pulls them together and they both kind of have multiple personality disorder (or whatever the unspecified "issues" were) so duh they should be together forever. That's not even getting to the horrible take on time travel...
November 30, 2015
good premise, but too many characters, lacked cohesion....just wanted it to be over.
June 19, 2014
I find that the more I enjoy the book, the harder it is to write the review - and this book falls into that category. I really liked Nathan. He was an accomplished professor, seemed to be well-liked by his peers and his students, but was still flawed with some unnamed mental disorder. Rather than diminishing his capabilities though, I thought this gave him a greater understanding as to the differences in people and while it may not have made him more accepting, it gave him a different viewpoint. I loved this passage in one of the earlier chapters, upon overhearing a group of young men discussing a date who had claimed she was bipolar - and laughing about the world being full of crazies.
We are not less than you, you cowardly little snot. We are more than you. We live every day in a world made by and for you, with burdens that would bring you to your knees -- and still manage to outperform you. (p18)
So anyone, Nathan travels to Carthage, Wisconsin in search of his friend Jamie. He is not sure what he is looking for and comes upon a town while friendly enough, seems to be harboring secrets and mysteries at every turn. In Alanna he finds a kindred spirit, and is almost afraid to hope that they might have a future together. She slowly lets him in on the town's big secret, which is that they are time travelers.
The author has written this book in such a way, as time travel does not seem farfetched at all, but just an alternate life style. It was not "science fictiony" at all and fit well with the demeanor of the community and the location. While Carthage seemed like any number of other small communities you might find in the midwest, there were subtle differences that made you realize it was special, wealthy. The author was so descriptive in telling about Carthage and the surrounding countryside, that I had to look online to see if a Carthage, Wisconsin really existed. (It does not.)
You meet a lot of characters early on in the book, and if you don't pay attention to the chapter subtitles, you might become confused as to who is narrating. The narrators all bring their own flavor to the story, as they should with their different viewpoints.
I liked the tie-in of Salem and the witch trials. If Carthaginians and their abilities were discovered, people might very well treat them as they did the so-called witches in Salem. Salem was a very misunderstood community, but there were a few who took in the misplaced Carthaginians, with their funny dress and accent, and helped them remain as inconspicuous as possible.
The novel wrapped things up in the end, very satisfactorily for me, and I am very glad that I read this book. I wonder if there are any other books in the works regarding escapades of other time travelers in this community.
We are not less than you, you cowardly little snot. We are more than you. We live every day in a world made by and for you, with burdens that would bring you to your knees -- and still manage to outperform you. (p18)
So anyone, Nathan travels to Carthage, Wisconsin in search of his friend Jamie. He is not sure what he is looking for and comes upon a town while friendly enough, seems to be harboring secrets and mysteries at every turn. In Alanna he finds a kindred spirit, and is almost afraid to hope that they might have a future together. She slowly lets him in on the town's big secret, which is that they are time travelers.
The author has written this book in such a way, as time travel does not seem farfetched at all, but just an alternate life style. It was not "science fictiony" at all and fit well with the demeanor of the community and the location. While Carthage seemed like any number of other small communities you might find in the midwest, there were subtle differences that made you realize it was special, wealthy. The author was so descriptive in telling about Carthage and the surrounding countryside, that I had to look online to see if a Carthage, Wisconsin really existed. (It does not.)
You meet a lot of characters early on in the book, and if you don't pay attention to the chapter subtitles, you might become confused as to who is narrating. The narrators all bring their own flavor to the story, as they should with their different viewpoints.
I liked the tie-in of Salem and the witch trials. If Carthaginians and their abilities were discovered, people might very well treat them as they did the so-called witches in Salem. Salem was a very misunderstood community, but there were a few who took in the misplaced Carthaginians, with their funny dress and accent, and helped them remain as inconspicuous as possible.
The novel wrapped things up in the end, very satisfactorily for me, and I am very glad that I read this book. I wonder if there are any other books in the works regarding escapades of other time travelers in this community.
April 21, 2014
‘You can only save so many.’
Nathan Price is a college professor in Chicago, looking forward to a year’s sabbatical and uninterrupted research. Nathan seeks escape in historical research, the past is free from personal problems, or so he thinks. As he opens a package of seventeenth century documents from an old Salem trading family, he finds a letter written by his best friend Jamie, who disappeared six months ago. The letter is dated 1692, contains a reference to Carthage in Wisconsin. How can this this be?
Nathan travels to Carthage in search of Jamie, meets Alanna and finds a refuge for himself. But all is not well in Carthage, which has some mysteries of its own. Some Carthaginians are missing, and as Nathan becomes more attracted to Alanna, he wants to know more about the mysteries of Carthage. Could Simon, the town elder, be involved in the mystery of those missing? Is Alanna safe? And what is the significance of 1692?
‘For someone who claimed to like her solitude, she had an awful lot of threads tying her to life.’
