The Paradox Hotel

January Cole runs security at the Paradox, a hotel built beside a timeport, where wealthy tourists arrive dressed for a dozen different eras and wait for their flights to the past. The place is odd even on a quiet day. Clocks sometimes run backward near the timeport, and rumor says ghosts walk the halls.

Then a corpse turns up in room 526, one that seems to be there and not there, and only January can see it. At the same moment, the American government prepares to hand time travel over to private owners, and the world's most powerful people have checked in to stake their claims. When accidents begin to hit the bidders, January suspects the timing is deliberate.

This is a science-fiction thriller with a murder mystery at its center, a noir edge and a streak of dark humor. A snarky robot named Ruby and some restless baby dinosaurs add to the odd company. The killer works invisibly and in plain sight, and January may be the only person able to catch that killer.

The cost is personal. The same ability that lets her glimpse what others miss is loosening her hold on reality, and her past, present and future start to collide. Under the puzzle sits a thread about grief and memory, and about meeting one's own ghosts face to face. The book is a time-twisting read with a lively pace.