Twice Upon a Time

In this new adventure, Alex Balfour, time-traveling hero of Appel's successful Time After Time, finds himself flung back 100 years to the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876. There he lives with a group of emancipated slaves, investigates the latest technological advances and runs into Mark Twain. He and Twain and one of the black men release two captured Indians from their exhibit, and the five embark on a trek West that includes a raft trip down the Mississippi. Meanwhile, Alex's girlfriend in this century is on assignment in South Dakota for the New York Times, covering recent unrest between Indians and the government. Shortly before the centennial anniversary of Custer's Last Stand, she is kidnapped by an Indian who believes he is the spiritual descendant of Crazy Horse, just as Alex, in the previous century, arrives at the Little Bighorn, trying to avert the slaughter he knows is imminent. Appel maintains firm hold on the strands of his plot, keeping Alex's sensibility consistently modern without becoming patronizing or sentimental toward the times. Suspense, period detail and the pleasant friction of Alex's temporal displacement will keep readers turning these pages. 25,000 first printing. (April)