It is difficult to categorise this novel: it is mostly set in the present in Chicago and Wisconsin, but some aspects are set in the seventeenth century around the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Nathan and Alanna are the principal characters, each carrying their own demons and scars from the past. There are elements of mystery and time travel, of the blight that mental illness can cast over lives, of the redemptive power of love, and of the difficulties of choice. Christopher Zenos almost lost me early in the book, with talk of the slayage of trees and the fryage (of food), but I was intrigued by Nathan and wanted to know more about the mysterious people of Carthage. The story builds gradually and held my attention – through slayage and fryage and some improbabilities. And the ending? Well, it worked for me.
‘You have to live while you still have days of sunshine ahead of you.’
Note: I was offered and accepted a copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Nathan Price is a college professor in Chicago, looking forward to a year’s sabbatical and uninterrupted research. Nathan seeks escape in historical research, the past is free from personal problems, or so he thinks. As he opens a package of seventeenth century documents from an old Salem trading family, he finds a letter written by his best friend Jamie, who disappeared six months ago. The letter is dated 1692, contains a reference to Carthage in Wisconsin. How can this this be?
Nathan travels to Carthage in search of Jamie, meets Alanna and finds a refuge for himself. But all is not well in Carthage, which has some mysteries of its own. Some Carthaginians are missing, and as Nathan becomes more attracted to Alanna, he wants to know more about the mysteries of Carthage. Could Simon, the town elder, be involved in the mystery of those missing? Is Alanna safe? And what is the significance of 1692?
‘For someone who claimed to like her solitude, she had an awful lot of threads tying her to life.’
It is difficult to categorise this novel: it is mostly set in the present in Chicago and Wisconsin, but some aspects are set in the seventeenth century around the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Nathan and Alanna are the principal characters, each carrying their own demons and scars from the past. There are elements of mystery and time travel, of the blight that mental illness can cast over lives, of the redemptive power of love, and of the difficulties of choice. Christopher Zenos almost lost me early in the book, with talk of the slayage of trees and the fryage (of food), but I was intrigued by Nathan and wanted to know more about the mysterious people of Carthage. The story builds gradually and held my attention – through slayage and fryage and some improbabilities. And the ending? Well, it worked for me.
‘You have to live while you still have days of sunshine ahead of you.’
Note: I was offered and accepted a copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
May 29, 2015
29th of May. Technically not the date I finished the book but was definitely the day I finished with it. I hated, with intense passion, the protagonist. I hate the smug, sanctimonious, anal bead of a character with such intensity that everything else about the book became irelevant. I'm sure the story would have been interesting, perhaps even enjoyable, but that self - satisfied prick had to ruin it. Perhaps the story even necessitated his personality as he develops and realises he's an oily stain on a bathroom towel and changes himself. I wouldn't know. What I do know is that he reminds of far too many people I've met during my life and who I've gone through much pain to avoid ever since, in the case of this book I urge all of you to do the same. In fact, no I don't...read it and see for yourself how much a fictional character can make you want to kill hitchhikers and wear their skin, just to witness some humility in the human race and purge the smugness this novel stuffs into your head.
November 15, 2020
2020 Book Hoarders Challenge #30 (Seasonal--in title)
U of Chicago professor gets a letter from a friend he hasn't seen in over a year. The letter though was with a pryer book from a woman accused of being a witch in Salem. MA, in the mid-1600s, with no doubt of authenticity, due to its provenance.
So Nathan uses his sabbatical and travels to Carthage, WI, a place with "castles in the hills' to investigate the disappearance of his friends. What he finds is something so extraordinary, and does he really want to leave?
Lesson learned: We really do not know nor understand the human condition.
U of Chicago professor gets a letter from a friend he hasn't seen in over a year. The letter though was with a pryer book from a woman accused of being a witch in Salem. MA, in the mid-1600s, with no doubt of authenticity, due to its provenance.
So Nathan uses his sabbatical and travels to Carthage, WI, a place with "castles in the hills' to investigate the disappearance of his friends. What he finds is something so extraordinary, and does he really want to leave?
Lesson learned: We really do not know nor understand the human condition.
November 22, 2016
Poorly edited.
The story may have been good, but I will never know. The sentence structure drove me crazy. Words capitalized in the middle of sentences that did not need to be. Short, one word sentences. Really?! I gave up after a few pages. This book needs professional editing. The biggest mistake self- published authors make is NOT investing in an editor. It is absolutely crucial for a novel to be taken seriously.
The story may have been good, but I will never know. The sentence structure drove me crazy. Words capitalized in the middle of sentences that did not need to be. Short, one word sentences. Really?! I gave up after a few pages. This book needs professional editing. The biggest mistake self- published authors make is NOT investing in an editor. It is absolutely crucial for a novel to be taken seriously.
