Sue P

Thank you to Berkeley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this imaginative and enjoyable book.

Based on the title alone, I expected something along the lines of a Ray Bradbury novel or maybe even a time-crossed romance. Then when I saw the author's last name, I immediately wondered if the writer is a member of the extraordinarily talented Moriarty family. Yup, she is, and I couldn't wait to start reading! This book has humor, creativity, interesting characters throughout, and I found it very entertaining.

The story is nominally about a time travel agency, but one of the questions running in the background of the story is whether the time travel offered by the agency is real or just a clever psychological trick. The book is strongly character driven, with each character's unique point of view expressed by communication style. There are journal entries, social media, conversations, and experiences used as well as some jumping back and forth between present and past. I think the author may have used these different styles as a way to move the story forward without having to offer any complicated time travel theories or rationale. This did make it a bit confusing since the reader is left to figure that out without explanation. I was a few chapters in before I realized that.

As soon as I finished the book, I went back and read it again to make sure I hadn't missed something. Luckily I enjoyed the book so much I didn't mind at all reading it a second time!

The Cleaner
by Brandi Wells

I enjoyed reading this book about a cleaner who works at night in a mostly empty building. During the day its desk-filled floors are occupied by office workers. The cleaner takes a lot of pride in her work, even though the people she cleans up after never seem to notice her hard work. Although she is invisible to the people she cleans up after, she wants to feel connected to them. So she imagines personalities and solves imaginary problems of the people who occupy all those desks, fantasizing what it would be like to earn their appreciation and friendship.

Soon those imaginary personalities become more and more real to the cleaner. As the unseen cleaner goes about vacuuming and wiping down the office surfaces, she begins making subtle changes that can alter the day-to-day course of a worker's life. This book is often funny but also fascinatingly disturbing.