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Paula R C Readman
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The Phoenix Hour Kindle Edition

by Paula R C Readman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
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Can the past save the future?

In 2055, humanity is on the brink of extinction after the misuse of an Intellectual Improvement drug.

Doctor Louise Brimstone is facing mounting pressure from Professor Davidson. She must find a way of creating genetically matching babies for the wealthy clientele at Hartley Research Centre of Excellence.

Louise wants to rectify the problem by the use of a time machine hidden in the cellar at the centre, but she is only able to travel back to the year 1900. In the past, Louise soon succumbs to the charms of Sir Charles Aldringham.

Aldringham’s mission to destroy two wealthy families who defrauded him is nearing completion, but first he draws Louise into his depraved blackmailing schemes – leaving her to dispose of the mutilated bodies of young women.

Will Louise discover the means to save the future by harvesting eggs from the past?

Time is ticking, but for whom?

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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    August 16, 2022
  5. File size
    2774 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B3W5J86V
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ darkstroke books (August 16, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 16, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2774 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

About the author

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Paula R C Readman

Paula R C Readman

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Paula R. C. Readman was born in Essex and has family roots in Whitby, North Yorkshire. She's married. After leaving school with no qualifications, she worked in low-paying jobs until redundancy changed the direction of her life. Encouraged by her husband, she taught herself how to write from books purchased from eBay.

In 2010 her first short story was published by English Heritage in an anthology. In 2012, she was the overall winner in the Writing Magazine/Harrogate Crime Festival Short Story competition. Since then she has had over other a hundred short stories and flash fiction published in various anthologies and online.

Paula writes mainly about the darker side of life in her gothic crime tales. Her first gothic crime novella is The Funeral Birds published by Demain Publishing and a collection of short dark tales published by Bridge House called Days Pass Like A Shadow. Her first full-length gothic crime novel, Stone Angels was published by Darkstroke Books, they also published her Seeking the Dark and The Phoenix Hour in 2022. Demain Publishing has published Never Reaching the End a dark tale with a twist.

Paula is busy writing a follow-up novel to The Funeral Birds called, As The Crow Flies. two graves and one body.

You can catch up with all her latest news by joining her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, YouTube, BookBub

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
10 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

james bates
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, Provocative, and Entertaining
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2023
I loved this book. I was drawn into it immediately on the strength of main character Doctor Louise Brimstone and the premise of an interesting story dealing with genetic engineering in the year 2055. Which, alone, would have been enough to hold my attention. But this book was so much more. Under the capable hands of the talented Paula Readman, the story soon moved to 1900 via the Phoenix time machine and things for Louise start to become complicated. Fast. We are introduced to a new cast of characters and a new storyline and suddenly the book becomes not just your normal run-of-the-mill time-traveling tale. It becomes a story of greed, lust, and murder. It also becomes a story of not being afraid to delve into the question of the role science plays in our lives. It’s also a love story. There’s a lot going on! But in the capable hands Paula Readman it’s all under control. Her ability to maintain the pace in a story as complex as this one is outstanding. She is incredibly skillful at breathing life into her characters, making them three-dimensional and very human. I highly recommend this page-turning adventure for anyone looking to be not only entertained but to have a good long think about what they are reading. I’d definitely read this book again. It was wonderful.
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Priscilla Bettis
5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, Dystopian, Feminist, Time-Travel Story
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2022
Dr. Louise Brimstone is a genetic scientist from the future. The human race has gone sterile, and Louise time-travels to the year 1900 in order to help humanity in 2055.

Louise captivated me. She frustrated the heck out of me, too, and was a good example of what people, even smart ones, will do in the name of love.

In The Phoenix Hour, people do a lot of things in the name of greed, too.

Readman’s characters from both 1900 and 2055 explore topics that are relevant to our contemporary society: mob violence, religious zealotry, gene manipulation (not necessarily for nefarious purposes), justice for the rich vs justice for the poor, feminism, the role of money in science, and Louise’s particular conundrum: Does the end justify the means? Additional questions are raised: Do smart or dumb people commit more crimes? If it’s the latter, is it ethical for the benefit of society to breed only smart people? And finally, does wisdom come from innate smarts or from a nurturing environment?