May 6, 2021
Such a compelling premise, but such mediocre writing (and so many silly sexual references that it read like the protagonist was a hormone-hyped teenage boy and not an accomplished college professor). I finally gave up and DNF.
November 24, 2017
Review: Autumn In Carthage by Christopher Zenos. 11/22/2017
The story starts off slow but it didn’t take long to capture my interest. I thought it was well written, I enjoyed the characters once I figure out who was who and the story was entertaining. The death of some characters throughout the book, especially the ones you really liked was a bummer but the story must go on…There was mysterious time travel within the story and how mental illness can cast over lives, the redemptive power of love, and all the difficulties of choice.
The main character Nathan Price is a college professor looking forward to a year’s uninterrupted sabbatical, doing historical research when he received some data he requested from a museum in Salem, Massachusetts. While going over the papers he came across a reference concerning Jamie, his friend who has been missing for months. This new information made him decide to go to Carthage, Wisconsin to work on his book and look into the disappearance of his friend.
Carthage was a small quiet community and when Nathan got there he checked into the picturesque Inn the town offered. He was first welcomed by Gerry the innkeeper, chef, and bar tender. At some point during his meal Nathan mentioned to Gerry and Alanna who was one of the locals, the reason he choose Carthage for a visit. Right off Nathan felt a change in the welcoming atmosphere and as the story unfolds Nathan and the reader will gradually find out why… There are still more variety of personalities to be introduced, some profanity throughout, and a couple of explicit sex scenes to overcome but all and all the second half of the book was better….
Many readers mentioned something Zenos wrote that memorized them as it did me.
“Too much unvoiced misery, too many people lost and alone ~in marriages, relationships, nestled within their families ~well trained through threat of social rejection to keep pain carefully hidden.”
The story starts off slow but it didn’t take long to capture my interest. I thought it was well written, I enjoyed the characters once I figure out who was who and the story was entertaining. The death of some characters throughout the book, especially the ones you really liked was a bummer but the story must go on…There was mysterious time travel within the story and how mental illness can cast over lives, the redemptive power of love, and all the difficulties of choice.
The main character Nathan Price is a college professor looking forward to a year’s uninterrupted sabbatical, doing historical research when he received some data he requested from a museum in Salem, Massachusetts. While going over the papers he came across a reference concerning Jamie, his friend who has been missing for months. This new information made him decide to go to Carthage, Wisconsin to work on his book and look into the disappearance of his friend.
Carthage was a small quiet community and when Nathan got there he checked into the picturesque Inn the town offered. He was first welcomed by Gerry the innkeeper, chef, and bar tender. At some point during his meal Nathan mentioned to Gerry and Alanna who was one of the locals, the reason he choose Carthage for a visit. Right off Nathan felt a change in the welcoming atmosphere and as the story unfolds Nathan and the reader will gradually find out why… There are still more variety of personalities to be introduced, some profanity throughout, and a couple of explicit sex scenes to overcome but all and all the second half of the book was better….
Many readers mentioned something Zenos wrote that memorized them as it did me.
“Too much unvoiced misery, too many people lost and alone ~in marriages, relationships, nestled within their families ~well trained through threat of social rejection to keep pain carefully hidden.”
May 11, 2018
Odd
yet enjoyable book about traveling thru history and back again by a clan of people born to the life some 600 years. This is not a typical time travel book. It’s much more erudite but I’m not sure it needs to be. The main character is a professor and a true “man of letters” who stumbles across a posting from his best friend that appears to be from the 17th century Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials! He heads off on his sabbatical, conveniently scheduled, to locate his friend and ends up in a tiny German influenced town in northern Wisconsin. Lots of pastoral descriptions, decent dialogue and good character development round out this interesting novel. If you’re looking for something a bit different to read, give “Autumn in Carthage” a try.
yet enjoyable book about traveling thru history and back again by a clan of people born to the life some 600 years. This is not a typical time travel book. It’s much more erudite but I’m not sure it needs to be. The main character is a professor and a true “man of letters” who stumbles across a posting from his best friend that appears to be from the 17th century Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials! He heads off on his sabbatical, conveniently scheduled, to locate his friend and ends up in a tiny German influenced town in northern Wisconsin. Lots of pastoral descriptions, decent dialogue and good character development round out this interesting novel. If you’re looking for something a bit different to read, give “Autumn in Carthage” a try.
January 24, 2020
Excellent Story
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but was quickly captivated. Nathan tells the story and shares his struggles of finding happiness in his life as he plods through life in academia. His best friend Jamie understands Nathan and helps him with his own brand of wit and boldness. Their relationship is endearing and both characters are charming and lovable
Soon Jamie takes off on a trip never to be heard from. Nathan is devastated until he finds a letter from Jamie to his betrothed ; dated 1692! Thus the adventure begins as Nathan sets off to solve the mystery of what happened to his friend.
