The Time Trap

Ray Crawley #7

by Peter Corris

"Two steps inside the door, Crawley saw the beginnings of the destruction...Academic journals were broken at the spine and ripped apart, chair upholstery was torn; a bookcase had been toppled, scattering the contents...a metal filing cabinet was a twisted ruin. Ruth May....examined Crawley's card.
'You wouldn't be from the Federal Security Agency, would you, Mr Crawley?'
Crawley stared at her. 'Why d'you say that?'
Ruth shrugged. 'I've got a feeling that's who's behind all this.'"
When Crawley is elevated to the post of Acting Director of the Federal Security Agency in Canberra he discovers a number of disturbing aspects to the job. One is Carol Mainwaring, his cool, efficient, but alarmingly attractive secretary; another is the mysterious deaths of a number of FSA archivists. And then there is Ruth May, daughter of one of the dead archivists---a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Crawley's wife.
In the midst of the labyrinths of the FSA, Crawley and Huck find themselves drawn into an increasingly complex and terrifying trap---the time trap.
Another action-packed Crawley thriller by Peter Corris.

198 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 1993

About the author

Peter Corris was an Australian academic, historian, journalist and a novelist of historical and crime fiction. His first novel was published in 1980. Corris is credited with reviving the fully-fledged Australian crime novel with local settings and reference points and with a series character firmly rooted in Australian culture, Sydney PI Cliff Hardy. As crime fiction writer, he was described as "the Godfather of contemporary Australian crime-writing".

He won the Lifetime Achievement award at the Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing in 1999 and was shortlisted for best novel in 2006 for Saving Billy and in 2007 for The Undertow.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear, not a good introduction to Peter Corris books I think. I had no idea what was going on, or what was happening. In fact I felt like I was in a "Time Trap" myself when incidents that didn't occur to the following chapter were discussed in the chapter before. Perhaps the chapters had been printed out of order - just so confusing it made no sense!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually quite a nicely done hard-boiled treat. Almost feels like Corris could have written it in his sleep, but it’s lean, mean and very droll.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Time Trap is the seventh in the Ray Crawley series by Peter Corris. Crawley is in the position of Acting Director of the Federal Security Agency while his boss, Hector Bain, is overseas and the Assistant Director is ill. Not that he is Acting much like previous Directors do….. he is quite distracted by Carol Mainwaring, his cool, efficient and very attractive secretary; his old retired colleague, Huck, has brought the “accidental” death of two FSA archivists to his notice; his reliable computer nerd, Boris Stein, is acting strangely; and Ruth May, the daughter of one of the archivists, who looks remarkably like Crawley’s wife, Mandy, appears to have been abducted. Corris gives us another fast-paced, action-filled tale of espionage and intrigue; there are cover-ups and kidnapping, quite a bit of sex and hard drinking, murder and violence, guns, knives and poison, a loyal dog, a useful halfwit and a resourceful heroine. The characters are realistic, the dialogue is authentic and the plot completely believable. Another excellent Corris offering.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good holiday reading