Oh, this book is hard for me to review! I love the writing style. I was sucked in by the characters (both good and evil), and many scenes were enthralling. The rooftop scene had me biting my nails, and the tension in the dialogue scene between Dr. Brimstone and the monetary backer was so thick you could hack it with an axe. But I was also disturbed by the story. The topics addressed and the questions raised had my head spinning. Does my discomfort mean I take off a star? In the end, I’ve decided that even though I did not enjoy certain aspects of the book, it’s a testament to Readman’s writing skill that she can make me feel so uncomfortable.

I read The Phoenix Hour through Kindle Unlimited.
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Marisa Nichols
5.0 out of 5 stars I knew this book would be awesome the moment I picked it up
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2022
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I knew this book would be awesome the moment I picked it up. I always loved to read post apocalypse books but to give it this kind of twist is such a feast to me — I felt like I traveled across time both past, present, and future that my husband would sometimes nudge me to see if I was still breathing (lol emoji here). I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes stories that would surprise you in every turn. I don't know but they said the rooftop scene was intense, it surely was.
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Top reviews from other countries

Rhydderch Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars Brutality! Seediness! Controversy! What more could you want?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
This is a tricky one to review without giving away too much of the twists and turns of the plot because there are so many of them, but I'll give it my best shot. Here goes...

When it's revealed in the first few pages that sometime in the past the protagonist's parents were killed in an unexplained car crash, you know things aren't going to go smoothly, and so it is for scientist Dr Louise Brimstone in this sci-fi/horror/thriller/ mash-up from the author of Stone Angels and Seeking the Dark. It's the year 2055 and the world has found itself in the grip of a population crisis, thanks to a drug designed to boost people's intellectual capacity which also came with the side effect of making them infertile. Oops.

With his big pharma corporation under financial pressure, Louise's boss dumps the responsibility for solving this little problem on her, and salvation comes from a truly unexpected source. Meanwhile, young woman in the 1900s are mysteriously disappearing. Are these two seemingly disparate occurrences linked? Of course they. It wouldn't be much of a novel if they weren't.

If you've read anything by Paula R.C. Readman before, you'll know that she doesn't flinch when it comes to depicting brutality, seediness, sex and controversial subjects - and I'm pleased to report that they are all present and correct here in The Phoenix Hour.

As the story unfolds in truly unexpected ways, among the subjects examined are how women on the bottom rung of the wealth ladder are exploited and abused by the men at the top, the dangers of mob justice and - crucially - how far a person will go to save their own skin as well as the world's population.

This is a unique story full of compelling characters, surprising twists and genuine horror. I thought it was great and I can't wait to see what Paula has in store for us next. Whatever it is, I hope it's as distinctive and startling as this. Bravo!
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Janet Claydon
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2023
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I Loved this book. Could not put it down. Reminded me of The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen. If you liked The Bone Garden then you will love The Phoenix Hour. Great Read.
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G. James
4.0 out of 5 stars Time slip and near future - two of my favourite elements
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2022
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The point of view character travels between 2055 and 19000 using a method invented by two clever scientists decades before our characters comes on the scene. Louise Brimstone tries to mend her present by stealing from the past. Her motivation is complex. Her present anyway is something we might have to face.
What a fantastic name, anyway. We can't quite like her but we might forgive her.
Yes, the emotions we are asked to engage in are complex in this novel. It has a large cast and keeping tabs on everyone isn't all that easy , yet this stops the plot being too simplistic. We are kept guessing throughout about the outcomes.
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fiona mckenzie
5.0 out of 5 stars Phoenix hour
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2023
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Great story loved it couldn’t put the book down
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Ana coelho
5.0 out of 5 stars The Phoenix Hour
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
What a great story the Phoenix hour is! Great imagination of the writer there is enough mystery to make one turn the pages, loved every single line.
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