Read and find out what happened you won't be disappointed. The characters are rich and you will care about all of them. Enjoy the adventure!
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but was quickly captivated. Nathan tells the story and shares his struggles of finding happiness in his life as he plods through life in academia. His best friend Jamie understands Nathan and helps him with his own brand of wit and boldness. Their relationship is endearing and both characters are charming and lovable
Soon Jamie takes off on a trip never to be heard from. Nathan is devastated until he finds a letter from Jamie to his betrothed ; dated 1692! Thus the adventure begins as Nathan sets off to solve the mystery of what happened to his friend.
Read and find out what happened you won't be disappointed. The characters are rich and you will care about all of them. Enjoy the adventure!
August 16, 2017
There was just something missing in this book. Initially I thought perhaps it was the second book in a series, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I just don't feel that I got enough background on Nathan to understand him. I felt like I had come into the middle of a story somehow. The long explanation about the mechanics of the time travel almost made me close the book entirely. This book had an interesting premise, I just don't feel it lived up to its potential. And I don't get the subtitle, "the nether side of passion is madness." Huh? I can't figure out how that fits the story at all. On the plus side, I liked the epilogue that gave the "after story" of the characters.
May 30, 2020
Good book!
Enjoyed this book. Liked the time travel idea and the historical aspect. Also the protagonists struggle with mental illness and ability to cope and conquer resonated with me as I have family members who have and are dealing with similar issues. The twisting of the time lines with the life lines was well done. The story was fascinating and well written. Thank you for a good read!
Enjoyed this book. Liked the time travel idea and the historical aspect. Also the protagonists struggle with mental illness and ability to cope and conquer resonated with me as I have family members who have and are dealing with similar issues. The twisting of the time lines with the life lines was well done. The story was fascinating and well written. Thank you for a good read!
December 6, 2018
Fantastic unusual story
This story will take you for a ride. From times as we know them, driven by a professor through unexpected and tumultuous times into time travel. But all with a sense of reality! This could really happen. You will find yourself locked in this story with the joys, surprises and heartbreaks, to the lovely end.
This story will take you for a ride. From times as we know them, driven by a professor through unexpected and tumultuous times into time travel. But all with a sense of reality! This could really happen. You will find yourself locked in this story with the joys, surprises and heartbreaks, to the lovely end.
September 17, 2019
Historical, paranormal, romantic murder mystery...
This rating is given because this book has held my interest and attention over the two days it took me to finish it. Surprising finish, and believable characters with plots that remind us of the history we read about in our grade school classes.
This rating is given because this book has held my interest and attention over the two days it took me to finish it. Surprising finish, and believable characters with plots that remind us of the history we read about in our grade school classes.
August 15, 2017
Really Good!
Hard to understand at first but it starts getting interesting. The intrigue of the linked characters and how things turn out keep you guessing.
Hard to understand at first but it starts getting interesting. The intrigue of the linked characters and how things turn out keep you guessing.
January 14, 2018
This was a fine read. It develops slowly, but the characters carried the story, and it haunted me oddly afterward. (To me, that is the mark of a good read.)
July 21, 2019
Good book
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
August 14, 2020
Very entertaining
I love how the author just grabs you and immerses you, the reader, into this story. Great character development! A most enjoy escape.
I love how the author just grabs you and immerses you, the reader, into this story. Great character development! A most enjoy escape.
April 28, 2014
Readers looking for a leisurely, quiet read, Autumn in Carthage is the story for them. It is a mix of mystery, time-travel fantasy, history, and romance, and much of it takes place in the small fictional town of Carthage, Wisconsin, an enclave of old wealth hiding a powerful secret.
Jaded college professor Nathan Price is our first guide to Carthage. A strange letter arrives one day. It’s from his best friend, Jamie. And it’s dated 1692.
Against reason, against known science, somehow Jamie has traveled back in time. And Nathan is going to find out why and how, and so much more than he ever anticipated knowing.
On that premise and on the decent writing, I decided to read the book. (I liked the cover, too.)
The writing is solid, and by turns scholarly, gentle, literary, or carnal, depending on the point-of-view character for a particular scene and on the story’s events.
The plot is slow to unroll, but not without reason. This isn’t a high-octane story until the last third or so. The author takes time to introduce characters and ideas, and let the reader settle in. Autumn in Carthage is, for the most part, cerebral and intriguing.
Except when it’s not. Sometimes I was reading quirky spec-fic, sometimes an erotic romance novel. I preferred the spec-fic, especially the descriptions and histories of Flectors and Flecting (time-travelers and their abilities to detect and influence history and events.
The first few chapters held my attention better than most novels I’ve read lately, but not to the point I couldn’t put it down. I might never have finished the novel were it not for a promise to write a review, and even then I skipped chunks of story to find something that kept my attention. Events certainly did pick up near the end, when the characters visit Old Salem, and the epilogue is poignant. For me, the end saves — or, perhaps, redeems — the middle of the book.
It is written by Christopher Zenos (pseudonym for a college professor published in other realms), and on the strength of his creativity alone I’d like to read more of his work.
[An expanded version of this review can be read here: http://keananbrand.wordpress.com/2014...]
Jaded college professor Nathan Price is our first guide to Carthage. A strange letter arrives one day. It’s from his best friend, Jamie. And it’s dated 1692.
Against reason, against known science, somehow Jamie has traveled back in time. And Nathan is going to find out why and how, and so much more than he ever anticipated knowing.
On that premise and on the decent writing, I decided to read the book. (I liked the cover, too.)
The writing is solid, and by turns scholarly, gentle, literary, or carnal, depending on the point-of-view character for a particular scene and on the story’s events.
The plot is slow to unroll, but not without reason. This isn’t a high-octane story until the last third or so. The author takes time to introduce characters and ideas, and let the reader settle in. Autumn in Carthage is, for the most part, cerebral and intriguing.
Except when it’s not. Sometimes I was reading quirky spec-fic, sometimes an erotic romance novel. I preferred the spec-fic, especially the descriptions and histories of Flectors and Flecting (time-travelers and their abilities to detect and influence history and events.
The first few chapters held my attention better than most novels I’ve read lately, but not to the point I couldn’t put it down. I might never have finished the novel were it not for a promise to write a review, and even then I skipped chunks of story to find something that kept my attention. Events certainly did pick up near the end, when the characters visit Old Salem, and the epilogue is poignant. For me, the end saves — or, perhaps, redeems — the middle of the book.
It is written by Christopher Zenos (pseudonym for a college professor published in other realms), and on the strength of his creativity alone I’d like to read more of his work.
[An expanded version of this review can be read here: http://keananbrand.wordpress.com/2014...]
July 17, 2014
This book was a pleasantly awesome surprise! I really had no idea what I was getting into with this book except that it had something to do with dual time periods and the Salem Witch Trials.
"Carthage, it appeared, didn't believe in secrets. Except for the big ones."
Dr. Nathan Price is a college professor who is going on sabbatical. He has had a hard time dealing with the disappearance of his best friend, Jamie. A package arrives for his research just before Nathan leaves; in it is a letter from Jamie- dated 1692 from Salem, Massachusetts. A clue in the letter leads Nathan to the strange, small town of Carthage, Wisconsin to track down his missing friend. When he arrives, the people of Carthage take him in like one of the family, that is, until he starts asking questions about Jamie.
I didn't know what I was going to get out of this book, but I loved what I got. It did take me a while to get into the story and figure out Nathan as a character; however, once I found out about his inner demons and he begins looking for his missing friend, I was taken in. The setting of Carthage drew me in and I was hooked from there, a mysterious small town with lots of stone mansions that the surrounding towns don't like for no other reason than the fact that they are rich. Once he arrives in Carthage, Nathan's journey is set, but in many more ways than looking for his friend. There is an unexpected romance, that didn't really bother me... and the people in the town have a secret. Bathed in suspense, that secret is slowly teased out through a series of disappearances and even a murder in the town. The science-fiction aspects of the story were well explained and fit well into the setting. I really enjoyed the part of the story that takes place in Salem, even though it isn't until the very end.
A unique historical-science-fiction read.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
"Carthage, it appeared, didn't believe in secrets. Except for the big ones."
Dr. Nathan Price is a college professor who is going on sabbatical. He has had a hard time dealing with the disappearance of his best friend, Jamie. A package arrives for his research just before Nathan leaves; in it is a letter from Jamie- dated 1692 from Salem, Massachusetts. A clue in the letter leads Nathan to the strange, small town of Carthage, Wisconsin to track down his missing friend. When he arrives, the people of Carthage take him in like one of the family, that is, until he starts asking questions about Jamie.
I didn't know what I was going to get out of this book, but I loved what I got. It did take me a while to get into the story and figure out Nathan as a character; however, once I found out about his inner demons and he begins looking for his missing friend, I was taken in. The setting of Carthage drew me in and I was hooked from there, a mysterious small town with lots of stone mansions that the surrounding towns don't like for no other reason than the fact that they are rich. Once he arrives in Carthage, Nathan's journey is set, but in many more ways than looking for his friend. There is an unexpected romance, that didn't really bother me... and the people in the town have a secret. Bathed in suspense, that secret is slowly teased out through a series of disappearances and even a murder in the town. The science-fiction aspects of the story were well explained and fit well into the setting. I really enjoyed the part of the story that takes place in Salem, even though it isn't until the very end.
A unique historical-science-fiction read.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
August 31, 2016
Christopher Zenos, the pseudonym for a well known and published professor, has written an intelligent and entertaining book that leaves the reader wondering whether time travel and changing history is actually possible. The main character, Nathan, travels to Carthage Wisconsin to find his best friend, who has been missing for six months. In Carthage he discovers a tightly-knit town full of unusual people guarding a secret. He finds himself drawn into their lives and romantically involved with an influential and beautiful woman hiding more secrets than than the rest. Up until the last pages, the mystery unfolds and I was riveted and guessing whodunnit.
The author has a wonderful writing style, with deep and true emotions invested in the story. There was one line of the book that I went back and re-read multiple times. I found it hauntingly beautiful and true: "Too much unvoiced misery, too many people lost and alone - in marriages, relationships, nestled within their families - well trained through threat of social rejection to keep their pain carefully hidden."
There were a couple of parts of the book I found tiresome. One was the repeated referral to Nathan's mental issues, which had caused him years of pain and social rejection. Bringing it up repeatedly didn't add to the story after we knew that he had the unnamed disorder. I felt it made an otherwise likable character a little annoying. And the sex scenes - less is always more when trying to convey deep soul connections. I wanted to feel warm and fuzzy, not like I was watching porn.
But overall, I really enjoyed this book. For me, a sign of great writing is missing the characters when the book is done, and I've been living in Carthage in my head for several days now. I was supplied a copy of this book for review purposes, and I give it 4.5 stars.
The author has a wonderful writing style, with deep and true emotions invested in the story. There was one line of the book that I went back and re-read multiple times. I found it hauntingly beautiful and true: "Too much unvoiced misery, too many people lost and alone - in marriages, relationships, nestled within their families - well trained through threat of social rejection to keep their pain carefully hidden."
There were a couple of parts of the book I found tiresome. One was the repeated referral to Nathan's mental issues, which had caused him years of pain and social rejection. Bringing it up repeatedly didn't add to the story after we knew that he had the unnamed disorder. I felt it made an otherwise likable character a little annoying. And the sex scenes - less is always more when trying to convey deep soul connections. I wanted to feel warm and fuzzy, not like I was watching porn.
But overall, I really enjoyed this book. For me, a sign of great writing is missing the characters when the book is done, and I've been living in Carthage in my head for several days now. I was supplied a copy of this book for review purposes, and I give it 4.5 stars.
May 14, 2014
One day a package arrives for Professor Nathan Price from his good friend and colleague, Jamie Mackinnon, whom he has not heard from in awhile. Inside the package are documents from the Salem Witch Trials and it includes a letter from Jamie and it is dated 1692. Nathan is skeptical, how can he have possibly gotten a letter dated so long ago from his friend? Carthage Wisconsin is mentioned in the letter so Nathan decides he wants to go to Carthage to see if he can find Jamie or find out what may have happened to him.
Carthage is a quaint little town in Northern Wisconsin with equally quaint characters as Nathan comes to find out, but there is a bit of mystery and sinister aspects to this small town and it's peoples. With some digging Nathan finds that all is not as it appears on the surface. He meets Alanna and develops strong feelings for her but she is secretive about the disappearance of Jamie and some other people. He is persistent and learns more than he had bargained for and more than he can wrap his brain around. What does Carthage have to do with the Salem Witch Trials and what does all this have to do with Jamie? These are mysteries that Nathan is determined to figure out.
I enjoyed this book, one, I am a fan of anything pertaining to the witch trials, and two, I happen to live in northern Wisconsin. It is not very often that my small town of Rhinelander is mentioned in any books so I was excited to read this one. The descriptions of the area were pretty close to the actual area and the author wrote in such a way that the book was hard to put down. There is mystery, murder, and time travel, all aspects of a fun story in my opinion, a little bit of everything to keep the reader turning the pages.
Carthage is a quaint little town in Northern Wisconsin with equally quaint characters as Nathan comes to find out, but there is a bit of mystery and sinister aspects to this small town and it's peoples. With some digging Nathan finds that all is not as it appears on the surface. He meets Alanna and develops strong feelings for her but she is secretive about the disappearance of Jamie and some other people. He is persistent and learns more than he had bargained for and more than he can wrap his brain around. What does Carthage have to do with the Salem Witch Trials and what does all this have to do with Jamie? These are mysteries that Nathan is determined to figure out.
I enjoyed this book, one, I am a fan of anything pertaining to the witch trials, and two, I happen to live in northern Wisconsin. It is not very often that my small town of Rhinelander is mentioned in any books so I was excited to read this one. The descriptions of the area were pretty close to the actual area and the author wrote in such a way that the book was hard to put down. There is mystery, murder, and time travel, all aspects of a fun story in my opinion, a little bit of everything to keep the reader turning the pages.
April 6, 2014
Professor Nathan Price was battling his own demons an needed the sabbatical. Jaimie and he were more like brothers than friends but at graduation Jaimie had gone into his separate mathematical field and Nathan on to teach history and earn his PHd. He and Jaimie had always balanced each other out. He had been unable to contact Jaimie for several months and then one day he got a very mysterious letter from Jaimie. When he last heard from Jaimie, he was in a place called Carthage, Wisconsin. He decided that is where he would search to find and help Jaimie. Little did he know of the strange events that would occur and change his life forever.
It took me several pages to get into this novel, then it seemed to move very slowly and the "flow" of the story, at times, seemed disconnected. The plot dragged quite a bit as well. I feel it would have been more appealing if the storyline would not have dwelt on the complexities for so long.
There were a good variety of personalities in the authors characterizations. They were well-defined. The background scenes were fairly well described.
The last half of the story was much better than the first half.
There was profanity and a lot of crude language and expressions. There was also sexual references and a couple of explicit sex scenes. What could have been a beautiful love story was diminished by the language and crudeness.
The Title and book cover depicts the story quite well although does nothing to attract the reader's attention.
On talent and literary effectiveness I review this book giving it a low Four Stars or Three and a Half Stars rating.
*This book was sent to me for an honest review of which I have given.
It took me several pages to get into this novel, then it seemed to move very slowly and the "flow" of the story, at times, seemed disconnected. The plot dragged quite a bit as well. I feel it would have been more appealing if the storyline would not have dwelt on the complexities for so long.
There were a good variety of personalities in the authors characterizations. They were well-defined. The background scenes were fairly well described.
The last half of the story was much better than the first half.
There was profanity and a lot of crude language and expressions. There was also sexual references and a couple of explicit sex scenes. What could have been a beautiful love story was diminished by the language and crudeness.
The Title and book cover depicts the story quite well although does nothing to attract the reader's attention.
On talent and literary effectiveness I review this book giving it a low Four Stars or Three and a Half Stars rating.
*This book was sent to me for an honest review of which I have given.
April 20, 2014
There were a lot of things early on about this book that made me like it. Firstly, I greatly enjoyed the strong voice of the narrator. He has a good personality and is a helpful story teller, giving background without revealing too much too soon.
The setting was well described and I liked that it changed as the story went on. The author never failed to make me feel as though I were right there with the characters.
Further into the story I did find that the author added a lot of description which made the progress of the story seem slower and less appealing at times.
There is a love story, some historical interest and an enthralling mystery to be discovered in these pages, but the delivery seemed a little strange. The love story was a bit overshadowed by crude statements and explicit sex. The connections the main character made with others seemed stunted by his own hermit-like attitude and internal demons.
In certain places the plot seemed disorganised and the ideas perhaps a bit disjointed, but then the story would recover soon after and make sense again.
I will give the author credit for using the Salem happenings in a way that I had not seen done before. He managed to build an interesting plot around events that have been rehashed many times before and still hold my interest.
Overall, this was an interesting story with a lot of character quirks and complexities. If you like reading books that will keep you wondering what is going to happen next and don't follow the beaten path, this is one you might take a second look at.
This review is based on a complimentary copy, all opinions are my own.
The setting was well described and I liked that it changed as the story went on. The author never failed to make me feel as though I were right there with the characters.
Further into the story I did find that the author added a lot of description which made the progress of the story seem slower and less appealing at times.
There is a love story, some historical interest and an enthralling mystery to be discovered in these pages, but the delivery seemed a little strange. The love story was a bit overshadowed by crude statements and explicit sex. The connections the main character made with others seemed stunted by his own hermit-like attitude and internal demons.
In certain places the plot seemed disorganised and the ideas perhaps a bit disjointed, but then the story would recover soon after and make sense again.
I will give the author credit for using the Salem happenings in a way that I had not seen done before. He managed to build an interesting plot around events that have been rehashed many times before and still hold my interest.
Overall, this was an interesting story with a lot of character quirks and complexities. If you like reading books that will keep you wondering what is going to happen next and don't follow the beaten path, this is one you might take a second look at.
This review is based on a complimentary copy, all opinions are my own.
April 30, 2014
Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...
A strange novel of time travel, madness, and love. Nathan Price is a professor at the University of Chicago. A friend named Jamie has disappeared, and no one has heard from him until Nathan finds his name in a letter from the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Connected with that is the mention of a small town in Wisconsin named Carthage. Nathan, with an available sabbatical decides to go to Carthage and see if he can root out the mystery. In Carthage, however, nothing is as it seems and the mystery, the time travel, the madness and the love all converge to change his life forever.
Autumn in Carthage takes some getting used to. It is a book you haven't read before. It wavers between the trite and the profound. Sometimes the reader just feels lost in the words and the imagery, but there is enough plot that the reader just keeps reading, trying to figure it all out. Sometimes the reader feels that there is too much going on with too many characters, back stories, and mental illness, but again, the reader just keeps reading, trying to figure it all out.
The fun part of the book for me was knowing exactly where Nathan was in Chicago, since my son and his family spent 6 years a couple of blocks from the University of Chicago campus. I also know northern Wisconsin well, so it was fun to read about it, although I've never been to Carthage, and I would guess that most Wisconsinites haven't been there either.
It's worth a try for readers who like mysteries, time travel, and love stories.
A strange novel of time travel, madness, and love. Nathan Price is a professor at the University of Chicago. A friend named Jamie has disappeared, and no one has heard from him until Nathan finds his name in a letter from the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Connected with that is the mention of a small town in Wisconsin named Carthage. Nathan, with an available sabbatical decides to go to Carthage and see if he can root out the mystery. In Carthage, however, nothing is as it seems and the mystery, the time travel, the madness and the love all converge to change his life forever.
Autumn in Carthage takes some getting used to. It is a book you haven't read before. It wavers between the trite and the profound. Sometimes the reader just feels lost in the words and the imagery, but there is enough plot that the reader just keeps reading, trying to figure it all out. Sometimes the reader feels that there is too much going on with too many characters, back stories, and mental illness, but again, the reader just keeps reading, trying to figure it all out.
The fun part of the book for me was knowing exactly where Nathan was in Chicago, since my son and his family spent 6 years a couple of blocks from the University of Chicago campus. I also know northern Wisconsin well, so it was fun to read about it, although I've never been to Carthage, and I would guess that most Wisconsinites haven't been there either.
It's worth a try for readers who like mysteries, time travel, and love stories.
June 12, 2014
“Nathan Price is a college professor with crippling impairments, seeking escape from his prison of necessity. One day, in a package of seventeenth-century documents from Salem Village, he stumbles across a letter by his best friend, Jamie, who had disappeared six months before. The document is dated 1692—the height of the Witch Trials. The only potential lead: a single mention of Carthage, a tiny town in the Wisconsin northern highland.
The mystery catapults Nathan from Chicago to the Wisconsin wilderness. There, he meets Alanna, heir to an astonishing Mittel-European legacy of power and sacrifice. In her, and in the gentle townsfolk of Carthage, Nathan finds the refuge for which he has long yearned. But Simon, the town elder, is driven by demons of his own, and may well be entangled in Jamie’s disappearance and that of several Carthaginians. As darkness stretches toward Alanna, Nathan may have no choice but to risk it all…
Moving from the grimness of Chicago’s South Side to the Wisconsin hinterlands to seventeenth-century Salem, this is a story of love, of sacrifice, of terrible passions—and of two wounded souls quietly reaching for the deep peace of sanctuary."
My first book, "Miss Mabel’s School for Girls," is about witches, so when the publisher for Autumn in Carthage contacted me about a book review, I was instantly on board. Salem Witch Trials. Time travel. Seventeenth-century documents: I’m in. Check.
However, I’m having a hard time categorizing how I felt about this book.
Read Full Review
The mystery catapults Nathan from Chicago to the Wisconsin wilderness. There, he meets Alanna, heir to an astonishing Mittel-European legacy of power and sacrifice. In her, and in the gentle townsfolk of Carthage, Nathan finds the refuge for which he has long yearned. But Simon, the town elder, is driven by demons of his own, and may well be entangled in Jamie’s disappearance and that of several Carthaginians. As darkness stretches toward Alanna, Nathan may have no choice but to risk it all…
Moving from the grimness of Chicago’s South Side to the Wisconsin hinterlands to seventeenth-century Salem, this is a story of love, of sacrifice, of terrible passions—and of two wounded souls quietly reaching for the deep peace of sanctuary."
My first book, "Miss Mabel’s School for Girls," is about witches, so when the publisher for Autumn in Carthage contacted me about a book review, I was instantly on board. Salem Witch Trials. Time travel. Seventeenth-century documents: I’m in. Check.
However, I’m having a hard time categorizing how I felt about this book.
Read Full Review
December 18, 2014
4.5 stars easily. If you like stories involving time travel you will like this but don't go into it thinking the whole book is about traveling through time and righting all of the wrongs in history. There is a lot of foundation that is put down before you ever get to the time travel part and when you finally do it doesn't last as long as you would like it to. This book is about a group of people who are able to grab hold of the strands of time and pull themselves back through history and make necessary adjustments to keep tragic things from happening. It would be a good book if that was all it is about but wait, there's more! It's also a book about the gritty realism of living life with mental baggage. The author never labels what the mental baggage is leaving you enough room to insert your issue wherever it is brought up. It is also a book about finding your way in life and finding that certain someone that you complete while they at the same time complete you. If anyone asked me about the negatives concerning this book, I would have to tell them that the author almost lost me when he took the time describing the "flecting" process. I know he probably felt he had to explain it for all of those serious sci-fi fans out there who need to know the details but for me, I don't care how they did I just want to know more about what they did once they got to where they were going. This was a great book on many levels and to be honest, I picked up this book based solely upon the title and cover. The artwork grabbed me and once I started reading the story took me away from reality and isn't that what a good book is supposed to do?
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